FW: Autism, child pornography and the courts
Dianne Tramutola-Lawson
From: The Marshall Project [mailto:info=themarshall...@mail57.sea21.rsgsv.net] On Behalf Of The Marshall Project
Sent: Thursday, June 01, 2017 5:33 AM
Subject: Autism, child pornography and the courts
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Opening Statement |
Edited by Andrew Cohen |
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Opening Statement is our pick of the day’s criminal justice news. Not a subscriber? Sign up. For original reporting from The Marshall Project, visit our website. |
When autism, child pornography, and the courts collide. It is unclear whether people with autism are over-represented among those prosecuted for downloading child pornography. But autism experts and the parents of men with autism are increasingly convinced that the disease makes sufferers both naive about the evils of exploiting children online and less likely to ever become predators in the real world. Some courts are beginning to accept this defense. “The line between legal and illegal in the world of online pornography may be especially blurry for someone without an inherent understanding of social mores and taboos,” writes Anat Rubin, who reported for months for us on this sensitive topic. The Marshall Project
The “school” where no one ever fails a class and no one is truly prepared to graduate. A new survey of 2,000 federal inmates reveals a craving for educational opportunities that is unmet, even for inmates who are about to be released from the Bureau of Prisons. Inmates learn to crochet, for example, or to embrace geology by watching episodes of BBC’s “Planet Earth.” But getting skills or training that will translate into jobs on the outside? Not so much, and if the administration’s new proposed budget is adopted the problem is likely to get worse. TMP’s Justin George has our story. The Marshall Project “It’s a shakedown.” Most defendants would rather accept entry into a diversion program than face prison time. But the economic incentives for private diversion programs virtually ensure that the citizens enmeshed in them are vulnerable to excessive prices and get little oversight or protection from the prosecutors who have farmed out the programs. The story of the chaos surrounding the “clients” of CorrectiveSolutions, a for-profit California company, is illustrative of the industry’s problems. Reveal Meet Florida’s “addict brokers.” The opioid epidemic is a prime business opportunity for many, often at the expense of vulnerable drug users. “Middlemen” who promote themselves as brokers or marketers now lure addicts from venues in the Midwest and Northeast to treatment centers in Florida. The centers get funding from government programs designed to help those dependent on drugs. The recruiters get paid by the treatment facilities. There is little oversight or accountability and the treatment itself often is substandard, say law enforcement officials. Stat Related: Health officials vow to develop drugs to combat opioid scourge. The Washington Post A tough case to crack. Evidently “there is big money in nuts,” which is why California’s famous nut industry now is being targeted by sophisticated criminals who have hijacked at least 35 loads, worth at least $10 million, in the past four years. There is now also a “Nut Theft Task Force” made up of a half-dozen detectives in Tulare County whose mission is to track down the people who are stealing all those almonds, pistachios, and walnuts. Outside
Ohio sues five drug companies over the opioid epidemic, alleging they misrepresented risks, violated state sales practices law. The Columbus Dispatch Related: We complied with federal law, says one company’s spokeswoman. Yahoo Stop-and-frisk policing in New York is down, racial disparities are easing, and crime rates remain low, a new federal report reveals. The New York Times Related: Aggressive new policing tactics in Chicago, Illinois are easing gun violence rates there. A bit. The New York Times The “ticket calendar” at the federal courthouse in Miami, Florida, is teeming with insignificant cases involving veterans. Here are a few of their stories. WLRN A police union in Los Angeles, California, wants police officials there to offer more public information about use-of-force cases, to show more context about police tactics and results. Los Angeles Times Rapes are up dramatically in Atlanta — but only because officials there have changed the definition of sexual assault to include men as victims. Will Georgia follow suit? Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The economics of redemption. Low unemployment rates may finally be giving ex-offenders the second chance they deserve. The Week At the intersection of due process and the opioid epidemic stands a California measure that would make it harder for police to check on doctors who are believed to be over- prescribing medicine. Los Angeles Times Broken windows, broken policy. How a controversial theory of crime was born, evolved, and implemented to disastrous, lingering effect. NPR Big win for a nana in Pennsylvania. The state supreme court rules she cannot lose her house through forfeiture because her son sold $140 worth of pot there. Reason What’s “truth” in a courtroom? Law and justice in a world of “alternative facts.” A discussion with Jed Rakoff and Richard Posner. Slate
Report of the Day: Criminal justice reformers should focus on jail incarceration rates, which have skyrocketed, a new report concludes. Prison Policy Initiative Related: Tiger Woods should read the report to realize how lucky he is not to still be sitting in a Florida lockup. The Crime Report Flights of the Day: You definitely do not want to take your first plane trip on ICE Air, the vehicle through which federal immigration officials get undocumented immigrants back to their countries of origin. CNN Related: Bad hombres, good hombres, and the courts. The Economist Question of the Day: How much will crime victims lose out under the new proposed budget pitched by the Trump administration? The Trace Fact-Check of the Day: Yes, Samantha Bee had it mostly right when she criticized Florida’s felony disenfranchisement laws. Miami Herald Encouraging Trend of the Day: “Raise the Age” laws reduce recidivism rates, which is why more states are enacting them. Pew Charitable Trusts |
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