CrimProf Blog

Inmate Dies After Being Tasered

From latimes.com: An Orange County jail inmate who spent a week in a coma after a violent confrontation with sheriff's deputies has died, a deputy coroner said today.

Sheriff's deputies used Taser stun weapons to subdue Jason Jesus Gomez in his cell at the Intake Release Center in Santa Ana. Gomez, 35, who was in jail for a probation violation, stopped breathing after the confrontation and was resuscitated by paramedics.

He spent a week in a coma at Western Medical Center in Santa Ana. A deputy coroner who would not identify himself said today that Gomez had died. He would not say whether Gomez died last night or today and referred calls to the district attorney's office, which is investigating the incident.

The Orange County district attorney's office has opened an investigation into the violent struggle between sheriff's deputies and Gomez, who had a lengthy criminal record. The action is the latest setback to the Sheriff's Department as it struggles to recover from a series of allegations involving the treatment of inmates. Rest of Article. . . [Mark Godsey]

Annapolis Tries for Videotaped Interrogations

From mobtown beat: The video-interrogations measure is getting a third try this year in Annapolis, having failed in two previous sessions. This year's model is called House Bill 6 (HB 6), and the continuing opposition it faces from most of Maryland's law-enforcement community echoes the sentiments of police and prosecutors nationwide, which were measured in a 2007 study published in The Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology. "Our results," the authors write, "suggest that for whatever reason--cost, storage issues, inertia, or a desire to avoid exposure in occasional cases of false confessions--support for videotaping exists but is not overwhelming" among police brass of the country's largest municipal departments, 40 percent of whom opposed videotaping interrogations.

As law-enforcement leaders from around Maryland milled about waiting for the House Judiciary Committee hearing to begin, the tenor of this year's resistance was best uttered by James Green, a Baltimore City police lawyer. "It's a bad thing," he said of HB 6. "But we need a lot of money if it's going to become a good thing." According to the bill's fiscal note, city police would require close to 10 interview rooms costing $10,000 per room, and the state's cumulative cost over the first five years of the law's implementation would be about $500,000.

Baltimore City Del. Curtis Anderson (D-43rd) is the lead sponsor of the measure, and at the hearing he told his committee colleagues that Barack Obama, whom Anderson supports in this year's presidential race, championed a similar measure's passage in Illinois in 2003, when Obama was a state senator there. Illinois was the first state to pass such a law, though local governments had already been adopting similar measures, as pointed out in a Chicago Tribune editorial that praised Obama's bill "as a way to reduce defendants' false claims of police coercion, bolster prosecutors' cases in court and restore public trust in the justice system."

Eight states and Washington, D.C., now require videotaped interrogations, and Anderson told the committee that local jurisdictions in every state require it. Top cops who made the transition against their better judgment at the outset have since become proponents. Massachusetts district attorney William M. Bennett, for example, told Lawyers Weekly last year that he'd opposed the change because he thought it would result "in a number of defendants refusing to give statements. They might be willing to speak to the police, but they'd be hesitant and reluctant to be recorded. I was wrong."

Rest of Article. . . [Mark Godsey]

Teenager Records Interrogation Which Lead to Perjury Charge against the Detective

From breibart.com: A teenage suspect who secretly recorded his interrogation on an MP3 player has landed a veteran detective in the middle of perjury charges, authorities said Thursday.

Unaware of the recording, Detective Christopher Perino testified in April that the suspect "wasn't questioned" about a shooting in the Bronx, a criminal complaint said. But then the defense confronted the detective with a transcript it said proved he had spent more than an hour unsuccessfully trying to persuade Erik Crespo to confess—at times with vulgar tactics.

Once the transcript was revealed in court, prosecutors asked for a recess, defense attorney Mark DeMarco said. The detective was pulled from the witness stand and advised to get a lawyer.

Perino, 42, was arraigned Thursday on 12 counts of first-degree perjury and faces as many as seven years on each count, prosecutors said. He was released on $15,000 bail.

Rest of Article. . . [Mark Godsey]

Judge Rules for Police Officer to Return Marijuana Plants

From rockymountainnews.com: A Fort Collins couple and their lawyer plan to visit the Larimer County sheriff's office Wednesday in :hopes of recovering 39 marijuana plants seized by narcotics officers during a raid at their home in August 2006.

A Larimer County District Court Judge ruled Monday that authorities must return the plants and growing equipment taken from James and Lisa Masters. Their lawyer described them as medical marijuana providers for themselves and about 8 to 10 other people.

Brian Vincente, lawyer for the couple, hopes authorities have taken care of the plants as provided by the state's medical marijuana law, which was approved by voters in 2000.

"If they've allowed these plants to die, they've broken the law," said Vincente, executive director of Sensible Colorado, a non-profit advocacy group of medical marijuana patients.

He described the ruling as the largest return of medical marijuana to a grower since the law went into effect.

If the plants were destroyed, Vincente said his clients will seek compensation for the plants, which he estimated to be about $100,000. Rest of Article. . . [Mark Godsey]

Michigan Law Review Host Symposium on Pay-to-Stay Programs in Correctional Facilities

The Michigan Law Review's companion journal First Impressions today published an online symposium on Pay to Stay Programs in Correctional Facilities.

