the crime report

Responding to evidence that people who abuse animals often go on to attack humans, states are increasing the penalties for animal cruelty and developing better methods for tracking convicted offenders, the New York Times reports. Legislators are paying close attention to people who keep large numbers of pets without providing for their most basic needs because such offenders are prone to recidivism and can cost counties huge sums for cleanup costs and the care of rescued animals. (more…)

In unusually quick action, the U.S. Senate passed a bill to change the punishment for possession of crack cocaine just a week after the Senate Judiciary Committee approved it. For 24 years, the law has punished crack users 100 times more heavily than powder cocaine users, the new Senate bill brings the 100-to-1 ratio down to 18-to-1. Julie Stewart of Families Against Mandatory Minimums says it was the the first time since the Nixon administration that the Senate  voted to repeal a mandatory minimum sentence. (more…)

In the the first case to challenge the constitutionality of prosecuting teens for “sexting,” the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit in Philadelphia upheld an injunction that barred a Pennsylvania prosecutor from bringing child pornography charges against girls who refused to attend a class he had designed to educate youths about the dangers of sexting, the Legal Intelligencer reports. (more…)

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