tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-39690119699721357972012-02-01T14:20:41.431-05:00Centre of Criminology Library BlogCentre for Criminology and Sociolegal Studies, University of Toronto: News, Research, OpinionTomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15145634702414231472noreply@blogger.comBlogger12661100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-1319782463301984272012-02-01T09:21:00.001-05:002012-02-01T09:24:24.880-05:00RCMP boss asserts his independence<p>RCMP Commissioner Bob Paulson is backtracking on his call for MPs and senators to go through the Department of Public Safety to hold a meeting with him, saying he will safeguard his independence from the rest of government “like a terrier.”</p><p>Commissioner Paulson told a parliamentary committee on Tuesday he intends to give notice to his political bosses only about meetings that might be of interest to them, such as with diplomats or politicians. He added that he has no obligation to debrief the government after he meets with RCMP outsiders.</p><p>Regarding an e-mail in which he recently called on Liberal Senator Colin Kenny to “route” his request through Public Safety, Commissioner Paulson suggested that it was a polite brush-off.</p><p>“I’d just as soon not meet with Senator Kenny, to be honest with you,” Commissioner Paulson said of the former president of the Senate committee on national security.</p><p><a href="http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/rcmp-boss-asserts-his-independence/article2321799/">Read on...</a><br /></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3969011969972135797-131978246330198427?l=crimbrary.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15145634702414231472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-16576916626482459732012-02-01T09:08:00.003-05:002012-02-01T14:20:41.437-05:00Police ‘whitewashing’ crime stats, study says<p>The majority of Canadian police forces are “whitewashing” crime statistics by refusing to provide information about the race of people they come into contact with, says a new report by two Ontario criminologists.</p> <p>Only a minority of police agencies — 20 per cent — have policies restricting them from releasing the data, but nearly 60 per cent suppress it anyway, the report says.</p> <p>The findings are to be published Wednesday in the <em>Canadian Journal of Law and Society.</em></p> <p>Withholding the information makes police less accountable and makes it more difficult for researchers to study how race may influence policing, said Paul Millar, a Nippissing University criminal justice professor, who conducted the study with Akwasi Owusu-Bempah, a doctoral candidate at the University of Toronto Centre for Criminology.</p><p><a href="http://www.thestar.com/news/article/1124558--police-whitewashing-crime-stats-study-says?bn=1">Read on...</a></p><p><span style="font-style: italic;">Akwasi, co-author of this report is a Centre doctoral candidate.</span> Here is a link to a CBC radio interview with Akwasi: <a href="http://www.cbc.ca/metromorning/episodes/2012/02/01/whitewashing/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow nofollow"><br /></a><a class="fixed" href="http://www.cbc.ca/metromorning/episodes/2012/02/01/whitewashing/" target="_blank">http://www.cbc.ca/metromorning/episodes/2012/02/01/whitewashing/</a></p><p><span style="font-style: italic;">And Akwasi will be on Global News tonight at 6:30.</span> Tom<br /></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3969011969972135797-1657691662648245973?l=crimbrary.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15145634702414231472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-52838615715581699822012-01-31T10:50:00.001-05:002012-01-31T10:51:51.243-05:00Congress Stood Up for Fairer Sentencing. The Supreme Court Should Too.<p>Today we filed a <a href="http://www.aclu.org/criminal-law-reform/dorsey-v-us-and-hill-v-us-aclu-amicus-brief">friend-of-the-court brief</a> in two Supreme Court cases that deal with the <a href="http://www.aclu.org/blog/criminal-law-reform/justice-served">Fair Sentencing Act of 2010 (FSA)</a>, which reduced the disparity between federal mandatory minimum sentences for crack versus powder cocaine from 100:1 to 18:1. <a href="http://www.aclu.org/blog/criminal-law-reform/will-supreme-court-render-fair-sentencing-act-less-fair">As we’ve written before</a>, this was a significant step in the direction of fairness. </p> <p>In <a href="http://www.scotusblog.com/case-files/hill-v-united-states/"><em>Hill v. United States</em></a> and <a href="http://www.scotusblog.com/case-files/dorsey-v-united-states/"><em>Dorsey v. United States</em></a>, the Court will decide whether people whose offenses predate the enactment of the FSA but who were sentenced afterwards should get the benefit of the new, fairer 18:1 ratio (the fairest ratio would be 1:1), or instead be sentenced under the old 100:1 ratio, which had no basis in science and resulted in racially biased sentencing. In our brief, we join Hill and Dorsey — as well as the Obama administration — in urging the Court to hold that Congress intended the FSA to apply in all sentencing proceedings that occur after its enactment.</p> <p>The FSA was passed to correct the problems with the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986, which created a sentencing scheme that unequally punished comparable offenses involving crack and powder cocaine — two forms of the same drug. Relying on perceived differences in the harmfulness and dangerousness of crack versus powder cocaine amid media hysteria surrounding crack cocaine, the 1986 law created a 100:1 disparity between the amounts of crack versus powder cocaine necessary to trigger particular sentences. Thus, for example, someone convicted of an offense involving just five grams of crack cocaine was subject to the same five-year mandatory minimum federal prison sentence as someone convicted of an offense involving 500 grams of powder cocaine. But empirical evidence has demonstrated that there is no scientific basis to support the supposed differences between crack and powder cocaine which Congress had relied upon in devising the 100:1 ratio.<br /></p><p><a href="http://www.aclu.org/blog/criminal-law-reform/congress-stood-fairer-sentencing-supreme-court-should-too">Read on...</a><br /></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3969011969972135797-5283861571558169982?l=crimbrary.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15145634702414231472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-66640400787289127802012-01-31T10:44:00.002-05:002012-01-31T10:47:59.777-05:00Is Prison Worse for Women?