Approximately fifteen California jails have implemented pay-to-stay programs. These programs allow some offenders to pay a daily fee in order to serve their sentences in a city-run or privately-managed correctional facility rather than in a county jail. In some programs, benefits include assignment to a private cell with a regular door, separation from violent offenders, access to the jail's movie collection, and the ability to carry an iPod or cell phone. The symposium contributors consider the implications of these pay-to-stay programs.

Stanford Law School Professor and Stanford Criminal Justice Center Director Robert S. Weisberg argues that pay-to-stay, if it is honestly represented, could prove salutary for the criminal justice system if recognized as part of our somewhat ritualized cycle of constructive self-embarrassment  over the role of wealth in criminal justice. He contends that, by increasing public awareness about incarceration costs, pay-to-stay may lead politicians to become more willing to treat criminal punishment as a regulatory system worthy of cost-benefit analysis rather than a deontological necessity.

USC Gould School of Law Professor Kim Shayo Buchanan unpacks the gendered racial stereotypes that accompany pay-to-stay programs. She explores how the government publicizes pay-to-stay programs for wealthier lawbreakers (generally perceived as white drunk drivers) while confining tens of thousands of others in dangerous, squalid conditions.

Loyola Law School Los Angeles Professor Laurie L. Levenson and Loyola Los Angeles J.D. candidate Mary Gordon identify five truths implicit in the influence of money in the criminal justice system that explain why—despite pay-to-stay's superficial appeal—we must look deeper to rehabilitate our ailing criminal justice system.

Santa Ana Chief of Police Paul M. Walters and Jail Administrator Russell Davis explain how the City of Santa Ana's Pay-to-Stay Program fits into the City's entrepreneurial innovations relating to its new jail. They argue that these innovations, including pay-to-stay and contract housing, have enabled the city to meet the incarceration needs of the Police Department without incurring exorbitant operational costs.

Los Angeles criminal defense attorney and chief legal correspondent for the E! Network Shawn Chapman Holley asserts that pay-to-stay is a bad idea for defendants and that the county jail is actually a wiser choice for most defendants.

University of Michigan J.D. candidate Bradley W. Moore contends that pay-to-stay jails show that the state cannot balance the competing concerns of the traditional theories of punishment—deterrence and retribution—under its current rubric. He proposes that virtue ethics instead be used to assess whether a criminal justice reform such as pay-to-stay should be adopted. More. . . [Mark Godsey]

Deputy Sheriff Shooting Rampage Shows Holes in Wisconsin Screening Process

From washingtonpost.com: 20-year-old Tyler Peterson was shot to death after opening fire early Sunday on a group of teenagers who had gathered for pizza and movies on their high school's homecoming weekend. Peterson was off-duty from his full-time job as a Forest County Wisconsin deputy sheriff; he also was a part-time Crandon police officer.

David Franz, 36, who lives with his wife two houses from the duplex where the shooting occurred, said it was hard to accept that someone in law enforcement was the gunman.

"The first statement we said to each other was, how did he get through the system?" Franz said. "How do they know somebody's background, especially that young? It is disturbing, to say the least."

Sheriff Keith Van Cleve said he would meet with state Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen on Monday morning to discuss the case.

Crandon Police Chief John Dennee said it would be handled by the state Department of Criminal Investigation because the suspect was a deputy and officer.  Rest of Article. . . [Mark Godsey]

Maryland Adopts a Lethality Assessment to Identify Abuse Victims that Are Most at Risk for Being Murdered

From washingtonpost.com: A growing number of police departments across Maryland are adopting a domestic violence program that uses a series of pointed questions to identify those most at risk of being killed and get them immediate aid or counseling.

Organizers say the effort has connected counselors with hundreds of people who otherwise were unlikely to seek help. Called "lethality assessment," the program is based on research from experts at Johns Hopkins University.

Under the new approach, which has sparked national interest, police who answer domestic 911 calls take a far more involved role with the victims they encounter at the scene. When a case shows a high risk of lethality, police talk to the victim about the danger, phone a counselor immediately and encourage the victim to talk. Since early last year, 900 people have done so.

Rest of Aricle. . . [Mark Godsey]

New Sex Offender Law Causes Parolees to Now Be in Violation

From npr.com: Parole boards have begun to enforce a new California effort to impose strict residency requirements on sex offenders freed from prison. So far, nearly 3,000 parolees have been found to be in violation of the law. Listen. . . [Mark Godsey]

Cali will Launch a Parole Plan Aimed at Rehabilitation

From latimes.com: The Schwarzenegger administration is set to launch a program in Southern California that ultimately could free tens of thousands of ex-convicts from parole years earlier than scheduled.

Officials said the plan, expected to be approved by the state parole board Tuesday, would start in Orange and San Bernardino counties within two months and focus on nonviolent state parolees. It would encourage rehabilitation and enable overburdened parole agents to focus on serious offenders, especially sexual predators, they said.

Corrections Secretary James E. Tilton said in an interview that the trial program, which if successful could expand statewide early next year, would bring California in line with 33 other states in screening parolees to determine which most need to be monitored after completing their prison terms.

Rest of Article. . . [Mark Godsey]

Tennessee Justice System Flaws are Illustrated Through Escapees' Success

From tennessean.com:Tennessee's justice system that have allowed more than 150 Tennessee prison escapees to roam free, often enabling them to break the law again.

