The Crime Report

Reforming the System

‘Cultural Healing’ and the Search for Justice in Tribal Lands

By Eric Killelea /Hibbing Daily Tribune | August 16, 2019

For justice-involved members of the Chippewa nation in northern Minnesota, the judicial system has failed to tackle the “historical traumas” that have mired them in substance abuse and other ills. But tribal and state authorities are collaborating on a plan to apply traditional tribal notions of restorative justice to their needs.

Policy & Politics

Senators Advise Supreme Court to Drop Gun Case

By Crime and Justice News | 50 mins ago

Five Democratic senators file a brief questioning whether the high court’s conservative majority is motivated by partisan intent. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham (R-SC) called it an extraordinary threat from one branch of government to another.

Guns

PA Gov. Wolf Orders Police to Monitor Hate Groups, Collect Gun Violence Data

By TCR Staff | August 16, 2019

Gov. Tom Wolf’s executive order, signed Friday morning, comes two days after a seven-hour standoff between Philadelphia police and a lone shooter. No cops were killed in the incident, which DA Larry Krasner credits to ‘brilliant policing and maybe a miracle.’

Immigration

Deportations of Undocumented Migrants Slowed in 2019: Report

By Brian Demo | August 16, 2019

The hardline approach to undocumented immigrants promised by the White House has so far not produced a corresponding hike in deportations, according to an analysis by the Transaction Records Access Clearinghouse. In fact, the monthly numbers for April 2019 were about 1,300 fewer than a year ago.

Guns

Despite Funding Thaw, U.S. Gun Violence Researchers Just 'Fit Around a Conference Table’

By TCR Staff | August 16, 2019

The “freeze” on federal gun violence research may be thawing, but only a substantial increase in funding for scholars and best practices will help the country address the public health crisis represented by firearm deaths, says the Joyce Foundation in a new report summing up its grantmaking in the field.

Guns

Gun-Rights Advocates Sue to Stop CA Assault-Weapon Ban

By Crime and Justice News | August 16, 2019

The lawsuit filed in San Diego said “assault weapon” is “a politically-concocted pejorative term” for weapons lawfully used “in virtually every state.”

Forensics

NYC DNA Database Has More than 80K Genetic Profiles

By Crime and Justice News | August 16, 2019

The New York Police Department has taken DNA samples from people convicted of crimes, as well as from people only arrested or questioned. The practice has exposed the Police Department to scrutiny over how the genetic material is collected and whether privacy rights are being violated.

Capital Punishment

Tennessee Electrocutes Convicted Murder

By Crime and Justice News | August 16, 2019

Stephen West was convicted in 1986 of fatally stabbing a mother and her daughter, 15. A relative of the victims criticized the 33-year delay in concluding the case. West’s lawyers say he was mentally ill.

Capital Punishment

Court Halts TX Execution, Citing Intellectual Disability

By Crime and Justice News | August 16, 2019

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit sent the case of Dexter Johnson back to district court. Johnson argues that he is intellectually disabled and ineligible for the death penalty under Supreme Court precedent.

Immigration

Feds: MS Firms Knew Workers Were Undocumented

By Crime and Justice News | August 16, 2019

Federal immigration officials say they have probable cause that all five companies operating poultry plants they raided in Mississippi last week violated immigration law by knowingly hiring undocumented immigrants. So far, no firm has been charged.

Immigration

Court: U.S. Must Give Necessities to Migrant Youth

A federal appeals panel spells out what it means to hold detained youth at the border in “safe and sanitary” conditions. A Justice Department lawyer had suggested that the children didn’t need to be provided soap and toothbrushes.

Prisons

Departing AZ Prisons Chief Faulted on Failing Locks

Locks failed for years at an Arizona prison and allowed for serious beatings of prisoners and guards, but Corrections Director Charles Ryan failed to appreciate the seriousness of the problem until he saw video of an assault that was broadcast on television, says a new report. Ryan has announced his retirement.

Mass Shootings

Dayton Shooter Had Drugs in System and ‘Obsession with Violence’

Connor Betts had cocaine, alcohol and an antianxiety drug in his system when he opened fire on a crowded street in Dayton on Aug. 4, killing nine people, including his own sister. The police chief says Betts had a “history of obsession with violence.”

Sentencing

WA Court OK’s ‘Three Strikes’ Amid Justice’s ‘Discomfort’

The Washington Supreme Court unanimously upheld the state’s “three strikes” sentencing law, even for people who commit their first strike as young adults. Concurring Justice Mary Yu described “growing discomfort” with the “routine practice” of issuing mandatory life sentences.