<div class="sl-article-tools slb-post-mini-tools"> <div class="sl-article-tools-fb-like"> <div class="facebook_like facebooklike"> <span></span> </div> </div> <div class="sl-article-tools-twit"> <div class="left twitter_share"> </div> </div> <div class="sl-article-tools-linkedin"> <span class="in-widget-top"> <span class="IN-widget" style="line-height: 1; vertical-align: baseline; display: inline-block; text-align: center;"><span style="padding: 0pt ! important; margin: 0pt ! important; text-indent: 0pt ! important; display: inline-block ! important; vertical-align: baseline ! important; font-size: 1px ! important;"><span id="li_ui_li_gen_1328024600719_0"><a id="li_ui_li_gen_1328024600719_0-link"><span id="li_ui_li_gen_1328024600719_0-logo"><br /></span><span id="li_ui_li_gen_1328024600719_0-title"><span id="li_ui_li_gen_1328024600719_0-mark"></span><span id="li_ui_li_gen_1328024600719_0-title-text"></span></span></a></span></span></span></span>In case you missed it, the Jan. 30 issue of <em>The New Yorker</em> contained <a target="_blank" href="http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/atlarge/2012/01/30/120130crat_atlarge_gopnik?currentPage=all">a powerful essay</a> by Adam Gopnik on the staggering number of people (disproportionally of color) we have imprisoned—often, with sentences absurdly out of whack with the severity of their crimes—in this country. Here’s a brief taste:<div class="text parbase section"><div class="text"> </div> </div> <div class="text parbase section"> <div class="text"> <p style="margin-left: 40px;">Over all, there are now more people under “correctional supervision” in America—more than six million—than were in the Gulag Archipelago under Stalin at its height. That city of the confined and the controlled, Lockuptown, is now the second largest in the United States.</p> </div> </div> <div class="text parbase section"> <div class="text"> <p>Gopnik goes on to trace the intellectual history of our contemporary zeal for lengthy, impersonal, probably ineffective confinements, concluding that what’s needed is not a revolutionary throwing-over of the prison system, but instead a concerted, multifaceted effort to starve the beast though small measures: for example, the legalization and regulation of marijuana.</p> </div> </div> <div class="text parbase section"> <div class="text"> <p>While this is all very compelling, one thing is missing from Gopnik’s harrowing portrait of “Lockuptown”—he doesn’t really acknowledge that city’s female residents.</p><p><a href="http://www.slate.com/blogs/xx_factor/2012/01/30/is_prison_worse_for_women_.html">Read on....</a><br /></p> </div> </div></div></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3969011969972135797-6664040078728912780?l=crimbrary.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15145634702414231472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-90147462204509694132012-01-31T10:37:00.001-05:002012-01-31T10:40:28.621-05:00Illinois’ Injustice System<span style="font-style: italic;">Budget cuts are hard on ex-cons trying to make good.<br /><br /></span>From where he stands today, Kerry Owens is optimistic. He was released from an Illinois prison in November, after serving a year for retail theft. Owens, 41, has been in and out of the criminal justice system before, but his most recent sentence, for his first felony conviction, has changed his life forever. <p>He resolved to live differently by volunteering, kicking the addiction that led him to steal $300 worth of merchandise, and enrolling at a local community college. But as a convicted felon, it is now harder than ever to get a job, find an apartment and receive social services. </p> <p>Owens previously worked as a custodian, and while in prison he earned a certificate for commercial custodian services. But persistent high unemployment and his felony record have left him looking for work. “There’s nothing out there,” he says. “They’re certifying us for jobs that don’t exist.”<br /></p><p><a href="http://www.inthesetimes.org/article/12577/illinois_injustice_system">Read on...</a><br /></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3969011969972135797-9014746220450969413?l=crimbrary.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15145634702414231472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-11605959448374242942012-01-31T09:40:00.001-05:002012-01-31T09:45:03.145-05:00GOP Seeks Big Changes In Federal Prison Sentences<p>Every year, federal judges sentence more than 80,000 criminals. Those punishments are supposed to be fair — and predictable. But seven years ago, the U.S. Supreme Court threw a wrench into the system by ruling that the guidelines that judges use to figure out a prison sentence are only suggestions.</p> <p>Republicans in Congress say that has led to a lot of bad results. They're calling for an overhaul of the sentencing system, with tough new mandatory prison terms to bring some order back into the process. Rep. James Sensenbrenner, a Republican from Wisconsin, brought up the subject at a recent hearing.</p> <p>"A criminal committing a federal crime should receive similar punishment regardless of whether the crime was committed in Richmond, Va., or Richmond, Calif., and that's why I am deeply concerned about what's happening to federal sentencing," Sensenbrenner said.</p><p><a href="http://www.npr.org/2012/01/31/146081922/gop-seeks-big-changes-in-federal-prison-sentences">Read on...</a><br /></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3969011969972135797-1160595944837424294?l=crimbrary.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15145634702414231472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-74050502483026777972012-01-30T10:11:00.001-05:002012-01-30T10:15:00.262-05:00Understanding the dynamics of a 'crime of honour'<p> The murders of four women at the hands of their closest relatives may serve as a wakeup call for wider Canadian society to the social ills that those closer to traditionalist communities have long grappled with. </p> <p> The convictions of Mohammad Shafia, his wife, Tooba Yahya, and his eldest son, Hamed, on Sunday followed a long trial in which evidence showed that teachers, police and social services saw repeated warning signs that the teenaged daughters of the family were at risk of life-threatening violence.<br /></p><p> The three were found guilty of first-degree murder in the deaths of sisters Zainab, Sahar and Geeti Shafia, aged 19, 17 and 13, whose bodies were found in a submerged car at a Rideau Canal lock east of Kingston in 2009. The fourth found dead in the vehicle was Mr. Shafia’s first wife, Rona Amir Mohammad, 53, who had entered Canada illegally, posing as his cousin. </p> <p> “These women were aware of the threat on their lives and they reached out but nobody listened,” said Shahrzad Mojab, a University of Toronto professor. She appeared as an expert witness at the Shafia trial and spoke to The Globe and Mail after the verdict.<br /></p><p><a href="http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/understanding-the-dynamics-of-a-crime-of-honour/article2319090/">Read on...