The Crime Report (https://thecrimereport.org/author/jackatme/)
An estimated 10,000 pet dogs are shot by police officers in the line of duty each year. While officers usually explain the shooting of a pet as ‘self-defense,’ a California law professor argues that there is no requirement of public accountability to test their claims.
Missouri’s rate of black homicide victimization in 2015, the latest year available, is nearly two and a half times the national rate, says the Violence Policy Center. Missouri was followed in the list by Wisconsin, Oklahoma, Alaska, and Nebraska.
Closing arguments are scheduled Tuesday in the trial of attorney Claud “Tex” McIver, one of Georgia’s most prominent Republican fundraisers, who is facing charges that he intentionally killed his wife, Diane McIver, in 2016.
On the heels of a federal move to shut down the Backpage website, President Trump signed a bill on Wednesday that gives federal and state prosecutors greater power to pursue websites that host sex-trafficking ads and enables victims and state attorneys general to file lawsuits against those sites.
The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention has only 60 employees, but one-fourth of its positions may not be filled after attrition. That would reduce efforts to insure state compliance with a federal law providing juvenile justice aid.
Democratic candidates in midterm elections are disparaging the National Rifle Association, while the Bank of America will stop lending to business clients that manufacture military-style weapons for civilian use.
Attorney General Jeff Sessions has named David Muhlhausen to head the Federal Interagency Council on Crime Prevention and Improving Reentry (FIRC), established last month as part of the administration’s efforts to bring down recidivism rates. Muhlhausen was appointed director of the National Institute of Justice last year.
A Colorado program called Work and Gain Education and Employment Skills has helped parolees get education and work skills and has a low re-arrest rate, says an Urban Institute report.
Reducing US prison populations requires a strategy that engages all the players in the justice system, from courts to community residents to the media, a panel at NYU’s Brennan Center for Justice was told.
The group warned Sunday of more protests this week as the Sacramento Sheriff’s office issued a statement on an incident involving a protester hit by a police SUV during Stephon Clark’s funeral. An autopsy report found Clark, 22, was shot in the back.