The danger posed by fugitives is profound. Convicts on the run from Tennessee prisons have murdered at least nine people during the past 30 years.

A Tennessean investigation reviewed the cases of hundreds of inmates who escaped from Tennessee's prison system since 1975.

More than one-third of escapees still on the lam had no warrants identifying them as fugitives. As a result, many were stopped by police, given traffic tickets, arrested and in some cases sent to prison, then turned loose — without anyone knowing that they should have been returned to Tennessee prisons. Some of them were later arrested on serious charges, ranging from armed robbery and attempted murder to sex crimes.

In recent years, the high-profile arrests of two Tennessee fugitives highlighted flaws in the way Tennessee handles warrants for escapees, but prison officials did nothing to remedy the problem. In fact, until presented with The Tennessean's findings in recent months, prison officials continued to insist that escape warrants were on file for all escapees.

Tennessee criminal justice officials point to a litany of past and present shortcomings. Some of the missing warrants were thrown out by mistake or as part of regular purging of older files. In many cases, officials have no explanation for why the warrants aren't active. Rest of Article. . . [Mark Godsey]

Prisoner Sues The State for Making Inmates Wear Pink

From USATODAY.com: Punishing prisoners for sexual misconduct by making them wear pink places them in peril, a South Carolina inmate says in a lawsuit against the state's penal system.

The suit is the latest development in a nationwide effort by prison and jail officials to tap the power of pink to subdue criminals.

In the South Carolina case, Sherone Nealous claims that forcing inmates to wear pink is discriminatory and makes them more likely to be assaulted by other inmates. Nealous is serving time at the Allendale Correctional Institution for assault and battery with intent to kill, aggravated assault and assault and battery on a police officer.

"When the inmate population views an inmate wearing a pink jumpsuit, it is known that the clothing was assigned by (the Department of Corrections) as punishment for sexual misconduct," states a legal memorandum filed by the department. It "conveys no suggestion that the inmate wearing the jumpsuit is a willing participant in homosexual activity or otherwise vulnerable to … assault."

Jon Ozmint, director of the South Carolina Department of Corrections, and Russell Harter, an attorney representing the prison system, declined to comment further because of the ongoing litigation.

Rest of Article. . . [Mark Godsey]

Questionable if Security Cameras are Aiding in Crime Detection

From wvgazetter.com: In Baltimore, police began using surveillance cameras in 2005. There are now 300 throughout the city, and police say violent crime has dropped by 15 percent in the places where the cameras are installed.

Prosecutors, though, aren’t impressed.

“We have not found that they affect the conviction rate at all,” said Margaret Burns, chief of governmental affairs for the Baltimore State’s Attorney’s office.

In 2006, the cameras led to nearly 2,000 arrests in Baltimore, according to figures from the state’s attorney’s office.

About a fourth of those arrests — 407 — led to guilty verdicts, while 386 resulted in charges being dropped because of insufficient evidence. Another 599 people were swiftly released because the quality of evidence — mostly surveillance camera tapes — was too poor to even file charges. The other cases are pending or have been resolved by, for example, the death of the defendant.

“It’s infrequent that we can actually associate the footage with the defendant,” Burns said. “You basically see a lot of people in sweatshirts and jeans and T-shirts. You don’t have any identifying characteristics you can use in court.” Rest of Article. . . [Mark Godsey]

DC Asks SCOTUS to Save Ban on Gun Ownership

From washingtonpost.com: The Washington DC asked the Supreme Court yesterday to save the city's ban on handgun ownership, saying an appeals court's decision overturning the prohibition "drastically departs from the mainstream of American jurisprudence."

If the court agrees to take the case, as most legal experts believe is likely, it could lead to a historic decision sometime next year on whether the Second Amendment to the Constitution protects an individual's right to own a gun or simply imparts a collective, civic right related to maintaining state militias

It is a question that has been hotly debated in the nation's courts and legislatures for years, and a decision by the Supreme Court to settle the issue could carry broad implications for local governments and thrust gun control as an issue into the 2008 elections.

The District argues in its petition that its law -- one of the strictest in the nation -- should be upheld regardless of whether the court sides with the individualist or collective legal theory. Rest of Article. . . [Mark Godsey]

Boston Enforces Curfew to Force Out Drug Dealers and Homeless

From boston.com: After mounting drug arrests and a recent shooting that lodged a bullet in the State House, police have begun enforcing a nighttime curfew on Boston Common to rid the area of drug dealers and force out the homeless who have long spent their nights on its benches and manicured lawns.

The curfew, which will last from 11:30 p.m. to 6 a.m., will bar people from the Common unless they are passing through.

Advocates for the homeless support the new effort to reduce crime in the historic park, which began Tuesday night, but fear the consequences for those who find refuge there.

"There is a general sense that it's good something's being done about the Common," said Melissa Quirk, assistant director of the Emergency Shelter Commission of Boston. "It's an issue that needed to be addressed. But the increase in drug-related activity is really distinct from people sleeping on the Common."