</a><br /></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3969011969972135797-7405050248302677797?l=crimbrary.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15145634702414231472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-47364231757891663932012-01-29T14:40:00.003-05:002012-01-29T14:43:59.646-05:00300 Arrested at Occupy Oakland -- Corporate Media Dutifully Report City Officials' Version of EventsPolice once again ratcheted up the tension by using force against an entire crowd of protesters.<br /><br /> <div class="story_images_top"> </div> <div class="story_images" style="margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px !important;"> <img src="http://images.alternet.org/images/managed/storyimages_1327864128_67828466350db00887c0.jpg_640x425_310x220" style="width: 310;" class="story-image" /> <div class="story-image-sourcing"> <div class="story-image-source"><i><small>Photo Credit: Oakland Local</small></i></div> </div> </div> <p name="paragraph1" id="paragraph1">Downtown Oakland turned ugly once again on Saturday, as Occupy activists attempting to squat in a long-abandoned city building were met by lines of heavily-armored riot police. Police officials said that 300 arrests followed – a number that may represent as much as 30 percent of everyone who participated in the day's actions, according to police estimates of the crowd's size.</p><p name="paragraph2" id="paragraph2">Occupy Oakland organizers said some protesters were hospitalized, but the exact number of injuries is unknown as if this writing. According to organizers, four journalists were swept up by police, including AlterNet contributor Susie Cagle and Mother Jones correspondent Gavin Aronsen. Cagle was reportedly cited and released; organizers say Aronsen was jailed overnight.</p><p name="paragraph2"><a href="http://www.alternet.org/occupywallst/153936/300_arrested_at_occupy_oakland_--_corporate_media_dutifully_report_city_officials%27_version_of_events/">Read on...</a><br /></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3969011969972135797-4736423175789166393?l=crimbrary.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15145634702414231472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-89302313596155155562012-01-28T11:33:00.002-05:002012-01-28T11:44:14.772-05:00North Carolina GOP Lawmaker Calls For Bringing Back Public Hangings, Starting With Abortion Providers<a href="http://thinkprogress.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/gallows.jpg"><img src="http://thinkprogress.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/gallows.jpg" alt="" title="gallows" class="alignright size-full wp-image-413756" width="200" height="267" /></a><br /><br />The <a href="http://www.npr.org/programs/morning/features/2001/apr/010430.execution.html">last legal public hanging</a> in America took place in 1936 in Owensboro, Kentucky. The “event” attracted 20,000 people and turned into such a sickening spectacle that many <a href="http://www.npr.org/programs/morning/features/2001/apr/010430.execution.html">credit it with ending the practice</a> in the U.S. <p>But one North Carolina Republican believes that as a country we’ve grown soft since banning public hangings and is calling for them to <a href="http://www.wral.com/news/state/nccapitol/blogpost/10649801/">reinstated</a> as a deterrent to crime. If Rep. Larry Pittman had his way, “abortionists, rapists, and kidnappers” would be first in <a href="http://www.wral.com/news/state/nccapitol/blogpost/10649801/">line for the gallows</a>:<br /></p><p><a href="http://thinkprogress.org/health/2012/01/27/413611/north-carolina-gop-lawmaker-calls-for-bringing-back-public-hangings-starting-with-abortion-providers/">Read on...</a></p><p><span style="font-style: italic;">U.S. politicians getting scarier and scarier.</span> Tom<br /></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3969011969972135797-8930231359615515556?l=crimbrary.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15145634702414231472noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-51092543527623146212012-01-26T15:59:00.001-05:002012-01-26T16:01:33.079-05:00Gun owner ID cards soar in Chicago<p class="NormalParagraphStyle">Chicago has seen a 16 percent spike in the number of people holding state firearm owner’s identification cards in the past two years, state officials said Wednesday.</p> <p class="NormalParagraphStyle">About 122,000 people possessed FOID cards at the beginning of this year compared to 105,000 at the beginning of 2010, said Monique Bond, spokeswoman for the Illinois State Police.</p> <p class="NormalParagraphStyle">Illinois residents must possess a FOID card to buy guns in the state.</p> <p class="NormalParagraphStyle">Illinois State Police officials check an applicant’s identification and background before issuing a card.</p><p class="NormalParagraphStyle"><a href="http://www.suntimes.com/news/cityhall/10234844-418/gun-owner-id-cards-soar-in-chicago.html">Read on...</a></p><p class="NormalParagraphStyle"><span style="font-style: italic;">I wonder why? </span> Tom<br /></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3969011969972135797-5109254352762314621?l=crimbrary.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15145634702414231472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-49915998682536451712012-01-26T11:40:00.001-05:002012-01-26T11:43:57.583-05:00Ex-detective accuses police of ignoring Pickton<p>The Vancouver police could have stopped serial killer Robert Pickton more than two years before he was finally caught if the force had taken the case more seriously and devoted the resources such a massive investigation would require, a public inquiry has heard.</p><p>Former detective Kim Rossmo, who was a geographic profiler with the force, said Mr. Pickton wasn’t caught sooner because senior police management resisted the theory that the women were being murdered by a serial killer.</p><p>“I think there was a good chance it could have been solved by the end of 1999 if the appropriate resources were deployed and the Vancouver police department was properly engaged in this and had accepted the serial killer theory,” Mr. Rossmo told the inquiry on Wednesday, stressing it was a rough estimate.</p><p>“I don’t want to give overemphasis to my estimate of the end of ‘99, but it certainly should have been solved much sooner. ... I believe my evidence from the other day was I think this case could have been solved one to two years earlier than it was.”</p><p><a href="http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/british-columbia/ex-detective-accuses-police-of-ignoring-pickton/article2315397/">Read on...</a><br /></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3969011969972135797-4991599868253645171?l=crimbrary.