The Crime Report

TCR Special Reports

Child Abuse and the Death Penalty: The Cruel Connection

By Jodie Sinclair | December 11, 2020

On Thursday, Brandon Bernard joined the list of individuals executed for a crime committed when he was an adolescent. Convicted for his part in a gruesome murder 21 years ago, Bernard also fell victim to a system that still fails to consider an offender’s youth and background, such as a history of abuse, as a mitigating circumstance.

Viewpoints

Why Bail Reform and Record Expungement Can’t Be Separated

By Adam H. Rosenblum | December 11, 2020

New York is one of 42 states that allow individuals to expunge or seal their criminal records, yet because of the required 10-year waiting period, less than 2,000 individuals have taken advantage of the law. True justice requires rethinking that condition, writes a defense attorney.

Reforming the System

Post-Pandemic, Experts Predict Changed Justice System

By Ted Gest | December 11, 2020

COVID-19 is producing huge case backlogs around the U.S. but also “silver linings” such as forcing the justice system to go virtual, panelists at a national conference agreed on Thursday.

Drugs

Release from 90-Year Sentence for Pot Trafficking Intensifies Drug Law Debate

By Emily Riley | December 11, 2020

Richard DeLisi, 71, was freed Thursday after serving over 31 years of a 90-year sentence for pot trafficking. Supporters welcomed his release, but his son said he already paid a heavy debt in “time….something you can never get back.”

Guns

Feds Raid Large Maker Of 'Ghost-Gun' Parts In Nevada

By Crime and Justice News | December 11, 2020

The action by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is a sign federal law enforcement is cracking down on kits that allow people to make weapons at home.

Policing

Chicago Launches Online Tool On Public Trust of Police

By Crime and Justice News | December 11, 2020

A recent survey showed a lack of confidence in the police department, with only about half of all respondents saying police officers are trustworthy.

Homicide

Police Around U.S. Try to Tie Victims to Serial Killer

By Crime and Justice News | December 11, 2020

Samuel Little has confessed to killing 93 people in 19 states, but nearly half of them remain unidentified.

Terrorism

FBI Agents Can Be Sued For Putting Muslims on No-Fly List

By Crime and Justice News | December 11, 2020

The Supreme Court allowed lawsuits against federal agents for placing Muslim men on the no-fly list in alleged retaliation for their refusal to cooperate with counterterrorism investigations.

Crime Trends

Shoplifting Rises Markedly During The Pandemic

By Crime and Justice News | December 11, 2020

“We’re seeing an increase in low-impact crimes,” said Jeff Zisner of the workplace security firm Aegis, who cited “people stealing consumables and items associated with children and babies.”

U.S. Department of Justice

Barr Concealed Hunter Biden Probe Before Election

By Crime and Justice News | December 11, 2020

Attorney General William Barr has known about a set of investigations involving Hunter Biden’s business and financial dealings since at least this spring and worked to avoid their public disclosure during the heated election campaign.

U.S. Department of Justice

After Trump Irritation, Barr Decides To Stay

Attorney General William Barr plans to remain in his post through the end of the Trump administration, abandoning the idea of stepping down by the end of the year.

Prosecutors

Judge Pulls Prosecutor From St. Louis Gun-Waving Case

A judge said St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner was politically motivated when she charged a man who waved an AR-15 rifle at protesters outside of his mansion.

Sex Crime

Harvey Weinstein Extradition to California Delayed

Convicted former movie producer Harvey Weinstein will remain in a New York prison after his lawyers and prosecutors agreed Friday to postpone efforts to send him to California to face more sexual assault charges.

Shootings

Only One in Five Philadelphia Shootings Prompt Charges

Under one in six of this year’s nearly 1,900 shootings has led to a suspect in custody. That staggering number of unsolved cases is nearly 40 percent higher than in all of 2015, says the Philadelphia Inquirer.

Policing

Minneapolis Cuts $8M From Police, Keeps Officer Total

The Minneapolis City Council unanimously approved a budget early Thursday that will shift $8 million from the police department toward violence prevention and other programs but retains Mayor Jacob Frey’s targeted staffing levels for sworn officers, averting a veto.