She and others worry that homeless people, many of whom refuse to go to shelters, will scatter to other parts of the city, where it may be more difficult for outreach workers to help them. Rest of Article. . . [Mark Godsey]

California May Be Paving the Way for Private Prisons

From latimes.com: Depending on the outcome of legal challenges, California could be "one of the longtime drivers of growth for the private prison industry," industry analyst Kevin Campbell said.

Until December, the state had not put a medium- or maximum-security prisoner in a private lockup since 1852, when it replaced a private prison ship in San Francisco Bay with California's first public prison, San Quentin.

Private companies say they can build secure prisons faster and cheaper than state governments and are not saddled with the high salaries and pension costs paid by public agencies.

Critics counter that states that use private prisons get what they pay for: Guards are poorly paid and trained, and private prisons experience more escapes and more disciplinary problems than state-run institutions, they contend. And the state is sending away its better-behaved prisoners, they say, making California prisons even more dangerous.

The U.S. Bureau of Justice Assistance, part of the Justice Department, said in a 2001 study that limited research showed that "privately operated prisons function as well as publicly operated prisons." Management problems usually are caused by poorly drafted contracts and poor oversight of private operators by states, the study said.

The public-private dilemma is hitting California head-on -- with corporate America battling the prison guard establishment. Rest of Article. . . [Mark Godsey]

How to Enforce Cell Phone Laws?

From NPR.com: These days, it seems like almost everybody old enough to dial has a cell phone, and studies show that three out of four of us are using them in our cars.

Five states and the District of Columbia have banned the use of hand-held phones while driving. But is such a law even enforceable anymore? The answer may be found in New York, which was the first state to clamp down on driving and dialing six years ago.

Even with flashing lights and a siren, traffic enforcement officer Joe Claybaugh finds it hard to get the attention of drivers these days. Claybaugh is an officer in Camillus, N.Y., a suburb of Syracuse. On this particular day, he's looking for cell-phone violators, and he says it won't take long to find one.

Rest of Article. . . [Mark Godsey]

Police May be Too Quick to Use Their Taser

From USATODAY.com: Increasingly, police facing stubborn lawbreakers, belligerent drunks or violent suspects are reaching for stun guns to shock them into submission. In one recent incident, a hospital security guard in Houston used a Taser on a defiant father trying to take his newborn home, sending father and daughter to the floor.

Police say Tasers are valuable tools for avoiding hand-to-hand struggles that can injure officers and citizens. Small, portable and often effective even when merely brandished, Tasers -- which fire tiny, tethered cartridges that transmit electrical currents -- have become common in law enforcement in recent years, with some 11,500 police agencies using them.

But critics say Tasers are being used as a weapon of first resort, sometimes on frail or mentally ill people. Rest of Article. . . [Mark Godsey]

Local Police Often Do Not Seek Firearm Trace Information

From USATODAY.com: Only about a third of the nation's estimated 17,000 local law enforcement agencies regularly request federal assistance for "trace information" identifying the source of firearms used in crimes, federal authorities said Monday.

"There may be law enforcement agencies out there not asking for it because they don't think they have access to it," says Michael Sullivan, acting director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF).

For investigators, the trace information is often key to tracking suspects in gun-related crimes. Using serial numbers and other descriptive information from recovered weapons, federal authorities can compel firearms manufacturers and dealers to provide information about who first bought the weapon and when.

Federal authorities say they tend to receive repeated requests for help every year mostly from the same 6,000 law enforcement agencies — and rarely hear from the other 11,000. They worry that the ongoing public debate — fueled by advocacy groups and a national coalition of mayors — over access to the critical background information may be discouraging police departments from requesting it. Sullivan says conflicting interpretations of federal law may be contributing to false perceptions that the police are no longer able to receive the information.

The ATF is permitted to share trace information with agencies that request it as part of individual ongoing criminal investigations. The bureau, however, is restricted from sharing results of individual requests with departments other than the requesting agencies. Federal law also shields the data from use in civil suits. Rest of Article. . . [Mark Godsey]

Orlando Police Trade Shoes for Guns

From orlandosentinel.com: More than 200 guns have been collected so far today in a sneakers-for-gun exchange.

Sneakers and $50 gift certificates will continue to be offered while supplies last at two locations until 8 p.m. today. In Orlando, the exchange will be outside the Florida Citrus Bowl at 1610 W. Church St. In the county, it will be outside the Pine Castle Woman's Club at Oak Ridge Road and South Orange Avenue.

The exchange follows another weekend of violence that threatens Central Florida's image as a family-friendly tourist destination. Rest of Article. . . [Mark Godsey]

AZ Bans Text Messaging While Driving

From azcentral.com: The deaths of two Arizona women this week are shifting focus back on potential state legislation to ban the practice of text-messaging behind the wheel.

Peoria police investigators believe Ashley D. Miller, 18, of Glendale, drifted across the center line because she was text-messaging on her cellphone. Miller collided with Stacey A. Stubbs, 40, of Chino Valley, police said.

The deaths are the latest to highlight what has become a national debate as more states scramble to implement laws regulating the use of cellphones while driving. Rest of Article. . . [Mark Godsey]

Boston Cracks Down on Police Misconduct

From bostonherald.com: Boston police brass are stealthily hitting the streets in a sweeping crackdown on cops who fail to show up for lucrative paid details, talk excessively on their cell phones at job sites and commit other infractions that tarnish the badge, the Herald has learned.