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15145634702414231472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-45583305043303114492012-01-26T10:02:00.001-05:002012-01-26T10:05:37.630-05:00After Occupy Journalist Arrests, US Plummets in Global Press Freedom Rankings<a href="http://en.rsf.org/" rel="nofollow">Reporters Without Borders</a> has released its annual <strong><a href="http://en.rsf.org/press-freedom-index-2011-2012,1043.html" rel="nofollow">World Press Freedom Index</a></strong> and the United States fell 27 points to No. 47 on the list. Why? "more than 25 [reporters] were subjected to arrests and beatings at the hands of police" during Occupy movement protests.<br /><br />"The worldwide wave of protests in 2011 also swept through the New World. It dragged the United States (47th) and Chile (80th) down the index, costing them 27 and 47 places respectively. The crackdown on protest movements and the accompanying excesses took their toll on journalists. In the space of two months in the United States, more than 25 were subjected to arrests and beatings at the hands of police who were quick to issue indictments for inappropriate behavior, public nuisance or even lack of accreditation."<br /><br /><a href="http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2012/01/25-6">Read on...</a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3969011969972135797-4558330504330311449?l=crimbrary.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15145634702414231472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-84247231749961266282012-01-26T09:50:00.002-05:002012-01-26T09:55:44.645-05:00OPP report on G8-G20 policing outlines problemsORILLIA, Ont. — A report on security at the G8 and G20 summits in 2010 says there was some confusion when Ontario Provincial Police were unexpectedly redeployed to help police in Toronto. <p> The provincial police report says the force's primary role was perimeter security at the G8 in the Huntsville, Ont., area.</p> <p> When violence and vandalism erupted in Toronto on June 26, 2010, provincial police were called in to bolster the G20 interdiction zone in Toronto.</p> <p> The report says there was confusion because it was not clear if the provincial police officers were supporting Toronto police or the RCMP.</p><p><a href="http://toronto.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20120125/opp-report-g20-outlines-problems-120125/20120125/?hub=TorontoNewHome">Read on...</a></p><p><span style="font-style: italic;">Here is a</span><a style="font-style: italic;" href="http://www.opp.ca/ecms/files/265483322.4.pdf"> link to this report.</a><span style="font-style: italic;"> Here is a link to an </span><a style="font-style: italic;" href="http://www.torontopolice.on.ca/publications/files/reports/g20_after_action_review.pdf">ealier report by Chief Blair.</a> Tom<br /></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3969011969972135797-8424723174996126628?l=crimbrary.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15145634702414231472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-5509724425276938482012-01-26T08:55:00.000-05:002012-01-26T08:57:14.860-05:00Female inmates can fear release as much as sentenceFor many of us, the prospect of jail time is a frightening thing. But for some incarcerated women, it’s getting released that’s the scary part. <p>Georgina Poirier knows all about that. The 40-year-old Cambridge woman was let out of the Grand Valley Institution For Women in 2007 after a three-year sentence for dealing drugs.</p> <p>She went from an institution where all her needs where taken care of, to a world where suddenly she needed money, a job and a place to live. </p> <p>Poirier, who was the keynote speaker at a packed forum on housing for female inmates Wednesday, felt on her own.<br /></p><p><a href="http://www.guelphmercury.com/news/ontario/article/661092--female-inmates-can-fear-release-as-much-as-sentence">Read on...</a><br /></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3969011969972135797-550972442527693848?l=crimbrary.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15145634702414231472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-44714932765738339252012-01-26T08:26:00.002-05:002012-01-26T08:30:27.400-05:00Canadians finally getting it: crime is on the decline<p>Canadians are finally getting the message that crime rates are falling.</p><p>New poll results show the public is abandoning a stubborn belief that crime is on the rise, bringing public opinion into alignment with a 20-year trend of declining crime rates.</p><p>The long-standing disconnect between public fears and reality has confounded criminologists and fuelled federal get-tough policies.<br /></p><p>However, the Environics Focus Canada poll – obtained by The Globe and Mail and scheduled for release Thursday – shakes conventional wisdom even more by finding growing support for the use of crime prevention rather than punishment. </p><p>“This doesn’t mean that people want to lay off criminals,” said Keith Neuman, executive director of the Environics Institute. “But what people would like to see is more crime prevention. They feel that this is the right thing to do.”</p><p><a href="http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/canadians-finally-getting-it-crime-is-on-the-decline/article2315266/?utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=Referrer%3A+Social+Network+%2F+Media&utm_content=2315266&utm_campaign=Shared+Web+Article+Links">Read on...</a></p><p><span style="font-style: italic;">Tony Doob, quoted in this story, is a prof at the Centre.</span> Tom<br /></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3969011969972135797-4471493276573833925?l=crimbrary.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15145634702414231472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-54322872516182313572012-01-25T11:17:00.000-05:002012-01-25T11:19:55.737-05:00Hateful FilmThere is absolutely no excuse for the New York Police Department’s <a title="A Times article" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/24/nyregion/in-police-training-a-dark-film-on-us-muslims.html">decision to show a hate-filled film about Muslims</a> to more than 1,400 city police officers.<br /><br /><p itemprop="articleBody"> Relations between police and the diverse Muslim community are already tense after The Associated Press uncovered aggressive surveillance of Muslims, including American citizens. The propaganda of this film will only damage those relations further and make law enforcement more difficult. </p><p itemprop="articleBody"> <a href="http://s2.thethirdjihad.com/">The film</a> shows some of the grisliest jihadist terrorists attacks in recent years and argues that the real agenda for Islamists in America is to infiltrate and dominate the country. The department said at first that it was shown to only a handful of officers, but that proved to be false when the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University obtained police records through the courts after a nine-month struggle. Police documents show some confusion over where the film, “The Third Jihad,” came from — possibly a contractor — and how it kept running for three months to a year in a conference area.