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By David Badertscher, PLL

<p>Source: Crime & Justice News" </p><table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" width="600" border="0"><tbody><tr><td><font color="#000000" size="2"><font color="#000000" size="2">"November 19, 2008</font> <div><font color="#000000" size="2"> </font> </div> <div>-- Eric Holder Seen As Likely First Black Attorney General</div> <div>-- Private Prison Firms Expect Business To Rise In Poor Economy</div> <div>-- TX Grand Jury Indicts Cheney, Gonzales In Private-Prison Case</div> <div>-- PA Officials Can't Explain Why Latest Cop Killer Was Released</div> <div>-- Baltimore Ex-Councilman Murder Case Shows Justice System Woes</div> <div>-- Murders Occur Near New Orleans Cameras Broken By Hurricane</div> <div>-- Crime Down In Illinois, Up In Counties Near St. Louis</div> <div>-- Black Memphis Officials Vote To Keep Cop Residency Rule</div> <div>-- Court Interpreter Shortage Worsens As Immigration Cases Rise</div> <div>-- TX Gov. Perry Seeks Action On Illegal Immigrant Jail Releases</div> <div>-- Critic Faults Houston Chronicle On Immigrant-Jail Series</div> <div>-- Mailman Gets Probation For Not Delivering Junk Mail</div> <p> </p><p> </p></font></td></tr><tr><td><font color="#000000" size="2"><br/><font color="#000000" size="2">Eric Holder Seen As Likely First Black Attorney General <div>Eric Holder, a former No. 2 Justice Department official, has been told that he can become the nation's first African-American attorney general, McClatchy Newspapers report. While President-elect Barack Obama hasn't formally tapped Holder, one person with direct knowledge said "it's his if he wants it.' older would be faced with divisive legal controversies, including the Bush administration policies on torture, electronic eavesdropping, and the imprisonment of terror suspects without charges, trials or the right to challenge their detention. Holder's wife, Dr. Sharon Malone, an obstetrician/gynecologist, has voiced reservations about his returning to public service. Holder has said that his wife "was almost a single parent'while he was in government in the 1990s, and that as far as his returning, "That ain't gonna happen." The couple has three children. </div> <p>A friend of Holder said: 'ow can you say 'no' to being the first African-American attorney general of the United States?' ord of the likely nomination brought a strong endorsement from Democratic Sen. Patrick Leahy, the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Leahy said Holder, 57, 'ould make an outstanding nominee, and should have the support of senators from both sides of the aisle if President-elect Obama were to choose him for this critical position.'</p><a href="http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=00118fs9UF-MaSmGfkInlG6Cca45IO6GnIegW5nYZLEjWsJw5prHR2L8mEN4sRn0iHWu6MfWlto57Q2jKgpzY9wkLzEJUb-Ge33A-PrnvNXs7UC2BkhyYZevNdosoBaoq1q1jXDTdVAZ-9bdUeWaRPWTQ==" shape="rect" color="#0000FF" target="_blank">McClatchy Newspapers</a> </font></font></td></tr><tr><td><font color="#000000" size="2"><br/><font color="#000000" size="2">Private Prison Firms Expect Business To Rise In Poor Economy <div>Prison companies expect a wave of new business as the economic downturn makes it difficult for federal and state government officials to build and operate their own facilities, says the Wall Street Journal. The U.S. Bureau of Prisons and several states have sent thousands of inmates in recent months to prisons and detention centers run by Corrections Corp. of America, Geo Group Inc. and other private operators, as a crackdown on illegal immigration, a lengthening of mandatory sentences, and other factors have overcrowded many facilities. </div> <p>Experts expect inmate populations in 10 states to increase by 25 percent or more between 2006 and 2011, says the Pew Charitable Trusts. Corrections Corp., the largest U.S. private-prison operator, with 64 facilities, has built two prisons this year and expanded nine facilities, and it plans to finish two more in 2009. The Nashville, Tenn., company put 1,680 new prison beds into service in its third quarter, helping boost net income 14 percent to $37.9 million. California has shipped more than 5,100 inmates to private prisons run by Corrections Corp. in Arizona, Mississippi, and other states since late 2006. Geo Group, of Boca Raton, Fl., the second-largest prison company, has built or expanded eight facilities