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Today In Criminal Justice
Chicago's 'Miserable Milestone' -- 600th Homicide Recorded
Mother Jailed in MS 96 Days, Never Saw a Lawyer or Judge
Sexual Assault Emerges as Big 2016 Campaign Issue
University Dilemma: When to Tell Campus About Sex Assaults
Trial Begins In U. Virginia Staffer’s Case Vs. Rolling Stone
Derrick Rose Trial Raises Issue of Consent in Sex Cases
Changing Texas Gun Control Laws: A Closer Look
How Ft. Worth Police Use Less-than-Lethal Weapons
NYC Officer Shoots Woman to Death, Avoids Stun Gun
The ‘Strange Two-Year Saga’ of Seattle’s Police Body Cams
Six Detroit Police Officers Suspended in FBI Towing Probe
District Attorney Races Heat Up in Some Counties
Toll of Officers Killed in Criminal Acts Declined to 41 Last Year
ICE Extends Contract for Private Detention Facility in TX
Top Story
Chicago's 'Miserable Milestone' -- 600th Homicide RecordedA 28-year-old man was killed Monday night in Chicago’s West Englewood neighborhood, pushing Chicago past what the Chicago Sun-Times calls the “miserable milestone’ of 600 homicides this year, a 24 percent uptick over the same period last year, and 100 killings more than the homicide totals in New York and Los Angeles combined. Nonfatal shootings also are way up citywide. As of last week, more than 2,100 people had been wounded this year and survived, compared with about 1,400 people shot in the same time period in 2015.
“It wasn’t always like this,” said Vernadette Taylor of the West Englewood area. “Within the last two or three years it’s gotten to be almost like you’re in the middle of a war zone.” As of mid-October, police had made arrests in 115 homicide cases this year. Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson put much blame for the violence rise on “repeat gun offenders.” He said, “While we have increased our enforcement efforts this month … the lack of accountability for repeat gun offenders is sickening and it continues to drive the cycle of violence in Chicago.” He said current anticrime strategy is focusing on “expanding the size of the department, building a partnership with residents and working with legislators to ensure our sentencing laws help keep repeat gun offenders in jail where they belong.” Chicago Sun-Times Mother Jailed in MS 96 Days, Never Saw a Lawyer or JudgePulled over for traffic violations, Jessica Jauch was held for 96 days in a Mississippi jail without seeing a judge, getting a lawyer, or having a chance to make bail, the Associated Press reports. She was charged with a felony based on a secretly recorded video that prosecutors finally acknowledged showed her committing no crime. Only when she got a hearing and a lawyer, who persuaded prosecutors to watch the video, did the case fall apart. The 34-year-old mother sued, alleging violations of her rights to bail, legal representation, a speedy trial, and liberty.
A federal judge dismissed her case against Choctaw County and Sheriff Cloyd Halford, ruling that because she had been indicted by a grand jury on a felony drug charge, none of her constitutional and legal rights were violated. The outcome disturbs civil liberties advocates who have been waging legal battles to reform Mississippi’s criminal justice system, which provides almost no state funding for public defenders. “I can’t think of a situation where denying someone an appearance before a judge for 96 days after arrest passes constitutional muster,” said attorney Cliff Johnson, who has sued Mississippi localities over pretrial detention and high bails for indigent defendants. Similar lawsuits have been filed across the nation. The American Civil Liberties Union is working state by state to force increased funding for public defenders, particularly in places where court-appointed lawyers depend on stingy local governments and court fees to get paid. Associated Press Sexual Assault Emerges as Big 2016 Campaign IssueLess than three weeks before Election Day, the 2016 campaign is focused on an unusual, emotional, and highly politicized topic for a presidential race: sexual assault, reports the Washington Post. Republican Donald Trump and his surrogates have denied allegations that the candidate sexually assaulted nine women, casting doubts on their credibility, asserting their allegations are lies and, in Trump’s case, mocking their looks. Trump and his allies have bolstered the stories of women who have accused Bill Clinton of sexual improprieties, castigating the news media for not believing them.