<br /></p><p itemprop="articleBody"><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/25/opinion/hateful-film.html?_r=1&ref=opinion">Read on...</a><br /></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3969011969972135797-5432287251618231357?l=crimbrary.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15145634702414231472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-60504316053644999762012-01-24T11:26:00.001-05:002012-01-24T11:29:30.569-05:00Taking DNA From All Criminals Should Be Standard Procedure<p itemprop="articleBody"> WE have a tool that can prevent hundreds of murders, rapes and robberies each year at minimal cost to taxpayers. But we’re not using it in a majority of cases because a state law restricts its use. </p> <p itemprop="articleBody"> DNA evidence solves crimes. Since 1996, when New York State’s DNA<a href="http://www.criminaljustice.ny.gov/forensic/index.htm#none"> databank</a> opened with strong support from my predecessor, Robert M. Morgenthau, the bank’s DNA samples have been linked to more than 3,500 sexual assaults, 860 murders, 1,100 robberies and 3,400 burglaries. Thousands of criminal convictions have resulted. Today, however, we are hamstrung by a law that does not authorize the collection of DNA following convictions of certain misdemeanors. This has meant that we can’t use DNA technology in more than half of our cases. By expanding the collection of DNA to include those convicted of all crimes in New York State’s penal law, as Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo has called for, we will be better able to identify the guilty, exonerate the innocent, bring justice to crime victims and prevent additional crimes from occurring.<br /></p><p itemprop="articleBody"><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/24/opinion/collect-dna-samples-even-when-its-just-a-misdemeanor.html?_r=1">Read on...</a></p><p itemprop="articleBody"><span style="font-style: italic;">This is a New York Times op-ed. Not sure. What do you think?</span> Tom<br /></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3969011969972135797-6050431605364499976?l=crimbrary.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15145634702414231472noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-41428493858418516352012-01-24T10:52:00.001-05:002012-01-24T10:54:17.374-05:00More guns in Canada now, but fewer owners: RCMP<p>Canadians own more than half a million more firearms than they did in 2006, according to the 2010 annual report from the RCMP’s Canadian Firearms Program.</p> <p>But while federal firearms data shows that the number of registered gun owners in Canada is dropping, the arsenal of each is getting bigger and bigger.</p> <p>But many gun owners — and a Tory MP — say the government’s estimates are off the mark, and that there may be twice as many firearms, and firearms owners, in Canada as the RCMP says. They say many Canadian gun owners are “going underground,” due to fears they will face increased police scrutiny and the seizure of their weapons.</p><p><a href="http://news.nationalpost.com/2012/01/23/more-guns-in-canada-this-year-but-fewer-owners-rcmp/">Read on...</a><br /></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3969011969972135797-4142849385841851635?l=crimbrary.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15145634702414231472noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-20384285894562750602012-01-24T10:44:00.001-05:002012-01-24T10:47:05.696-05:00Conservative crime bill would cost Ontario more than $1-billion<p> Ontario says the omnibus federal crime bill will cost the province's taxpayers more than $1-billion in increased police and correctional service costs. </p> <p> Correctional Services Minister Madeleine Meilleur says there are about 8,500 inmates in Ontario correctional facilities, which are at 95 per cent capacity.<br /></p><p>Ms. Meilleur warns the Conservatives' crime bill could add another 1,500 inmates to the system by 2016, pushing populations to 150 per cent of capacity at some jails.<br /></p><p><a href="http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/conservative-crime-bill-would-cost-ontario-more-than-1-billion/article2311667/">Read on...</a><br /></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3969011969972135797-2038428589456275060?l=crimbrary.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15145634702414231472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-21477847140669198932012-01-23T21:32:00.001-05:002012-01-23T21:34:12.208-05:00Supreme Court: Warrants needed in GPS tracking<div class="article_body"> <article> <p>The Supreme Court on Monday unanimously restricted the police’s ability to use a GPS device to track criminal suspects in a first test of how privacy rights will be protected in the digital age.</p> <p>The court rejected the government’s view that long-term surveillance of a suspect by GPS tracking is no different than traditional, low-tech forms of monitoring. But its decision was nuanced and incremental, leaving open the larger questions of how government may use the information generated by modern technology for surveillance purposes.</p><p>Still, the decision reversing the conviction of suspected D.C. drug kingpin Antoine Jones was a “landmark ruling in applying the Fourth Amendment’s protections to advances in surveillance technology,” said Washington lawyer Andrew Pincus, who filed a brief on Jones’s behalf.</p><p>The court without dissent <a href="http://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/11pdf/10-1259.pdf">agreed that prosecutors violated Jones’s rights </a>when they attached a GPS device to his Jeep and monitored his movements for 28 days. In one of the Washington region’s most celebrated drug trials, the nightclub owner was convicted and sentenced to life in prison.</p><p><a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/supreme-court-warrants-needed-in-gps-tracking/2012/01/23/gIQAx7qGLQ_story.html?hpid=z4">Read on...</a><br /></p></article> </div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3969011969972135797-2147784714066919893?l=crimbrary.