FW: [ai news updates] Digest Number 2014
Dianne Tramutola-Lawson
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Subject: [ai news updates] Digest Number 2014
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Digest #2014
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Fri Feb 17, 2017 6:49 pm (EST) . Posted by:
"law_union_news" law_union_news
Mass.must take steps toward prison reform
Viewpoint Carolyn Johnson Feb 16, 2017
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I am writing with concerns about the mass incarceration and prison reform issues that are concerns for both the United States as a whole and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
Most of us are aware that the past years have shown a huge increase in the numbers of prisoners both in our local jails and in federal and state prisons. The Prison Policy Initiative cites a 500 percent increase in the U.S. prison population over the past 40 years, and as many as one in five of these prisoners have been incarcerated for relatively minor abuses such as possession of marijuana or for other non-violent drug offenses. Others spend unnecessarily long times in our jails, simply because of inability to pay small bail charges imposed for non-violent incidents. Hand in hand with this trend is the diminishing of initiatives made available for prisoners to educate themselves or train for an occupation while incarcerated.
Reducing these numbers presents a challenge, but several solutions merit a try in our state. First is a change in our sentencing laws, especially the elimination of mandatory sentencing. While Massachusetts reduced these requirements for some minor drug offenses in 2012, many mandatory minimums remain. Legislation allowing judges in all cases the latitude to return to sentencing on an individual basis could greatly reduce prisoner numbers without endangering anyone.
Second, introducing more educational and training programs into our prisons could reduce the rate of recidivism, currently at 67.8 percent within five years of release, according to the National Institute of Justice. Unfortunately, while our state and national expenditures for jails and prisons have soared, these programs have been cut drastically. Any program that helps a prisoner to successfully re-enter society deserves more attention than does simply hiring more prison guards. Legislation in Massachusetts to increase these programs, while reducing mandatory sentencing, could make a big difference.
A third related issue is the increased use of solitary confinement, sometimes for actions like talking back to a guard or political activism. The effects on individuals of extended solitary confinement are comparable to those from torture, and basically insure that the inmate has no chance of rehabilitation. According to a U.S. Department of Justice report, there are more than 80,000 prisoners in solitary confinement in prisons in the U.S. Unfortunately, Massachusetts is not in the forefront of reform for this issue. At present, a prisoner in this state can be sentenced to as long as 10 years of solitary confinement. Recommendations from the Justice report suggest a limit of 60 days, a limit that highlights the state limit as shameful.
The results of mass incarceration without programs for education and job training are showing up in our uncontrolled spending on prisons and prison guards, an amount estimated by various sources as over $1 trillion dollars a year for the U.S. as a whole. Surely, reform of our system of sentencing and the addition of education and job training in our prisons could result in less unnecessary incarceration, less recidivism, and a more humane approach to problems that are better served by social programs than by unnecessary prison time. Massachusetts is a leader in so many areas, and it could add prison reform to the list.
We can help by encouraging legislation that requires prison reform along these lines.
Call your state senator and representative!
¢¢¢
Carolyn Johnson lives in Newburyport.
http://www.newburyportnews.com/opinion/columns/mass-must-take-steps-toward-prison-reform/article_b30458ee-f3c2-563c-9c4d-f1d5ba458594.html http://www.newburyportnews.com/opinion/columns/mass-must-take-steps-toward-prison-reform/article_b30458ee-f3c2-563c-9c4d-f1d5ba458594.html
Fri Feb 17, 2017 6:56 pm (EST) . Posted by:
Roman Polanski seeks to have prosecutor's testimony unsealed Academy Award-winning director pleaded guilty in 1977 to unlawful sex with a 13-year-old girl The Associated Press Posted: Feb 16, 2017 4:34 PM ET Last Updated: Feb 16, 2017 4:34 PM ET
Filmmaker Roman Polanski, seen in a 2015 file photo, pleaded guilty in 1977 to unlawful sex with a 13-year-old girl but fled to France in 1978. (Kacper Pempel/Reuters)
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Roman Polanski's attorney has asked a Los Angeles judge to unseal testimony given by a former prosecutor who handled the fugitive director's sexual assault case. It is Polanski's latest bid to end the nearly 40-year-old case.
Polanski's attorney Harland Braun wrote the judge a letter made public Thursday that he is seeking to unseal the letter because it is crucial to attempts to resolve Polanski's case.
The Academy Award-winning director pleaded guilty in 1977 to unlawful sex with a 13-year-old girl but fled to France in 1978 when the now-deceased judge in the case suggested in private remarks that he would renege on a plea bargain and sentencing agreement.
Los Angeles prosecutors have repeatedly sought Polanski's extradition but have been rebuffed by courts in Switzerland and Poland, two of the countries where the Oscar winner has been able to safely travel.
The director has alleged that he was mistreated by a judge and prosecutors, but subsequent judges have ruled the Oscar winner must return to Los Angeles for the case to be resolved.
Polanski is shown entering a Santa Monica court in 1977. (Associated Press)
Braun's letter seeks the unsealing of testimony from retired Deputy District Attorney Roger Gunson, who handled Polanski's case. Gunson gave the testimony over three days in 2010 in case he was unable to testify at any future proceedings in the case.
Braun contends Gunson's testimony might help Polanski's argument that he has already served his time in the 1977 case by spending more than 300 days in jail and house arrest in Switzerland during a failed extradition effort in 2010.
Los Angeles Superior Court Scott Gordon, the presiding judge over criminal matters in Los Angeles County, set a hearing for Feb. 24. Polanski will not attend, Braun said.