Much of the debate has been shaped by cultural shifts that have dissipated the stigma of sexual assault and shifted public sympathy toward survivors, said Scott Berkowitz of the Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network. “It’s certainly become a much bigger part of the election than we ever anticipated,” he said. “It’s a positive that the country’s talking about this issue and acknowledging it and that we’re not pretending it doesn’t exist, but certainly it’s disheartening at the same time.” The debate has been painful for victims of sexual assault, who now must endure nonstop coverage of allegations of groping and kissing without consent. Many fear that brushing off such allegations, as Trump and his backers have done, minimizes the fact that it is a pervasive problem that affects millions of women and men. “Personally it’s been really challenging to have our country talking about an issue that touches me so deeply and personally,” said Nikki Fortunato Bas, who attended a rally of sexual assault survivors at Trump Tower in New York City yesterday. Recent events have been a breaking point, she said, that led her to publicly say she had been assaulted. The Washington Post University Dilemma: When to Tell Campus About Sex AssaultsWhen a student athlete at California’s San Jose State University was accused of sexually assaulting two women at an off-campus party over Labor Day weekend, the school acted decisively, the Associated Press reports. The student was ordered to stay away from the women involved and was moved from his dorm into a staff housing facility. He was also suspended from campus and team events pending the result of an investigation. University officials acted quietly, prompting many students to ask why they were kept in the dark about the alleged assaults. Fueling the criticism, the suspect, who was identified as an international student, left the U.S. as authorities investigated.
Legal experts say it’s a delicate issue. Students have an interest in knowing immediately if a perpetrator is on their campus. Schools also need to protect students’ privacy before an arrest is made or charges filed. One proposed solution is for schools to notify students of suspected assaults in police-blotter style, without divulging details that could identify suspects or victims. Given student concerns, San Jose State will review the way it responds in sexual assault cases. “I believe it is time to re-examine and consider changes to notification policies,” said President Mary Papazian. The case follows the high-profile trial of former Stanford University athlete Brock Turner, who was convicted of attacking a woman while she was passed out near a trash bin on campus last year. Turner’s six-month prison sentence prompted national outrage and ignited a debate about campus rape and the criminal justice system. Associated Press Trial Begins In U. Virginia Staffer’s Case Vs. Rolling StoneWhen a University of Virginia student confided in staff member Nicole Eramo that she had been gang-raped at a fraternity, Eramo says she took the shocking account seriously — so seriously that she referred the student to police, twice, the Washington Post reports. Eramo says she tried to do everything she could to persuade the student to report the incident to authorities, including the student’s claims that two other women had similarly been gang-raped at the same fraternity. If true, women on campus were in danger, and it was Eramo’s job to protect them.
The student, “Jackie,” then came to her again saying she had spoken to Rolling Stone magazine about her rape. Rolling Stone appeared to be misrepresenting her account and was going to make Eramo look bad, said the student. Eramo testified in federal court yesterday that the 2014 article did more than make her look bad. She said the magazine willfully ignored facts, didn’t seek the truth, and sought to distort reality to fit a predetermined narrative, ultimately destroying her credibility, costing her a position helping sexual assault victims at U-Va. and creating emotional turmoil. Rolling Stone ultimately retracted the story, and Eramo is suing the magazine. In a statement, Rolling Stone said Eramo’s testimony shows that Jackie’s account was believable at the time: “Throughout Eramo’s testimony, it was abundantly clear that she believed in the credibility of Jackie, whom she counseled for many months.” Washington Post Derrick Rose Trial Raises Issue of Consent in Sex CasesNo one disputes that New York Knicks player Derrick Rose and his friends had sex with an ex-girlfriend in her apartment in 2013. The question in a $21 million civil case on trial in Los Angeles is whether she gave her consent — as the men claim — or whether she was too incapacitated to do so — as she insists, the Associated Press reports. There is no commonly accepted definition for consent, which is at the heart of a “patchwork quilt” of evolving laws on rape and sexual assault that in some cases require an affirmative agreement before sex, said Rebecca O’Connor of the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network. “It is murky, and I think that’s where we’re seeing a lot states try to clear the weeds, if you will, and take this on and make it clear. “It’s so complicated we can never just say it’s black and white.”