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15145634702414231472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-27916680022802091022012-01-23T21:18:00.001-05:002012-01-24T19:59:19.763-05:00Colorado Republicans Push Bill To Allow Guns In Elementary SchoolsAbandoning any pretense that they’re focused on job creation, Colorado Republicans have clarified their priorities for the new legislative session: guns rights. Specifically, they are doing their best to ensure that citizens have the <a href="http://www.therepublic.com/view/story/97564b9cc6814092a510922a96558039/CO-XGR--Colorado-Gun-Bills/">unfettered ability</a> to carry guns anywhere — including into elementary, middle, and high schools: <p>Colorado Republicans are reloading previous attempts to expand gun rights, <strong>bringing back legislation that would allow concealed weapons in schools and let businesses use deadly force against intruders</strong>.</p><p><a href="http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2012/01/23/408931/colorado-republicans-push-bill-to-allow-guns-in-schools/">Read on...</a><br /></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3969011969972135797-2791668002280209102?l=crimbrary.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15145634702414231472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-24868156188852218662012-01-20T11:28:00.000-05:002012-01-20T11:30:12.365-05:00G20 officers should be charged in Nobody arrest, police watchdog says<p>Five Toronto police officers should be charged with using unnecessary force against protester Adam Nobody during the G20 summit 19 months ago, <a href="http://www.documentcloud.org/documents/284487-siu-investigativereport-nobody.html#document/p1" target="_blank">an independent police review</a> says.</p> <p>The 174-page report by the Office of the Independent Police Review Director (OIPRD) is based on interviews with a dozen police witnesses, the five officers involved, five civilian witnesses and Nobody himself.</p> <p>The allegation that Constables Michael Adams, Babak Andalib-Goortani, Geoffrey Fardell, David Donaldson and Oliver Simpson used unnecessary force “is substantiated and is of a serious nature,” the report says.</p> <p>Nobody suffered a broken right cheekbone and broken nose in the takedown on June 26, 2010.</p><p><a href="http://www.thestar.com/news/article/1118596--g20-officers-should-be-charged-in-nobody-arrest-police-watchdog-says?bn=1">Read on...</a><br /></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3969011969972135797-2486815618885221866?l=crimbrary.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15145634702414231472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-35417433909291009012012-01-20T10:04:00.001-05:002012-01-20T10:06:22.266-05:00Harm-reduction programs threatenedHEALTH / Activists say federal omnibus bill will put drug users, prisoners at greater risk<br /><br /><div>Local advocates for successful harm-reduction programs are arguing that the federal omnibus crime bill places drug users at a higher risk of contracting diseases like HIV/AIDS and hepatitis C.</div> <div> </div> <div>They say that Bill C-10, reintroduced last September by the Conservative Party, has more consequences than simply being “tough on crime.”</div> <div> </div> <div>It’s a “regressive piece of legislation,” says Sandra Chu, senior policy analyst at the Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network, noting that infection rates are 10 times higher for HIV and 30 times higher for hepatitis C in prisons.</div> <div> </div> “The tough-on-crime bill is going to be tough on people who use drugs,” says Rob Boyd, director of the Oasis program at Sandy Hill Community Health Centre. “We need to use a health approach to the issue of addictions, rather than a criminal approach.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.xtra.ca/public/Ottawa/Harm_reduction_programs_threatened-11383.aspx">Read on...</a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3969011969972135797-3541743390929100901?l=crimbrary.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15145634702414231472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-12810494380155848762012-01-20T09:57:00.002-05:002012-01-20T10:01:13.915-05:00Our Dangerous Devotion to Eyewitness Testimony<img alt="" src="http://www.thenation.com/sites/default/files/user/20/troy_davis_ap_img.jpg" width="615" height="191" /><br /><em>The eyes of Troy Anthony Davis as he entered a courtroom on January 16, 1991. (AP Photo/Savannah Morning News)<br /><br /></em>"We see what we want to see,” my grandmother used to say. This insight visited me recently after I ran across the mall chasing a woman I thought was my cousin. It wasn’t, as it turned out, but I didn’t realize that until after I had puffed up behind her, bopped her amiably on the shoulder and cried out, “Boo!”<br /><br /><p>How was it possible, I thought in retrospective embarrassment, to so wrongly misidentify someone I know so well? Empirically my experience was all too common. I’d been thinking about my cousin a few moments before and saw the woman through the lens of those thoughts. We often project our life’s associations onto the faces of strangers. Constantly—if mostly unconsciously—we familiarize them with learned stereotypes. If we are wise, we learn to take caution with our assumptions. We recognize this innate fallibility, and most of the time it doesn’t matter very much.</p> <p>Oddly enough, however, we reverse that supposition in the one context where fallibility matters most: in criminal cases, eyewitness testimony is viewed as the <em>ne plus ultra</em> for the prosecution, despite a century’s worth of psychological and sociological studies revealing that, from Sacco and Vanzetti to Troy Davis, witnesses misperceive a startling percentage of the time. “Human beings are not very good at identifying people they saw only once for a relatively short period of time,” writes Cornell law professor Michael Dorf. “The studies reveal error rates of as high as fifty percent—a frightening statistic given that many convictions may be based largely or solely on such testimony. These studies show further that the ability to identify a stranger is diminished by stress (and what crime situation is not intensely stressful?), that cross-racial identifications are especially unreliable, and that contrary to what one might think, those witnesses who claim to be ‘certain’ of their identifications are no better at it than everyone else, just more confident.”</p><p><a href="http://www.thenation.com/article/165725/our-dangerous-devotion-eyewitness-testimony">Read on...</a><br /></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3969011969972135797-1281049438015584876?l=crimbrary.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15145634702414231472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-61829770301161510292012-01-20T09:28:00.001-05:002012-01-20T09:31:10.846-05:00Tasers a ‘new urban terrorism’ against ‘downtrodden’: Canadian study<p>The use of Tasers by Canada’s police forces represents a “teething new urban terrorism” that targets society’s “downtrodden,” says a study published this month that looked at more than two dozen deaths involving the stun guns.