Over the past two weeks, Superintendent Dan Linskey, chief of patrol officers, has been checking on cops on private details to ensure that they are on post, well dressed and not idling in air-conditioned cars, smoking in the street or having prolonged cell phone calls.

Any cop found not doing the job properly is reprimanded and asked not to turn in the $37-an-hour detail card for payment, Linskey said.

    Details have long posed an image problem for police departments across the state. Massachusetts is one of the only states in the country that requires utility companies, contractors and trouble-prone nightclubs to hire uniformed officers to patrol sites and direct traffic. Rest of Article. . . [Mark Godsey]

FBI Established Public Corruption Squad in Palm Beach

From sunsentinel.com: The FBI is establishing a full-time, permanent public-corruption squad in Palm Beach County, after a series of criminal cases that brought down two county and two West Palm Beach city commissioners.

"We are putting resources where the crime is," said FBI special agent in charge Tim Delaney.

Delaney said the expansion also was a result of the county's population growth, but acknowledged that the four new agents -- three investigators and a supervisor-- would focus only on corruption by elected officials. Rest fo Article. . . [Mark Godsey]

Man With No Records Publicizes His Attraction to Minors

From latimes.com: Jack McClellan publicizes his attraction to young girls, does the rounds of television news and talk shows, and cooperates with the police.

When Santa Monica police confronted him last week at a Jack in the Box — after he had been spotted in the children's section of the city's main library by a nervous mother who called police — he agreed to let officers photograph him.

On talk shows, he appears unshaven and a bit dazed, but unapologetic about his attraction to little girls, admitting he might have sex with them if it were legal and leaving his interviewers blanched with shock and revulsion.

According to authorities, the 45-year-old McClellan, who appears to live mostly out of his car and favor the Westside, has no arrest or conviction record in the United States. He is not a registered sex offender.

Yet he has the Santa Monica Police Department cautioning residents, the elite Special Victims Bureau of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department researching him and anguished parents in Internet chat groups trading alleged sightings and urging that he be run out of town.

"I've been doing child abuse and sexual assault cases for 20 years and I've never seen anything like this," said Sgt. Dan Scott of the sheriff's Special Victims Bureau.

Now, two Santa Clarita attorneys have filed court papers on behalf of their daughters to get a restraining order that would keep McClellan out of establishments in Santa Clarita where children congregate. Their petition for injunction, which is scheduled to be heard Friday in L.A. County Superior Court in Chatsworth, was triggered by McClellan's public statements that he might settle down in Santa Clarita. Rest of Article. . . [Mark Godsey]

Cracking Down on Murderbilia

From npr.com: Convicted murderers are profiting from their notoriety by selling "murderabilia" to the public. Texas Sen. John Cornyn has recently introduced legislation that will crack down on sellers of the merchandise and prohibit prisoners from profiting from it. Listen. . . [Mark Godsey]

AZ Court Says Police Cannot Routinely Search Arrestee's Cars

From azstarnet.com recommended by Flynn Carey: Police cannot routinely search the vehicles of people whom they arrest, the Arizona Supreme Court has ruled.

In a 3-2 decision, the high court threw out the drug-possession conviction of Rodney Gant. The majority said Tucson police illegally searched his car after arresting him outside the vehicle. The search found narcotics that eventually resulted in his conviction.

Justice Rebecca Berch, writing for the majority, said police have the authority in some circumstances to search a vehicle without a warrant. But she said those instances usually are limited to situations of police safety — such as looking for a weapon in the immediate area of the person being arrested — or where waiting for a warrant might result in destruction of evidence.

She noted, though, that Gant already was handcuffed and in the back of a patrol car. That, Berch said, means the Tucson Police Department violated Gant's Fourth Amendment rights against unreasonable search and seizure.

Justice Scott Bales, writing the dissent, said his colleagues were misinterpreting the law. He said searches of vehicles are reasonable and legal when someone who has been in the car is legally arrested.

Rest of Article. . . Full Opinion. . .  [Mark Godsey]

Cities are Suing Gangs

From latimes.com: Fed up with deadly drive-by shootings, incessant drug dealing and graffiti, cities nationwide are trying a different tactic to combat gangs: They're suing them.

Fort Worth and San Francisco are among the latest to file lawsuits against gang members, asking courts for injunctions barring them from hanging out together on street corners, in cars or anywhere else in certain areas.

The injunctions are aimed at disrupting gang activity before it can escalate. They also give police legal reasons to stop and question gang members, who often are found with drugs or weapons, authorities said. In some cases, they don't allow gang members to even talk to people passing in cars or to carry spray paint.

"It is another tool," said Kevin Rousseau, a Tarrant County assistant prosecutor in Fort Worth, which recently filed its first civil injunction against a gang. "This is more of a proactive approach."

But critics say such lawsuits go too far, limiting otherwise lawful activities and unfairly targeting minority youth.

"If you're barring people from talking in the streets, it's difficult to tell if they're gang members or if they're people discussing issues," said Peter Bibring, an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California. "And it's all the more troubling because it doesn't seem to be effective."

Civil injunctions were first filed against gang members in the 1980s in the Los Angeles area, a breeding ground for gangs including some of the country's most notorious, such as the Crips and 18th Street.