Research & Analysis

Policing

Cops Need to Spend More Time Solving Non-Fatal Gun Cases: Study

Researchers at Duke and Northeastern Universities found a stark gap in clearance rates when comparing fatal and nonfatal gun assaults in Boston. The reason: the “sustained investigative” effort devoted to homicide cases in the first two days wasn’t matched when there was a surviving victim.
Media

The Trace Plans Guidelines for ‘Responsible Reporting’ on Mass Shooters

"Research increasingly tells us that our coverage of mass shootings has implications for public health," said The Trace, a website covering gun issues. Meanwhile, President Trump promoted the views of Northeastern University criminologist James Alan Fox that there is no evidence of an "epidemic" of mass shootings.
Hate Crimes

Federal Hate Crime Prosecutions ‘Falling’: Report

Nearly 2,000 hate crimes have been referred to U.S. attorneys since 2009, but just 15 percent have resulted in prosecutions, according to the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse. So far, in 2019, just 17 cases—of 99 referrals under the five hate crime statutes on federal books—have been prosecuted.
Mass Shootings

Mental Illness Plays Only ‘Limited’ Role in Mass Violence: Paper

A panel of experts convened by the National Council for Behavioral Health found that linking mental illness to incidents of mass violence is misleading, and offers only limited help in addressing the problem.
Sex Crime

The #MeToo Dilemma: Are Harsh Punishments the Answer to All Sex Crimes?

High-profile cases where those who committed sexual offenses were not held accountable are held up as examples of a failed system. But harsh punishments may be a counterproductive approach to an issue that requires a better systemic response, says a legal expert.
Policing

Gains in Police-Community Trust Slow but ‘Notable’ in Cities Targeted by National Initiative

An ambitious initiative to improve police-community relations and begin the process of “reconciliation” between law enforcement and communities that have experienced a history of systemic bias by authorities has achieved some modest successes, according to an Urban Institute study released Thursday.

WORTH A READ

Viewpoints

Fear, Loathing and Prison Romances
By Jeremiah Bourgeois | August 15, 2019
Ordinary disciplinary measures for violating prison policy apparently aren’t enough when an inmate develops a relationship with a staff member or volunteer. The women must feel the full weight of the system’s retribution, deterrence, disgust, and racial animus, charges an inmate from Washington State.
TCR Special Reports

Can Decriminalizing Sex Work Curb Police Harassment of Transgender People?
By Maria Trovato | August 15, 2019
Legislation proposed this summer would have made New York the first state to remove prostitution from the criminal code. Although the bill never got to a vote, advocates say it opened up a long-needed conversation about how police treat sex workers—particularly transgender women of color.
Viewpoints

‘Wake Up, Mr. Barr: It’s 2019’
By William R. Kelly | August 14, 2019
Attorney General William Barr’s criticism of reform prosecutors this week was not only “ill-informed”—it would lead us back to the failed tough-on-crime era, warns one of the nation’s leading criminologists.
Policing

How Many of 10.5M U.S. Arrests are Unnecessary?
By Ted Gest | August 13, 2019
Because most arrests are not for serious crimes but for offenses like drug possession, public drunkenness and disorderly conduct, many cases could be handled effectively by other means, and thus not contribute to the nation's mass incarceration, says a report from the Vera Institute of Justice.

Featured

Bill Moyers Speaks Out on Justice. Watch the Video.

By TCR Staff | December 1, 2017

Moyers received TCR’s annual “Justice Trailblazer” award at a John Jay College dinner Feb. 15. See the video of his remarks here.

The Crime Report - Your Complete Criminal Justice Resource

Policy & Politics

Senators Advise Supreme Court to Drop Gun Case

By Crime and Justice News | 50 mins ago

Guns

Gun-Rights Advocates Sue to Stop CA Assault-Weapon Ban

By Crime and Justice News | August 16, 2019

Forensics

NYC DNA Database Has More than 80K Genetic Profiles

By Crime and Justice News | August 16, 2019

Capital Punishment

Tennessee Electrocutes Convicted Murder

By Crime and Justice News | August 16, 2019

Capital Punishment

Court Halts TX Execution, Citing Intellectual Disability

By Crime and Justice News | August 16, 2019

Immigration

Feds: MS Firms Knew Workers Were Undocumented

By Crime and Justice News | August 16, 2019

Immigration

Court: U.S. Must Give Necessities to Migrant Youth

Prisons

Departing AZ Prisons Chief Faulted on Failing Locks

Mass Shootings

Dayton Shooter Had Drugs in System and ‘Obsession with Violence’

Sentencing

WA Court OK’s ‘Three Strikes’ Amid Justice’s ‘Discomfort’

Policing

Amid Controversies, Fewer Apply For Policing Jobs

House Democrats to Probe Trump’s Execution Plans

Sen. Warren Calls for Repealing 1994 Federal Anticrime Law

In Prison Debate, Dems’ Focus on Drugs Called Mistaken

Suspect Arrested in Shooting of Six Phila. Officers