</p> <p>Those most likely to get “tased” include the poor, mentally ill and chronic drug users, according to the study, led by Temitope Oriola, who received a Governor General’s Gold Medal for academic excellence upon the completion of his doctoral studies at the University of Alberta last year.</p> <p>“It is beneath the integrity of the RCMP — a well-respected organization by international standards — and other police establishments in Canada to continue to use the Taser without conclusive independent scientific evidence succinctly demonstrating its effects or consequences on the human body,” the study, published in the journal Social Identities, concludes.</p><p><a href="http://news.nationalpost.com/2012/01/19/tasers-a-new-urban-terrorism-against-downtrodden-canadian-study/">Read on....</a><br /></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3969011969972135797-6182977030116151029?l=crimbrary.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15145634702414231472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-42859468801203601222012-01-20T08:46:00.002-05:002012-01-20T08:49:15.943-05:00Surveillance City: New Body Scanners Head to NYC<p>New plans for monitoring people in New York City has civil liberties advocates up in arms.</p><p>The <strong><em>International Business Times</em></strong> <a href="http://newyork.ibtimes.com/articles/283902/20120118/nypd-gun-scanner-technology-75-ft-range.htm" rel="nofollow">reports</a>:</p> <blockquote> <p>In a speech to the New York City Police Foundation Tuesday morning, Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly announced the NYPD was working with the Department of Defense to develop a scanner that is capable of detecting concealed firearms.</p> </blockquote> <blockquote> <p>The device picks up on the heat energy produced by people or objects, measured in terahertz, to pinpoint objects that are blocking that view of energy, like a gun. "If something is obstructing the flow of that radiation, for example, a weapon, the device will highlight that object," Kelly explained. "This technology has shown a great deal of promise as a way of detecting weapons without a physical.</p><p><a href="http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2012/01/19">Read on....</a><br /></p></blockquote><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3969011969972135797-4285946880120360122?l=crimbrary.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15145634702414231472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-41784141453369673652012-01-20T08:37:00.003-05:002012-01-20T08:42:42.495-05:00BREAKING: Anonymous Takes Down DOJ, MPAA, RIAA, and Universal Music over Megaupload ShutdownHell hath no fury like an activist scorned. <p>The internet collective known only as Anonymous are out for blood in the wake of the <a title="Megaupload Shut Down: NO SOPA REQUIRED" href="http://www.blippitt.com/megaupload-shut-down-no-sopa-required/">government’s shutdown of Megaupload.com earlier today</a>.</p> <p>The group has waged an all-out war on those responsible, attacking the websites of the <a class="zem_slink external external_icon" title="White House" href="http://www.whitehouse.gov/" rel="homepage" target="_blank">White House</a>, the <a class="zem_slink external external_icon" title="United States Department of Justice" href="http://www.justice.gov/" rel="homepage" target="_blank">Department of Justice</a>, <a title="Universal Music Group" href="http://www.blippitt.com/tag/universal-music-group/">Universal Music Group</a>, the <a class="zem_slink external external_icon" title="Recording Industry Association of America" href="http://www.riaa.com/" rel="homepage" target="_blank">Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA)</a>, and the <a class="zem_slink external external_icon" title="Motion Picture Association of America" href="http://www.mpaa.org/" rel="homepage" target="_blank">Motion Picture Association of America</a> (MPAA).</p> <p>The hackers managed to successfully shut down the websites of the DOJ, Universal Music, RIAA, ad MPAA.</p> <p>“It was in retaliation for <a class="zem_slink external external_icon" title="Megaupload" href="http://www.megaupload.com/" rel="homepage" target="_blank">Megaupload</a>, as was the concurrent attack on Justice.org,” Anonymous operative Barrett Brown said on Thursday, <a href="http://rt.com/usa/news/anonymous-doj-universal-sopa-235/" target="_blank" class="external external_icon">according to Russia Today</a>.</p> <p>Megaupload.com, a huge file-sharing site with a reported 50 million daily users, was <a title="Megaupload Shut Down: NO SOPA REQUIRED" href="http://www.blippitt.com/megaupload-shut-down-no-sopa-required/">taken offline by federal agents earlier today</a>. Four people linked to Megaupload were arrested in New Zealand and at least 20 search warrants were served around the world.</p><div style="overflow: hidden; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; border: medium none;"><br /><a href="http://www.blippitt.com/breaking-anonymous-takes-down-doj-mpaa-riaa-and-universal-music-over-megaupload-shutdown/">Read on...</a><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">There is little doubt that SOPA is about censorship</span>. Tom<br /></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3969011969972135797-4178414145336967365?l=crimbrary.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15145634702414231472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-12784498083103171612012-01-18T11:42:00.000-05:002012-01-18T11:45:06.203-05:00Majority of Canadians support legalizing or decriminalizing marijuana, new poll suggests<p>Canadians have green on their minds, but not in the environmental sense, according to a new poll.</p> <p>Released on Tuesday, the poll suggests 66% of Canadians are in favour of the legalization or decriminalization of marijuana, with just 20% supporting leaving the laws as they are now.</p> <p>The poll, conducted by Toronto-based Forum Research Inc., showed that residents of British Columbia were the most likely to support marijuana laws reform, with 73% of respondents indicating laws should be changed. Quebec had the lowest support for reforms, though the majority of respondents, 61%, supported changing marijuana legislation.</p> <p><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-130431" title="Forum research" src="http://nationalpostnews.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/pot.jpg" alt="" height="384" width="620" /></p><p><a href="http://news.nationalpost.com/2012/01/17/majority-of-canadians-support-legalizing-or-decriminalizing-marijuana-new-poll-suggests/">Read on...</a><br /></p><p><br /></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3969011969972135797-1278449808310317161?l=crimbrary.