The Crime Report

Viewpoints

Why We Don’t Need William Barr (V2.0) as Attorney General

By William R. Kelly | 10 hours ago

The former AG, whom President Trump has nominated to return to his old job, is likely to continue the hardline policies of his official predecessor Jeff Sessions. Americans hoping for justice reform deserve better, writes one of the nation’s leading criminologists.

Policing

Crime Victims Don’t Report If They Don’t Trust Cops: Study

By J. Gabriel Ware | 10 hours ago

Police should focus on policies and practices that lend themselves to “procedural fairness,” according to researchers who conducted interviews of 687 victims of non-sexual crimes in Seattle.

Juvenile Justice

When Kids Kill

By Tessa Duvall/The Florida Times-Union | 11 hours ago

The Florida Times-Union spent more than 20 months examining the causes of juvenile homicide in Jacksonville. A central finding based on listening to the people who committed the crimes, was the critical role played by trauma and other adverse childhood experiences.

Corrections & Reentry

Ohio, Idaho Lead Nation in 'Correctional Control': Study

By Ted Gest | 11 hours ago

Oklahoma has the nation’s highest incarceration rate, but Ohio and Idaho jump into the lead when probation and parole is included, says a new report from the Prison Policy Initiative.

Policy & Politics

Graham Says Cotton Can't Stop Prison-Sentencing Bill

By Crime and Justice News | 14 hours ago

“We shouldn’t release serious and repeat-violence felons, which is what the bill will do. It will be bad for anyone who votes for it,” says Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR). Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) disagrees, saying, “Taking [the argument] to its logical conclusion, you never let anybody out for anything.”

White Collar Crime

Cohen Sentence, Media Deal Implicate Trump

By Crime and Justice News | 14 hours ago

The sentencing of Michael Cohen and the disclosure of a key agreement with the parent company of the National Enquirer intensified the focus on Trump’s alleged role in coordinating efforts to suppress the stories of two women to protect his 2016 campaign.

Immigration

Ex-Judges to ICE: Stop Arrests in Courthouses

By Crime and Justice News | 14 hours ago

Dozens of former state and federal judges are asking U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to add courthouses to the list of “sensitive locations” where their officers generally do not go. saying, “Our justice system cannot function effectively — if victims, defendants, witnesses, and family members do not feel secure in accessing the courthouse,”

Technology

Critics Call for Regulating Facial Recognition

By Crime and Justice News | 14 hours ago

In an unusual consensus, artificial intelligence researchers, activists, lawmakers and many of the largest technology companies agree that facial recognition software breeds bias, risks fueling mass surveillance and should be regulated.

Drugs

Meth a Larger Factor in Overdose Deaths, CDC Says

By Crime and Justice News | 15 hours ago

The number of fatal overdoses involving meth more than tripled between 2011 and 2016, says the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The percentage of overdose deaths involving meth grew from less than 5 percent to nearly 11 percent. Fentanyl was involved in the highest percentage of fatal overdoses in 2016, followed by heroin and cocaine.

Policing

Do Police Cameras Deter Crime or Displace It?

By Crime and Justice News | 17 hours ago

New Orleans has 300 cameras on public streets. Police Superintendent Michael Harrison calls them crime-fighting tools, not surveillance. He admits that the cameras might shift crime to other areas.

Policing

NY Police Misconduct Records Can Be Secret: Court

The latest legal effort by civil rights advocates to make disciplinary records of police officers public failed in the state’s highest court. The New York Civil Liberties Union called the ruling a “terrible setback.”

Jails

Half of MS Jail Detainees Stay Over 90 Days

Long pretrial detentions are particularly prevalent in Mississippi because of impoverished inmates who can’t make bail, delays in appointing public defenders, slow processing of evidence and infrequent meetings of local courts.

Sex Crime

Ex-TX Frat President’s Lawyers Defend Plea Bargain

A Texas woman protested the failure to jail a former fraternity president she says raped her. The man’s attorneys said her statement didn’t mention her “passionate kissing, groping and grinding” at the party where the alleged incident occurred.

Police Shooting

Training Urged to Prevent Wrongful Police Shootings

“Merely because an individual has a firearm or some other weapon does not mean that they are an individual who needs to be shot,” says criminologist and former police officer David Klinger.

Police Shooting

Phoenix Chief Assails NY Times Report on Shootings

Phoenix Police Chief Jeri Williams said the New York Times, in an article this week, “misrepresents that we are blaming civilians” for an increase in shootings by police officers. Williams said the city has asked the National Police
Foundation to analyze the trend.