Research & Analysis

Justice and Health

Gaps Found in State Plans to Give Incarcerees COVID Vaccine

At least 36 states will consider incarcerated people a “priority group” when administering the coronavirus vaccine, 12 states have no plans at all so far to put inmates on a priority list, according to the Prison Policy Initiative.
Immigration

Undocumented Immigrants Commit Far Fewer Crimes than U.S. Citizens: Study

In a first-of-its-kind analysis of Texas arrest and conviction records, researchers from the University of Wisconsin-Madison found that crime rates among undocumented immigrants "are just a fraction of those of their U.S.-born neighbors."
Transnational Crime

U.S. Needs ‘Smarter’ Drug Strategy in Latin America: Commission

Conceding that American counter-narcotics policies have at times caused “considerable harm” in many countries, a bipartisan commission on drug policy in the Western Hemisphere said Washington should address the domestic demand that has driven the illicit narcotics trade, even as it continues the fight against transnational cartels.
Justice and Health

Rising Jail Admissions Called New COVID-19 Threat

An upsurge in admissions to county jails across the U.S. threatens to make them a new source of COVID-19 infections to prisoners, staff and the communities where they are located, warns the Prison Policy Initiative.
Pretrial Release

Pretrial Risk Assessment Tools More Accurate Than ‘Human Judgments Alone’: Experts

A group of criminologists and law professors challenged a new report by the Pretrial Justice Institute contending that pretrial risk assessment instruments are dangerous. "The benchmark here is not perfection but improving upon unaided human judgment, which is universally acknowledged to introduce racial and other biases," the group said in an open letter.
Prisons

On the Menu at American Prisons: ‘Rotten’ Food, Inadequate Diet

U.S. correctional facilities are “food deserts” that perpetuate the malnourishment of Americans who were already suffering from inequitable access to a healthy diet before they were confined, according to a new report.

WORTH A READ

Policy & Politics

Houston Chief: Delay in COVID Relief Imperils Police Reform
By TCR Staff | December 10, 2020
Unless Congress moves quickly to renew emergency COVID relief, the nation faces a “world of hurt” that will strain the resources of law enforcement called on to deal with resulting social dislocation, warns Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo.
Policing

Is Diversion the Right Way to ‘Defund’ the Police?
By Ted Gest | December 10, 2020
Advocates told a national forum that many cases involving drugs and mental illness that clog the criminal justice system can be handled better by sending suspects much earlier to treatment and other social services.
Viewpoints

How Technology Shapes—and Sometimes Deforms—Policing Culture
By Arthur Rizer | December 9, 2020
Smartphones have transformed accountability, but other high-tech tools such as crime-tracking software and facial recognition can encourage “toxic” police behavior. That’s why we should take a hard look at the intersection of technology and law enforcement, writes the director of Criminal Justice and Civil Liberties Policy at the R Street Institute.
Juvenile Justice

Kids Sent to Adult Court Despite New York’s Raise-the-Age Law
By Michael Fitzgerald/The Imprint | December 8, 2020
Fears of rising crime are persuading New York judges to transfer teens accused of violent offenses to adult courts. Advocates warn the practice undermines the point of legislation that aims to divert 16- and 17-year-olds from the criminal justice system and into programs that can address their underlying behavior.

Featured

Bill Moyers on Justice

By TCR Staff | December 1, 2017

Moyers was honored as TCR’s 2018 “Justice Media Trailblazer.” Watch the video of his remarks at the Feb 15, 2018 John Jay College dinner here.

The Crime Report - Your Complete Criminal Justice Resource

Guns

Feds Raid Large Maker Of 'Ghost-Gun' Parts In Nevada

By Crime and Justice News | December 11, 2020

Policing

Chicago Launches Online Tool On Public Trust of Police

By Crime and Justice News | December 11, 2020

Homicide

Police Around U.S. Try to Tie Victims to Serial Killer

By Crime and Justice News | December 11, 2020

Terrorism

FBI Agents Can Be Sued For Putting Muslims on No-Fly List

By Crime and Justice News | December 11, 2020

Crime Trends

Shoplifting Rises Markedly During The Pandemic

By Crime and Justice News | December 11, 2020

U.S. Department of Justice

Barr Concealed Hunter Biden Probe Before Election

By Crime and Justice News | December 11, 2020

U.S. Department of Justice

After Trump Irritation, Barr Decides To Stay

Prosecutors

Judge Pulls Prosecutor From St. Louis Gun-Waving Case

Sex Crime

Harvey Weinstein Extradition to California Delayed

Shootings

Only One in Five Philadelphia Shootings Prompt Charges

Policing

Minneapolis Cuts $8M From Police, Keeps Officer Total

Justice Department Sues Alabama Over Prison Conditions

FBI Officials Avoid Discipline in Sex-Harassment Cases

Veterans Affairs IG Sought Criminal Probe of Secretary

Planned Execution Raises Juvenile Age Issue