Rest of Article. . . [Mark Godsey]

Shooter Freed Early Due to Clerical Error

From chron.com:

Two-and-a-half months after being freed because of a clerical error, Willie Joe McAdams was arrested Thursday and is expected to be booked into prison to serve at least 16 more years of a 40-year sentence for shooting a Houston man in the head, blinding him in one eye.

When McAdams was sentenced in 2004 to 40 years in prison for shooting Cedric Thomas in the head, Thomas thought it was a just punishment.

While enjoying himself at a bar during the Fourth of July weekend, Thomas was shocked when McAdams approached him, shook his hand and apologized.

"What if he still had malice in his heart and wanted to kill me," said Thomas, who lost an eye in the March 2003 sports bar shooting.

McAdams was released from prison 36 years early after serving four years of his 40 year sentence because of a "clerical error," according to Michelle Lyons, a Texas Department of Criminal Justice spokeswoman. McAdams was released May 4.

Lyons said that the mistake was "human error" when keying in McAdams personal information and punishment time during intake in 2004.

Lyons said McAdams was arrested at Hillcroft and Main during a traffic stop after being followed from his home Thursday afternoon.

Gulf Coast Violent Offenders Task Force detective C.J. Mitchell said he and other officers began watching McAdams' home Thursday morning.

Lyons said she expects him to be put back in prison to serve the rest of his time. He will be eligible for parole in 16 years. Rest of Article. . . [Mark Godsey]

Police Gear Easier to Get than What you Think

From boston.com: Their tools -- blue lights, badges, batons -- are easier than ever to buy on the Internet, law enforcement officials say. And their methods are frighteningly effective. Police say it takes very little to persuade motorists and others to obey commands from someone they believe is a police officer.

Two weeks ago in Chelsea, a man with a two-way radio clipped to his shirt ordered pedestrians to put their hands on a wall and give him their wallets. Then he grabbed their cash, dumped the wallets, and drove away. Working with another man who had a badge hanging around his neck, the two robbed five people, Central American immigrants they believed would be too fearful to report the crimes, police say.

Then early Sunday morning, a burly man with a crew cut used a flashing blue light on his car to stop a driver on Route 24 in Randolph. Police say the man, who wore a blue shirt emblazoned with a shield, ordered the woman out of her vehicle, then sexually assaulted her .

Authorities say the crimes emerged from a dangerous subculture of police impersonators.

While some pursue nothing more than the thrill of using a police officer's authority to get someone to pull over, others exploit the power of the badge to rob and assault, often targeting women, immigrants, and others they believe will be most likely to obey their orders.

In either case, the public's trust in law enforcement is corroded.

"All too often, we've seen it happen," said Thomas J. Nee , president of the Boston Police Patrolmen's Association. "This uniform that distinguishes us in society, and the apparatus that we use, is too easily available to the public." Rest of Article. . . [Mark Godsey]

Cali May Get More Access to Police Disciplinary Records

From sfgate.com: Legislation that would increase Californians' access to police disciplinary records by rolling back a 2006 state Supreme Court ruling appears to be dead for the year -- the victim of formidable law enforcement opposition.

To win passage in 2007, the measure by state Senate Majority Leader Gloria Romero, D-Los Angeles, needs to clear the Assembly Public Safety Committee by Friday. However, the panel's chairman has scheduled no further hearings on the bill, which has already passed the state Senate.

Although the measure, SB1019, has the support of many community groups, newspapers, city officials, the American Civil Liberties Union and some members of police review agencies, it is also opposed by dozens of law enforcement groups.

The fight dates back to 2003, when the San Diego Union-Tribune sought to attend an administrative appeals hearing for a deputy sheriff who had been fired.

The deputy's lawyers objected, saying that under state law, disciplinary procedures for law enforcement officers were personnel matters and thus closed to the public unless an officer wanted them open.

The newspaper was barred from the hearing and went to court. Last year, in its Copley vs. Superior Court decision, the state Supreme Court ruled 6-1 that the public had no right to obtain records of administrative appeals in police disciplinary cases. Rest of Article. . . [Mark Godsey]

Problems Surrounding Localizing Immigation Law Enforcement

From washingtonpost.com: Momentum to deputize local police as immigration agents across the United States grew after the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001. But law enforcement officers have been reluctant to oblige. They are concerned that taking on that role would both alienate immigrant communities -- where criminals or terrorists can gain a foothold or simply find a convenient hideout -- and undermine police obligations to ensure public safety.

Several jurisdictions, in fact, prevented their officers from enforcing federal immigration laws. By mid-2004, according to the National Immigration Law Center, more than 50 localities, including some of the country's largest cities, had enacted laws, resolutions or policies limiting such activity.

Now that the U.S. Senate has killed comprehensive immigration reform, the fate of 12 million illegal immigrants in this country remains in limbo. What seems absolutely certain is that public pressure will push local, county and state authorities to address what the federal government has failed to.

Rest of Article. . . [Mark Godsey]

Michigan Police Illegal Fireworks Raids Fizzle

From detnews.com: In a summer when authorities are dealing with higher crime, more parolees and tighter budgets, hunting for illegal fireworks seems a luxury more police agencies say they simply cannot afford.