Rape was once defined as intercourse with force against a woman’s will. Reform efforts in some states led to rape being defined more by the non-consent of the victim than a use of force by the perpetrator. States including California have gone further in deciding that consent can be withdrawn during sex and that a victim can be too incapacitated to agree to the act. The topic has been raised in the presidential campaign with the 2005 recording of Republican nominee Donald Trump bragging about grabbing women’s genitalia and several women accusing him of groping them. “People are starting to recognize that even if they didn’t fit whatever mythological circumstance people think needs to happen in order for it to be rape or sexual assault, that there is in fact that gray area where it’s still nonconsensual,” O’Connor said. “Even if you wore a skirt or you didn’t outwardly force someone off you, this may legally fall into the realm of sexual assault.” Associated Press Changing Texas Gun Control Laws: A Closer LookGun violence in Texas is on the rise, writes Houston attorney Brett Podolsky in a commentary for TCR. Some suggest that the state’s Bill 901 which allows citizens to carry loaded guns in public is a key reason. The Crime Report How Ft. Worth Police Use Less-than-Lethal WeaponsBrandon Ishmael told police in Ft. Worth, Tx., on Oct. 7 to kill him, but “we declined,” said SWAT officer Paul Genualdo. Instead, they shot Ishmael, 30, with a large, soft-tipped, bullet-shaped foam projectile designed to cause pain. He then surrendered. Only SWAT officers have access to this weapon right now, but police are considering providing a similar weapons system to patrol supervisors, the Ft. Worth Star-Telegram reports.
“We are currently looking for funding to place less-than-lethal options with our patrol officers as well,” said Marc Povero, police spokesman. In a challenging time for police departments nationwide because of questions surrounding the fatal shootings of mostly African-American men, less-than-lethal options for police officers are being given close scrutiny. “It provides us with the resources to take a person into custody without having to deploy a lethal weapon,” Genualdo said. “Our goal is to always take people into custody, safely. And that includes bad guys.” SWAT members use a launcher for their foam rounds that costs $3,000. The rounds themselves cost about $30 each and have a range of about 100 feet. Officers also have bean-bag rounds that are fired from a 12-gauge Remington 870 shotgun that have a range of about 50 feet Ft. Worth Star-Telegram NYC Officer Shoots Woman to Death, Avoids Stun GunAn emotionally disturbed woman was shot to death last night by a police officer even though he carried a stun gun, the New York Daily News reports. Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. criticized the sergeant for failing to use the electrical weapon instead of his revolver and demanded a full investigation into the death of Deborah Danner, 66.
The sergeant’s alleged failure echoes a much larger issue: are stun guns effective? Until recently, the New York Police Department kept all so called “conducted electrical weapons” (CEWs) out of the hands of officers out of concern for previous scandals. As police departments across the U.S. began embracing stun guns on a large scale 15 years ago, the NYPD allowed only some sergeants and specially trained units to wield them. The reluctance stemmed from the department’s controversial use of an earlier version of the electrical weapon. In 1985, four officers were arrested for torturing three prisoners with handheld stun guns. New York Daily News The ‘Strange Two-Year Saga’ of Seattle’s Police Body CamsThe New York Times magazine reports on what it calls the “strange two-year saga” of how the Seattle Police Department instituted police body cameras, which the magazine says “shows just how complicated total transparency can be.” The body cam program, which was rolled out in 2014, got lots of national attention. After the police shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, expectations were high that body cams could reduce police violence and ensure accountability. When President Obama announced an initiative to distribute $75 million so police departments could buy more of them, he declared that the cameras would “enhance trust between communities and police.”
A widely cited study by University of Cambridge researchers, undertaken in Rialto, Ca., in 2012 and 2013, found that when officers wore the cameras, use of force dropped by 59 percent compared to the previous year, complaints against the police by 88 percent. The Times assesses the “growing national welter of contradictory state laws and department policies signals that there is no settled answer” on how police body cam footage should be used. Some cities allow officers to view it before writing their reports. That was the issue this month in Portland, Or., that caused protesters to storm its City Hall, where police officers met them with bursts of pepper spray. Other cities do not. Some treat all body cam videos as public records; some limit their release. Some mandate a quick deletion of police video; some have no requirements to delete it at all. New York Times Six Detroit Police Officers Suspended in FBI Towing ProbeSix Detroit police officers were suspended yesterday amid an FBI probe into alleged widespread towing corruption in the police department, the Detroit News reports. A source said the suspended officers are accused of taking bribes from a tow company owner in exchange for funneling work, including towing stolen cars, to the firm. Detroit Police Chief James Craig said the officers are expected to be indicted soon. He added that more officers could be suspended.