Switzerland refused to extradite Polanski because it was not allowed to review Gunson's testimony. Polanski's lawyers sought to unseal the testimony, but prosecutors objected to unsealing the transcripts, and a judge agreed.
In a 1977 deal with prosecutors, Polanski pleaded guilty to one count of statutory rape for having sex with the underage girl during a photo shoot in Los Angeles.
He was ordered to undergo a psychiatric study at the state prison in Chino, where he served 42 days.
Gunson and Polanski's attorney have said they understood from a private conversation with the judge handling the case that the time in the prison would serve as Polanski's punishment.
However, lawyers for the Polish-born director said the judge later reneged on the agreement and suggested Polanski would go back to prison. Polanski then fled to France, and his travel has been restricted to Poland, Switzerland and France ever since.
Polanski sought a dismissal of the case in 2008, but his motion was denied in a ruling that was upheld by an appellate court. A judge in 2014 rejected Polanski's request of a new hearing.
His victim, Samantha Geimer, has said she forgives Polanski and has repeatedly called for the case against him to be dismissed.
The Associated Press does not typically name sex abuse victims, but Geimer has publicly identified herself in court filings, interviews and a memoir.
Polanski won an Academy Award for best director for his 2002 film The Pianist and was nominated for 1974's Chinatown and 1979's Tess.
© The Associated Press, 2017 http://www.cp.org/
http://www.cbc.ca/news/entertainment/roman-polanski-unseal-testimony-1.3986733?cmp=news-digests-arts http://www.cbc.ca/news/entertainment/roman-polanski-unseal-testimony-1.3986733?cmp=news-digests-arts
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Bonjour,
Au nom de l'honorable Denis Lebel, député de Lac-Saint-Jean, nous accusons réception de votre correspondance.
Soyez assuré(e) que votre correspondance sera traitée avec considération.
Sincères salutations,
L’équipe de l’honorable Denis Lebel, député
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Greetings,
On behalf of the Honourable Denis Lebel, Member of Parliament for Lac-Saint-Jean, we wish to acknowledge receipt of your correspondence.
Please be assured that your correspondence will receive careful consideration.
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The team of Honourable Denis Lebel, Member of Parliament
3.1
U.S. Prison
Fri Feb 17, 2017 6:56 pm (EST) . Posted by:
U.S. | Thu Feb 16, 2017 | 5:25pm EST
Ukrainian hacker sentenced in U.S. to 41 months in prison
By Nate Raymond
A Ukrainian who administered two online hacking forums was sentenced on Thursday to 41 months in prison for using more than 13,000 computers to steal log-in and credit card data, U.S. prosecutors said.
Sergey Vovnenko, whose aliases included "Flycracker" and "Darklife," was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Esther Salas in Newark, New Jersey, after pleading guilty last year to aggravated identity theft and conspiracy to commit wire fraud.
The sentence was confirmed by the office of U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman in New Jersey, which said Vovnenko was also ordered to pay $83,368 in restitution.
Vovnenko's lawyer, Timothy Anderson, said he was pleased the sentence was not longer than what the judge imposed, adding that his client could be released in a few months if he receives credit for all 32 months he has already spent in custody.
"He has committed himself to not be involved in criminal activities anymore," Anderson said.
Prosecutors said that from 2010 to 2012 Vovnenko, 31, engaged in a scheme to hack into computers belonging to individuals and companies, steal user names and passwords for bank accounts and other online services and steal debit and credit card numbers.
They said Vovnenko, most recently a resident of Naples, Italy, admitted to operating a "botnet" of more than 13,000 computers infected with malware to gain unauthorized access and used "Zeus" malware to steal banking information from and record keystrokes of people using infected computers.
Prosecutors said Vovnenko was an administrator of several online hacking forums and used his position to traffic in the data he stole.
Vovnenko fought extradition after he was detained by Italian authorities following his June 2014 arrest. He was extradited to the United States in October 2015.
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At the time of the extradition, Brian Krebs, who runs the cybersecurity blog Krebs on Security, wrote that Vovnenko had been behind a 2013 plot to have heroin sent to Krebs' Virginia home, and then tell police when the drugs arrived.
Krebs said he foiled the plot after he tracked Vovnenko's online activities and alerted police.
(Reporting by Nate Raymond in New York)
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-cyber-vovnenko-idUSKBN15V2WM
A Guide For Canadians Imprisoned Abroad
http://www.voyage.gc.ca/publications/imprisonment-emprisonnement-eng
Registration of Canadians Abroad
http://www.voyage.gc.ca/register
Vienna Convention on Consular Relations 1963
http://untreaty.un.org/ilc/texts/instruments/english/conventions/9_2_1963.pdf
International Transfer of Offenders Application
http://www.csc-scc.gc.ca/text/frmlrs/pdf/0308E.pdf
DATABASE of Canadians/Foreigners Detained in U.S.
http://ca.groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/aicap-aifap/database
Civil Rights for Offender Transfers
http://www.angelfire.com/mi3/transferofoffenders/index.html
Bill C-15: International Transfer of Offenders Act
May 13, 2004
http://www.parl.gc.ca/common/bills_ls.asp?Parl=37&Ses=3&ls=c15
Prison lottery: Canadian inmates in U.S. often barred from transferring home
http://www.metronews.ca/news/canada/2016/06/23/prison-lottery-canadian-inmates-in-u-s-often-barred-from-transferring-home.html
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