Organized sweeps in years past yielded relatively few illegal fireworks, making it easier for authorities to keep such enforcement a secondary concern this year.

"I don't have a lot of extra people around to do lower priority things like this," said Wayne County Sheriff Warren Evans. "It's not that it's not important. It's just not as high on the radar screen. With any credible information about something, we'll look into it, but we're stretched way too thin."

Macomb County Sheriff Mark Hackel said he suspects there may be more illegal fireworks in his county this season, but it has to take a back seat to the high-profile crimes and other pressing problems his department faces.

"We get inundated with complaints the day before and the day of," he said. "People need to understand we're trying to prioritize." Rest of Article. . . [Mark Godsey]

Milwaukee Homicide Review Commission Discusses Each Death

From jsonline.com: After analyzing numbers, mapping deaths and collecting data on Milwaukee homicides, law enforcement and social service agencies have found strength in a simple approach: talking.

Each death is getting a closer look and conversation on where, how and why it happened as part of a study by the Milwaukee Homicide Review Commission, including everyone from beat cops to FBI agents to agencies such as Milwaukee Public Schools security.

"It's all about making the city a better place, reducing the violence we're seeing, reducing the homicides we're seeing," said Mallory O'Brien, a Harvard School of Public Health researcher leading the project.

O'Brien and Milwaukee police Deputy Chief Brian O'Keefe met with Journal Sentinel writers and editors on Thursday to provide a progress report on the commission's work. They will give a similar presentation to Common Council members June 28.

The commission, which its creators say is the first of its kind in the nation, started work in May 2005 using $600,000 worth of grants to fund three years of study. Rest of Article. . . [Mark Godsey]

Breath Tests and Psych Exams for the NYPD

From NYTimes.com: The New York City Police Department is moving to require officers to take breath tests for alcohol if they shoot someone and to undergo a psychological screening when they become candidates for undercover work, Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly announced yesterday. Both measures are among the recommendations of a panel created after a Queens man was fatally shot in November in a volley of 50 bullets fired by officers.

Mr. Kelly, who set up the panel in December, said he had accepted all 19 of its recommendations, which included hiring actors to help train officers in their undercover roles as gun dealers or narcotics traffickers and creating programs to teach the public about the need for such operations.

He said he would send the recommendations to senior commanders for feedback and hoped to have the changes in place quickly after he heard from them. Rest of Article. . . [Mark Godsey]

28 States Allow Juveniles to Appear in Court in Chains

From USATODAY.com: The U.S. Supreme Court has said repeatedly that the sight of shackles on a defendant in a courtroom can unfairly influence a jury. Adult defendants may appear in court in shackles, but not in front of a jury that decides their fate.

In almost all juvenile proceedings, though, a defendant's fate is in the hands of a judge, not a jury. Juvenile court procedures vary among the states and even within counties, so it's unclear precisely how many juvenile courts routinely shackle young defendants. But USA TODAY has found that in 28 states, some juvenile courts routinely keep defendants in restraints during court appearances.

Routine shackling is a better-safe-than-sorry approach, many juvenile justice officials say. Teenage impulsiveness can lead to an escape attempt or an attack on a lawyer, judge or spectator, they say, and outdated security in some courtrooms and inadequate manpower heighten the risk.

Rest of Article. . . [Mark Godsey]

California Supreme Court Upholds Knock and Talk Rule

From SignOnSan Diego.com: The California State Supreme Court decided yesterday that police don't have to corroborate information from an anonymous tip before asking a homeowner's permission to search a residence.

The unanimous decision stems from a January 2004 arrest of an Oceanside man, Juan Rivera, and centers on a common police tactic known as “knock and talk.”

That is where police go to a home, knock on the door and ask the residents if they can come in and conduct a search. If consent is given, police don't have to obtain a search warrant. Also, it allows them to act on anonymous information without first confirming it.

The Supreme Court ruling is believed to be the first time the high court has formally said that the “knock and talk” technique doesn't violate the Fourth Amendment as long as the homeowner allows police in.

Federal courts and some lower state courts have come to the same conclusion, but Rivera's case is the first time the California Supreme Court addressed the issue.  Rest of Article. . . [Mark Godsey]

Text Messaging 911 is Now Okay in LA

From LATimes.com: The Los Angeles Police Department on Tuesday announced plans to pursue improvements to the city's 911 system, saying callers in the future will be able to use text messages, photos and even video from cellphones to seek emergency assistance.

Officials told the L.A. Police Commission that they were beginning to seek money to install the new system, which they believe could aid crime fighting by providing callers with alternative ways to alert authorities and provide evidence swiftly.

"Sometimes a person calls 911 and says they just saw a robbery and they've snapped an image or video of the getaway car," said Sgt. Lee Sands. "We want to find a way to get that to officers in the field as fast as possible."

Officials said there are times when it's easier for someone in need to text for help rather than call. "There are circumstances when a person during a kidnap or robbery can't talk to an operator but they can message them," Sands said. Rest of Article. . . [Mark Godsey]

Citizen Video Highlights Police Brutality

From potw.news.com: On May Day, 2007, the Los Angeles police made front page news after clashing with protesters in a public park. Images of baton-wielding officers and cowering protesters, journalists among them, renewed an angry debate over police brutality in a city still scarred by the memory of the Rodney King beating.