this year in Georgia, Texas, Mississippi, and other states, and it plans seven more expansions or new prisons by 2010. </p><a href="http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=00118fs9UF-MaSZb5mbFm6a9iVaWdK_hv-tuIXUalN1KKNVOPo5B_uZY3oUFPjUH9mKgYMIL7uJdZ7LuRu3s4USg_43riJMfzsVMfuQLGU9zKALhJB1Ru9gd1GnD5LKf0fYjlyh-zD1OVDPSgSJ37OYCfgyYFOBXnu-" shape="rect" color="#0000FF" target="_blank">Wall Street Journal</a> </font></font></td></tr><tr><td><font color="#000000" size="2"><br/><font color="#000000" size="2">TX Grand Jury Indicts Cheney, Gonzales In Private-Prison Case <div>A Texas grand jury has indicted Vice President Dick Cheney and former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales on state charges related to the alleged abuse of prisoners in Willacy County's federal detention centers, reports the Associated Press. The indictment was released yesterday in a county that has been a source of bizarre legal and political battles in recent years. Another of the indictments named a state senator on charges of profiting from his position. Cheney's indictment on a charge of engaging in an organized criminal activity criticizes his investment in the Vanguard Group, which holds interests in the private prison companies running the federal detention centers. It accuses Cheney of a conflict of interest and 't least misdemeanor assaults' on detainees because of his link to the prison companies. </div> <p>The indictment accuses Gonzales of using his position while in office to stop an investigation in 2006 into abuses at one of the privately run prisons. Gonzalez's attorney, George Terwilliger III, said, 'This is obviously a bogus charge on its face, as any good prosecutor can recognize. Hopefully, competent Texas authorities will take steps to reign in this abuse of the criminal justice system.' Willacy County has become a prison hub with county, state, and federal lockups. </p><a href="http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=00118fs9UF-MaTKoZCf48x1321HrVkS86NT_rZjpOLpcTE6xEi3cbMXLK0-CmusILithwovrdjAVdyfZGZt8_Qicnff_oXswVEEZxqPjzoMSRIzva8ogOSII6SIrkuRqZ3gLF-ODC-qyLSGd9IVC4QIwUs1ylxYniKj" shape="rect" color="#0000FF" target="_blank">Associated Press/Law.com</a> </font></font></td></tr><tr><td><font color="#000000" size="2"><br/><font color="#000000" size="2">PA Officials Can't Explain Why Latest Cop Killer Was Released <div>William Allan Foster should have been in jail on Monday rather than behind the wheel of the car that killed Philadelphia Police Sgt. Timothy Simpson, says the Philadelphia Inquirer. Foster, 41, has spent much of his adult life in prison for drug, theft and escape convictions. He was released from a New Jersey prison in March and ordered to stay in touch with parole officials. In August, he was arrested in Pennsylvania on theft charges, and spent four days in jail before making bail. He was let go even though New Jersey officials said they had communicated told the facility where he was being held that they wanted him for violating parole. On Nov. 5, he was again arrested, this time for shoplifting. Once again, he was released. </div> <p>Deputy Police Commissioner William Blackburn said officials were investigating why Foster was let go. 'There's no reason in the world this person should be on the street,' Blackburn said. Officials were unable to explain the breakdown in communication between jurisdictions. 'This is a tragedy, what happened,' said Bucks County, Pa., District Attorney Michelle Henry. </p><a href="http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=00118fs9UF-MaTf2RIgvQ67LJ3UVNhfbTMlwW6uqnyhJm-RYrVc9ufXXkUQxvvRF1YmaJfs7QDbSddA_44WhbIcEX6PrcMunFC1evIAw8zhuviYzfqrnXOnve4XzvfghVI3hOUAwMvD4c2fqHeWX9CTRpoD9YbllZ_xKcTHwmpHA-heT4QbV0x8mGVQoROOTSd9xDm5-3VuJKbB8uSFV-BBqA==" shape="rect" color="#0000FF" target="_blank">Philadelphia Inquirer</a> </font></font></td></tr><tr><td><font color="#000000" size="2"><br/><font color="#000000" size="2">Baltimore Ex-Councilman Murder Case Shows Justice System Woes <div>Glance at Charles McGaney's rap sheet, and you wonder why he wasn't in jail when police say he and two others shot and killed former City Councilman Kenneth N. Harris Sr. outside a jazz club, says Baltimore Sun columnist Peter Hermann. On June 13, prosecutors dropped a drug charge against him because 'laboratory report not available.' In August, he pleaded guilty to possessing a .handgun and is sentenced to jail for 85 days, the time he'd already served awaiting trial. In September, theft charges involving two stolen 17-inch chrome Cadillac tire rims were dropped after two city officers and the victim didn't show up for trial. </div> <p>McGaney's resume shows an all-too-familiar series of missed opportunities, sloppy work, bureaucratic foul- ups, uncaring victims, and uncooperative witnesses, says Hermann. 