Research & Analysis

Sex Crime

Men Underestimate Levels of Sexual Harassment: Study

A survey of citizens in the U.S. and 12 European countries found that males don’t understand the extent to which women experience sexual assault or harassment. American men for example underestimate the true levels by almost half.
Courts

How Our ‘Two-Tiered Justice System’ Exploits the Poor

Some 10 million Americans now hold criminal debt totaling over $50 billion, burdened by accumulating court fines and fees they are unable to pay. It's a hidden practice that damages communities and ruins lives, but the federal government seems to be looking the other way, writes an FSU law professor.
Prisons

Half of US Adults Had Family Member in Prison

So finds a study by reform group FWD.us and Cornell University, based on a representative sample of 4,000 people. The study found that six of 10 African Americans and Native Americans have had immediate family members behind bars.
Media

After Mass Shooting, Public Wants Stories of ‘Heroes’, Not Shooters: Study

A series of studies of news coverage of mass shootings also found that whites involved in mass shootings are more likely to be associated with mental illness than African Americans.
Guns

Gun Background Check Laws May Have Little Effect: Study

Comprehensive Background Check (CBC) policies may not affect firearm background checks, a new study by the UC Davis Violence Prevention Research Program (VPRP) and the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health has found.
Corrections & Reentry

Obama-Era Reentry Program Curtailed Recidivism: Study

Project New Opportunity (PNO), created under President Obama’s Clemency Initiative and the United States Sentencing Commission’s (USSC) 2014 reduction in drug sentencing guidelines, has proven successful in reducing recidivism among ex-incarcerees, a new study has found.

WORTH A READ

TCR Special Reports

Are Pain Doctors Wrongly Taking the Blame for the Opioid Crisis?
By Megan Hadley | December 12, 2018
A California doctor now serving a 25-year term for operating a “pill mill” says pain management specialists like himself are scapegoats for the government’s failure to address the opioid epidemic. Many experts and pain advocates contacted by The Crime Report suggest he has raised a valid point.
Reforming the System

How a Minnesota County Found Alternatives to Jail
By Tom Olsen/Duluth News Tribune | December 11, 2018
Almost all the jail growth in the U.S. since 2000 has been in pretrial incarceration, but in St. Louis County, a program that allows more pretrial defendants to be released under supervision has bucked the trend. It’s been a life-changer for Renita Syas.
Viewpoints

Sex, Crime and the Justice System
By Jeremiah Bourgeois | December 11, 2018
Sex workers—and sex-trafficked women—continue to be victimized by the justice system despite efforts to change how they’re treated by law enforcement and the courts. A TCR columnist wonders whether we’re really serious about giving them the protection and support they need.
Reforming the System

Memo to the Nation’s Newest Prosecutors: Restore Your Community’s Trust
By TCR Staff | December 10, 2018
Only a major overhaul of prosecutors’ traditional practices can remove the long-festering distrust and racism that have alienated many American from the justice system and created a “public safety disaster,’ says a paper addressed to the new crop of district attorneys elected in last month’s midterms.

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

Graham Says Cotton Can't Stop Prison-Sentencing Bill

By Crime and Justice News | 14 hours ago

White Collar Crime

Cohen Sentence, Media Deal Implicate Trump

By Crime and Justice News | 14 hours ago

Immigration

Ex-Judges to ICE: Stop Arrests in Courthouses

By Crime and Justice News | 14 hours ago

Technology

Critics Call for Regulating Facial Recognition

By Crime and Justice News | 14 hours ago

Drugs

Meth a Larger Factor in Overdose Deaths, CDC Says

By Crime and Justice News | 15 hours ago

Policing

Do Police Cameras Deter Crime or Displace It?

By Crime and Justice News | 17 hours ago

Policing

NY Police Misconduct Records Can Be Secret: Court

Jails

Half of MS Jail Detainees Stay Over 90 Days

Sex Crime

Ex-TX Frat President’s Lawyers Defend Plea Bargain

Police Shooting

Training Urged to Prevent Wrongful Police Shootings

Police Shooting

Phoenix Chief Assails NY Times Report on Shootings

Report Pinpoints Failures in Parkland Shooting Response

Trump ‘Proud’ to Close Government for Border Security

Suicides Make U.S. Gun Death Rate Highest in 20 Years

Barr Was Reluctant to Take Attorney General Job