Citizen video has left an indelible mark on Los Angeles. The King video is the best-known example, but far from the only one. In 2002, a tourist filmed 16-year-old Donovan Jackson being punched and slammed against a police cruiser in Inglewood. Last year, a UCLA student taped an incident in which another student was hit by a stun gun at a school library. The video spread quickly across the Internet.

"This type of stuff happens every day in L.A.," says Sherman Austin, founder of Cop Watch LA, an activist group that was quick to post images and clips of the May Day incident. "It's just a coincidence sometimes there's a video camera around to videotape." Rest of Article. . . [Mark Godsey]

LAPD Issues a Report About May Mishap

From NPR.com: The Los Angeles Police Commission issues a report on its investigation of alleged police misconduct during the May 1 MacArthur Park pro-immigration rally and march. Listen. . . [Mark Godsey]

NY Prison Has Center for Dementia

From washingtonpost.com: Prisons have been dealing with the special needs of older prisoners for years, but the one in Fishkill, New York state prison is considered unique because it specializes in dementia-related conditions.

The unit _ 30 beds on the third floor of the prison's medical center _ is a first for New York and possibly the nation, though experts say it likely won't be the last as more people grow old behind bars.

The unit has the clean-white-wall feel of a nursing home _ but for the prison bars. A marker board in the day room includes a picture of a sun with a smiley face and a reminder to "Have a great day." The activity calendar lists puppies on Thursday and bingo on Friday. As long as they behave, patients can wander from their rooms to the day room.

"They're still in prison," said Fishkill superintendent William Connolly. "This is just a unique environment within a prison environment."

Connolly said the men's crimes are not considered in the screening process, though their prison record matters. The idea is to provide proper care and a safe environment. Rest of Article. . . [Mrk Godsey]

Investigation into Guards Breaking Juveniles' Bones

From USATODAY.com:Texas authorities are investigating whether guards at state juvenile detention facilities broke the bones of 60 young offenders as a result of abusive tactics. The newly disclosed review comes amid spreading concerns about the treatment of teenage inmates.

The investigation is part of a criminal inquiry into the Texas Youth Commission, one of the nation's largest juvenile justice systems, with about 4,000 offenders. It was triggered by medical reports over five years showing inmates were treated for suspicious breaks, commonly the humerus, the long bone in the upper arm, according to Dr. Ben Raimer, who oversees commission health care services for the University of Texas Medical Branch.

Investigators suspect the arm injuries occurred when guards yanked offenders' arms upward while the limbs were shackled behind the youths' backs, said Jay Kimbrough, who has been appointed by Gov. Rick Perry to direct the state inquiry.

"There are enough of these injuries to cause us serious concern," Kimbrough said.

The review has grown out of a broader investigation of sexual abuse and physical assaults of inmates and other improper conduct by the staff. Rest of Article. . . [Mark Godsey]

Kansas Keeps Lowering the Cost and Quality of Prison Food

From Kansas.com: A thin puddle of sloppy joe mixture stares up from the plastic tray, not far from a purplish lump of bread pudding and small pool of mustard greens.

It's lunchtime at the Sedgwick County, Kansas Jail. The food's not pretty, but many would argue it's not supposed to be.

What it is, is cheap -- likely no more than 40 cents' worth of food in all.

Like many governmental entities, Sedgwick County has significantly reduced the amount it spends to feed inmates.

Last year, the county contracted with a local company, Wichita Canteen, to feed prisoners for $1.23 per meal, from which labor, profit and other costs are taken.

In February, it made a deal with the Louisiana-based ABL Management to do the same job for $1.01. With the jail serving about 3,900 meals a day, that's a savings to the county of several hundred thousand dollars a year.

The contract change attracted little attention at the time. But last week, county commissioner Gwen Welshimer ate lunch at the jail and told The Eagle it was "not something you'd serve humans."

Another commissioner, Kelly Parks, said he ate 80 percent of his jail meal. But he told The Eagle he found a small piece of plastic in one of his meatballs, and suffered from heartburn that afternoon.

Despite their experiences, neither commissioner thinks the county needs to spend more money on inmates' meals. Rest of Article. . . [Mark Godsey]

MA Dept of Corrections Held Inmates Longer Than Their Sentences

From boston.com: The state Department of Correction, staggered by a string of disclosures about its wrongful confinement of at least 14 inmates, said yesterday it is scrapping its system for calculating inmate sentences and is devising new methods to make sure prisoners serve only their legal terms.

At the same time the department also revealed that an inmate previously described to the Globe as having been held 34 days too long was actually released more than two years -- 790 days -- after he should have been.

Lawrence R. Burhoe of Charlestown, who served time for armed robbery and assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, learned of the mistake yesterday.

"How could they do that?" said Burhoe, who was released from prison last April. "I'm kind of overwhelmed. I had told them, 'I don't owe you any more time. My time is up.' "

The acknowledgement that the sentencing system will be overhauled comes eight days after Public Safety Secretary Kevin M. Burke said he was ordering a sweeping review of state prison operations after a Globe Spotlight Team report revealed a series of sentence miscalculations -- errors Burke called inexcusable. Rest of Article. . . [Mark Godsey]