When a vehicle needs to be towed because it was involved in a crime or was found abandoned or stolen, police officers are supposed to rotate jobs to the 23 tow companies authorized to remove vehicles for the police. Different companies are assigned specific areas in the city. The six suspended officers allegedly were paid by one tow company owner to bypass the other firms on the list. Detroit News
District Attorney Races Heat Up in Some Counties
In the last two years, voters have unseated district attorneys, or defeated an incumbent’s chosen successor, in more than a dozen U.S. counties. Those are small numbers in the context of the nation’s 2,500 elected prosecutors, but they still signal a shift, reports The Marshall Project. “It’d be hard to find a set of a dozen races like this in the early 2000s or 1990s,” says Stanford law Prof. David Sklansky. Election contests that have centered around race, sentencing, juvenile justice, and the death penalty reflect a growing awareness among reformers that with efforts to reduce prison populations stalled in Washington, D.C., and inconsistent in states, local elections are another place to push for change.
“People are scrutinizing their local criminal justice systems, and people are realizing how much power state attorneys have, and they are seeing elections as a way to change those results,” says Deborrah Brodsky of the Project on Accountable Justice at Florida State University. In Harris County, Tx., Republican incumbent Devon Anderson is facing Democratic challenger Kim Ogg, who has the backing of the Houston Chronicle and the local Black Lives Matter movement. Issues include bail and marijuana prosecutions. In the Denver suburbs, Republican incumbent Pete Weir cites his promotion of mental health and veterans courts. Democratic challenger Jake Lilly calls him “old-fashioned.” The Marshall Project 41 Police Officers Killed in Criminal Acts Last Year; A Decline From 2014An annual FBI report says that 41 law enforcement officers died last year as a result of felonious acts, and 45 officers died in accidents. In addition, 50,212 officers were victims of line-of-duty assaults. The number of officers killed as a result of criminal acts in 2015 decreased by 10 when compared with the 51 officers who were feloniously killed in 2014. The five- and 10-year comparisons show a decrease of 31 felonious deaths compared with the 2011 total of 72. The Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund, a private organization, says that this year, 46 officers have been killed already in firearms-related incidents, up from 31 at this time last year.
The average age of the officers who were feloniously killed last year was 40, the FBI said. Eight were investigating suspicious persons or circumstances; seven were involved in tactical situations; six were conducting traffic pursuits/stops; five were killed in arrest situations; four were ambushed; three were killed while answering domestic disturbance calls, and three were killed in unprovoked attacks, the FBI said. Offenders used firearms to kill 38 of the 41 victim officers. Three officers were killed with vehicles used as weapons. The Crime Report ICE Extends Contract for Private Detention Facility in TXThe Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency has extended a contract for the Corrections Corporation of America to keep running the nation’s largest family detention center as a for-profit business for another five years, reports the Huffington Post. ICE renewed the contract despite a surge of criticism against the government’s reliance on private prison contractors. The South Texas Family Residential Center, which the Obama administration hastily constructed in 2014 to detain a sudden influx of Central American mothers and children, has faced its own controversies, with lawsuits questioning the legality of the White House’s family detention policy.
The Department of Justice announced in August that the Bureau of Prisons would phase out its use of private prison contractors after finding that those businesses had more security problems than government-run facilities and did not always save money. The new policy does not apply to immigrant detention centers, but Department of Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson has ordered a review to determine whether ICE should follow the Justice Department’s lead in reducing its reliance on for-profit detention. Under CCA’s extended contract, the company will receive less money than before to run the Texas center. The original contract was worth nearly $1 billion over four years and the company received the money regardless of how many people were locked up there. Huffington Post | |
| | On every business day, The Crime Report (TCR) and Criminal Justice Journalists (CJJ) provide a summary of the nation's top crime and justice news stories with Internet links commentary, and New & Notable research in the field. We gratefully acknowledge the support of the John Jay College of Criminal Justice, the Langeloth Foundation and the Urban Institute. Today's report was prepared by Ted Gest and Alice Popovici. Please send comments or questions to alice@thecrimereport.org. | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
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