'In short, it's symptomatic of a beleaguered criminal justice system that has long struggled to keep pace with crime.' A man convicted of a handgun charge for which he could have been imprisoned for two years serves fewer than three months, and now he's accused of killing a former councilman a few weeks after he walks out of jail. Sound painfully familiar? </p><a href="http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=00118fs9UF-MaTf1VFW0n9kH7VGSBoFLLzk3FMtRYf1DBBytpGsczNS1T71ZXoOXhciOOwsCqIp_hLXdFQxqIXCG2A1Ng8M1_CY4JKuC0_zPENJXw7GLOxpEtCy3vV9e05gHXvdnsPCRjWNu5Uk8HMR95Pltz-q9ceQz4-AcJsGsqRzwAQuqm-IaTU9bVAne_MJF_HJgVtLelQ=" shape="rect" color="#0000FF" target="_blank">Baltimore Sun</a> </font></font></td></tr><tr><td><font color="#000000" size="2"><br/><font color="#000000" size="2">Murders Occur Near New Orleans Cameras Broken By Hurricane <div>New Orleans has experienced two murders in three days near inoperable crime cameras, says the New Orleans Times-Picayune. Mayor Ray Nagin's spokeswoman, Ceeon Quiett, confirmed that both cameras don't work -- along with scores of others in the city. She blamed the camera damage on Hurricane Gustav and said the city has started repairing them and will repair all of them soon. Complaints about inoperable -- or ineffective and expensive -- crime cameras have dogged the city since it launched the controversial crime-fighting effort. </div> <p>Hurricane Gustav damaged 100 of the 240 cameras installed citywide. The city's goal, said Councilwoman Stacy Head, is to repair enough cameras to bring the total back up to 200. The debate over the usefulness of the crime cameras has raged since well before this year's hurricane. Some question whether they work at all to stop crime even when they're not broken. New Orleans Police Department Superintendent Warren Riley said yesterday that, 'The videos that we have had helped us tremendously.' Five years ago, Mayor Ray Nagin promised more than 1,000 cameras across the city. The city contracts for cameras have been cloaked in secrecy, causing a rift between the administration and some City Council members. </p><a href="http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=00118fs9UF-MaTXBoxtBfCA3Qxc3QLFRofFa1A96b3YJs9rZptZrkyhiHQRrDgNgC-h2_swOEaPC-puHYkXHXuq5NaGAz1o6rTXNKKC2p4rPhCUKbOlQx8LkQPrdAcGg9HOTqV-XP5HVqPqLTTeZ4nydrQB0eg69JeZDtvtfiVn8otn-4sHN9M2ab9cGicWy3ru" shape="rect" color="#0000FF" target="_blank">New Orleans Times-Picayune</a> </font></font></td></tr><tr><td><font color="#000000" size="2"><br/><font color="#000000" size="2">Crime Down In Illinois, Up In Counties Near St. Louis </font>The crime rate in several Illinois counties near St. Louis rose last year while the statewide crime rate dropped, says the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. "Crime in Illinois 2007," the latest statistical report by the state police, is available on the agency's website (isp.state.il.us). Statewide, according to the report, the crime rate fell by 3.6 percent. Chicago, the state's largest city, had a 3.5 percent drop. Illinois does not count crimes under the guidelines used in most of the nation, so their statistics are not included in the FBI's annual Uniform Crime Report. The state publishes its own statistics every fall. <p>East St. Louis reported a 20 percent rise in murders: 30 killings in 2007, up from 25 the year before. So far this year, the murders have dropped. Police Chief Michael Baxton said his department had been sweeping drug houses and taking back street corners. Although the East St. Louis murder number was higher in 2007, it's nowhere near the levels in the late 1980s. In 1989, East St. Louis reported 63 murders - more than double its total last year. </p><a href="http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=00118fs9UF-MaRzsc5TXcJCXEBAqwKjkO0IOotEQeV5Km182clECzOp7pqiv0euuodLeqo07hrLMPGVRH4ZJIqO-Lwhe2Hvh63c_QNp1tkzPk7jYdywXNH30AjOVn_LFSGJKcvhAmeUse--Yx5w-uQ4oPmKWJUVjvlEJjjshBSiAJn0ZZNvYDXsDJ1gDHADLaRJTCow39tb9S40YfSgtFphCbX6F01BkufA807fS5yq3qJyBREaFse0IA==" shape="rect" color="#0000FF" target="_blank">St. Louis Post-Dispatch</a> </font></td></tr><tr><td><font color="#000000" size="2"><br/><font color="#000000" size="2">Black Memphis Officials Vote To Keep Cop Residency Rule <div>After an intense, five-hour debate last night, Memphis's City Council voted down a resolution that would have allowed new police officers to live within 20 miles of the Shelby County line, reports the Memphis Commercial Appeal. The council voted 7-6 along racial lines to kill the plan. In the days leading up to the vote council members were swamped with phone calls and e-mail messages -- driven in large part by talk radio -- asking them to support the resolution. </div> <p>About 200 residents, most of them in favor of relaxing the residency requirement, packed the council chambers to express their displeasure with the city's crime rate and to plead for more police officers. White council members favored the resolution; black members opposed it. Several members who voted against the resolution have said that the police department is not doing enough to hire local officers, especially African-Americans. Many of the people who spoke in favor of relaxing the residency requirement relayed their own personal experiences with crime, bringing some to the verge of tears. </p><a href="http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=00118fs9UF-MaQqWsw40zo0_UmXqeEbRAqpurKcFnwNn8BZkKd2_NYBlmq803fgZ8PFZSYrXJHSDgbGeewnwdUWgzdCIWJG84PokO8GzwfVheVK3oatt5UvjyaMH9Wp3KD1VhqL96WMTFDNaLymzfKJmMvTWyef88rykFB-_OKqweLsLXojzXrW-RfDtYQRMW2TUow9Wp3RZyr8QkrKSqOAsWAzxHb4hXES" shape="rect" color="#0000FF" target="_blank">Memphis Commercial Appeal</a> </font></font></td></tr><tr><td><font color="#000000" size="2"> <p><br/><font color="#000000" size="2">Court Interpreter Shortage Worsens As Immigration Cases Rise </font></p> <p>A shortage of certified court interpreters is worsening as law enforcement agencies step up actions against illegal immigrants, reports USA Today. Arrests leading to federal prosecutions and deportations reached record levels in fiscal year 2008. Wanda Romberger of the National Center for State Courts, says that almost every state is being confronted with a lack of certified interpreters - who have to pass difficult exams - especially in languages other than Spanish. There are about 3,000 certified interpreters, says Isabel Framer of the National Association of Judiciary Interpreters and Translators. Only 500 work in languages other than Spanish. </p> <p>The Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts reported 17 percent increase in the number of events requiring interpreters in 115 languages in federal courts from October 2006 to September 2007. A Virginia-based immigration lawyer says she 'repeatedly had to reschedule cases because there was no interpreter.' Administrative Office spokesman Richard Carelli says federal courts provide adequate interpreters for most Spanish speakers, who represent 95 percent of immigration-related cases. Carelli said that 'finding interpreters for certain indigenous dialects from Central and South American countries has presented problems.' </p><a href="http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=00118fs9UF-MaTDqcps8wDvkBNjkPgAb1QfXG4Yd9vC-Y6jEcHrO6kPxP8ksymux8XAXQQ53LAhsJwxNNlLPLF-pN4GQAgPuff8eSNJOiyoonVrUpoIvl2Ej2gpvF-lTyb4ephIHG5u0TpUr1JGg6jNHU3PSGozWqQ7Nn3r6r2rNEi91-Rrb-hQrQ==" shape="rect" color="#0000FF" target="_blank">USA Today</a> </font></td></tr><tr><td><font color="#000000" size="2"><br/><font color="#000000" size="2">TX Gov. Perry Seeks Action On Illegal Immigrant Jail Releases <div>Texas Gov. Rick Perry and members of the state congressional delegation have called on the federal government to help state and local officials ensure that illegal immigrants who commit crimes in Texas remain in custody until they are deported, reports the Houston Chronicle. Perry wrote to Homeland Security secretary Michael Chertoff he was outraged to learn that many convicted illegal immigrants in Texas jails were released after they completed their jail sentences instead of being deported. </div> <p>In a series this week, the Chronicle outlined gaps in the screening of inmates in local jails that allowed scores of violent criminals, including some ordered deported decades ago, to walk away from Harris County Jail despite the inmates' admission to Harris County jailers that they were in the country illegally. The Chronicle examined arrest and immigration records for 3,500 inmates who told jailers that they were in the country illegally during a span of eight months starting in June 2007, the earliest immigration records available. In 177 cases reviewed by the Chronicle, inmates who were released from jail after admitting to being in the country illegally later were charged with additional crimes. Harris County's newly elected district attorney, Pat Lykos, said the federal Immigation and Customs Enforcement agency needs to be in the Harris County courthouse "24-7" and improve screening of illegal immigrants so prosecutors have more reliable information when making bond recommendations and considering plea agreements. </p><a href="http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=00118fs9UF-MaRwWgP6vwklU2InXQKI2M0AAjvXtpKMrwBVbFABFcnUWSJRz3feNMhMEZ3q2vvsMtCo7mhUQBi8LpUN6NPIoHLXQZR1nTUfksEBubQOrPs8bL5srKOelVTFEmeQ0uC_63RdupoSKH5j9QMHBU1fyBdJ0itd0rW8RFw=" shape="rect" color="#0000FF" target="_blank">Houston Chronicle</a> </font></font></td></tr><tr><td><font color="#000000" size="2"> <p><br/><font color="#000000" size="2">Critic Faults Houston Chronicle On Immigrant-Jail Series </font></p> <p>The Houston Chronicle's series on immigrants in the local justice system has been critiqued by blogger Scott Henson of Gritsforbreakfast, which focuses on Texas criminal justice. The Chronicle reported that 3/4 of illegal immigrants processed through Houston's Harris County Jail are not flagged for deportation by federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents. Henson says the Chronicle examined no control group so it's impossible to know how immigrants' cases compare with other offenders. The newspaper said, </p> <p>There is no conclusive research to show whether illegal immigrants are more likely than their U.S.-born counterparts to abscond on state charges while out on bail." If that's the case, is this really a story? Henson asks. </p> <p>He adds: 'We know illegal immigrants are much less likely to commit crimes than Americans; it wouldn't surprise me if they're also less likely to abscond or commit new offenses while on bail. Even if you deport somebody, Henson says, it's still pretty easy to get back across the river. While many people see deportation as a fitting punishment when an illegal immigrant commits a crime, in reality it does little to keep the bad guys from returning. Though the Chronicle criticized placing illegal immigrants on probation, in some instances that's a safer bet for the public than shipping somebody back to their home country, says Henson. When that happens, they can come back any time they like with no probation or oversight. </p><a href="http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=00118fs9UF-MaSYH8J5lqkwEk_bMQaa0WXSjL2QIpmaTiYniyCyFavcgWT0DSal7Sb8llxZYzF7f9ThA0ZInKORS7W9kmW7AtN82ey34jx4SUgxGP8JNy94pB1xnJNACy8T" shape="rect" color="#0000FF" target="_blank">Grits For Breakfast blog</a> </font></td></tr><tr><td><font color="#000000" size="2"> <p><br/><font color="#000000" size="2">Mailman Gets Probation For Not Delivering Junk Mail </font></p> <p>A mailman's failure to deliver junk mail for years is not an offense worthy of imprisonment, a federal judge in North Carolina decided today, says the Raleigh News & Observer. 'Today you'll get credit for a life well lived,' U.S. District Judge James C. Dever III told Steven Padgett. Dever could have sent Padgett to prison under federal sentencing guidelines; instead, he put him on three years' probation, fined him $3,000 and ordered him to perform 500 hours of community service. Padgett, 58, apologized to the postal service for the crime of delaying and destroying mail. </p> <p>When asked, none of Padgett's customers complained about his failure to deliver the mail. Postal inspectors this spring discovered the third-class mail piled in the garage of Padgett's home and buried in his yard. The U.S. Postal Service was contacted by a utility worker who noticed the excess mail at Padgett's house. </p><a href="http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=00118fs9UF-MaQlv6yWLmzyAY7GXNnq3xURLIWmn4ztVskYL0JF9zoCd00KGMDv9h_VZQXQMn5XnU_OGluOgLuTI3Eh_TQ4WVdHu12zNcMm5yjmaNSWBpvc8TzVKyNoPHAdNOcS-7GFg0LYSJH_SnYHfWoYfSqDsM25EaukhX6crU8=" shape="rect" color="#0000FF" target="_blank">Raleigh News & Observer</a> </font></td></tr></tbody></table>

Full post as published by New York Supreme Court Criminal Term Library on November 20, 2008 (boomark / email).