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15145634702414231472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-68447550923235002542012-01-18T11:28:00.000-05:002012-01-18T11:30:43.137-05:00Federal oversight of state prison healthcare to end<h2 style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-size:100%;">A report on how to wrap up six years of receivership is due by April 30. Many of the program's goals have been accomplished, judge says.</span></h2><p>Reporting from Sacramento -- Federal oversight of prison healthcare in California is nearing an end, a judge said Tuesday, six years after he ruled that abysmal medical conditions were contributing to an inmate death every week.<br /><br />U.S. District Court Judge Thelton E. Henderson said Tuesday that healthcare in state lockups has improved significantly since he seized control of the system, a move that has cost taxpayers billions of dollars.<br /><br /> "While some critical work remains outstanding — most notably on construction issues — it is clear that many of the goals of the receivership have been accomplished," Henderson wrote in a three-page order.<br /><br />State officials were rebuffed when they sought to end the receivership in 2009. On Tuesday, Gov. <a class="taxInlineTagLink" id="PEPLT007547" title="Jerry Brown" href="http://www.latimes.com/topic/politics/government/jerry-brown-PEPLT007547.topic">Jerry Brown</a> applauded the judge's decision.</p><p><a href="http://www.latimes.com/health/la-me-prisons-20120118,0,2810936.story">Read on...</a><br /></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3969011969972135797-6844755092323500254?l=crimbrary.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15145634702414231472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-51356534945219697112012-01-18T11:22:00.001-05:002012-01-18T11:24:07.259-05:00New Batch Of Ron Paul Newsletters Just As Racist As The First<p>A brand new batch of Ron Paul newsletters raises questions for the libertarian Republican — as well as a host of embarrassing fresh passages to go along with such classics as “the coming race war” and “the federal-homosexual cover up on AIDS” from earlier reports.</p> <p>Ron Paul claims “probably ten sentences out of 10,000 pages” were objectionable in his long-published newsletter series, even as he denies having ever written the content in question (or even having seen most of it). But, as <a href="http://2012.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/12/ron-paul-only-eight-to-ten-sentences-from-newsletter-were-offensive.php">TPM has reported</a> and a new collection of Ron Paul newsletters posted by <a href="http://www.tnr.com/article/politics/99666/ron-paul-newsletters-part-two?page=0,1">The New Republic</a> confirms, racism, homophobia, and fringe conspiracy theories seem more like the newsletters’ raison d’etre than a rare aberration. In fact, even <a href="http://2012.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/12/ron-paul-only-eight-to-ten-sentences-from-newsletter-were-offensive.php">short promotional letters</a> for the publication name-checked many of the most toxic passages.<br /></p><p><a href="http://2012.talkingpointsmemo.com/2012/01/new-batch-of-ron-paul-newsletters-just-as-racist-as-the-first.php">Read on...</a><br /></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3969011969972135797-5135653494521969711?l=crimbrary.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15145634702414231472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-67275824505178439332012-01-18T11:16:00.001-05:002012-01-18T11:18:08.984-05:00The Web to “Go Dark” January 18th to Protest Censorship BillsINTERNET TO SHUT DOWN WEDNESDAY TO PROTEST CENSORSHIP <p>Less than 24 hours after I <a href="http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2012/01/weve-won-a-brief-period-of-breathing-room-on-iran-and-sopa-lets-use-the-time-wisely.html" title="noted">noted</a> that we’ve won a brief respite from SOPA, the bill’s chief sponsor said <a href="http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20120117/12563317437/its-baaaaaaaaack-lamar-smith-says-sopa-markup-to-resume-february.shtml" target="_blank" title="it’s back on track">it’s back on track</a> for mark up in February.</p> <p>But a number of the world’s most popular websites – including Wikipedia, Twitpic, Reddit, Imgur, Mozilla and WordPress – are “going dark” on Wednesday January 18th to protest the censorship bills (SOPA and PIPA).</p> <p>In addition, Google and other web titans will place prominent messages on their front pages urging their readers to oppose the draconian bills.</p> <p>For example, Google has replaced its normal logo with this image (which links to an anti-SOPA page):</p><p><a href="http://www.zerohedge.com/contributed/web-%E2%80%9Cgo-dark%E2%80%9D-january-18th-protest-censorship-bills">Read on...</a><br /></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3969011969972135797-6727582450517843933?l=crimbrary.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15145634702414231472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-48370097009332942172012-01-16T13:57:00.000-05:002012-01-16T13:59:48.846-05:00Top Ten Civil Rights Songs<p>In honor of Monday's national holiday marking the birth of the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., I embarked on the impossible task of selecting a top ten list of songs about civil rights. The theme has resonated deeply with generations of artists of all stripes and inspired considerable musical tribute so this list is meant simply as a starting point for discussion (and listening!) Please use the comments field below to let me what I missed.</p> <p>In random order:</p> 1. <strong>Mavis Staples</strong>, <em>We Shall Not Be Moved<br /><br /><a href="http://www.thenation.com/blog/165627/top-ten-civil-rights-songs">Read on....</a><br /></em><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3969011969972135797-4837009700933294217?l=crimbrary.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15145634702414231472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-25106768080957413552012-01-16T13:52:00.000-05:002012-01-16T13:54:59.127-05:00The FBI's War against Dr. King Revisited<div class="field field-type-filefield field-field-blog-image"> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item odd"> <img src="http://www.aclu.org/files/imagecache/blog_image/blog_images/mlk-marquee.jpeg" alt="" title="" class="imagecache imagecache-blog_image imagecache-default imagecache-blog_image_default" height="200" width="200" /> </div> </div> </div> <p>Over the course of two decades, the FBI went to war against Dr. Martin Luther King, even though the civil rights leader never knew he was under attack.</p> <p>As Dr. King’s political power, stature and influence grew, the FBI, under the direction of J. Edgar Hoover, grew increasingly obsessed with King. In turn, they used various tactics in the ‘50s and ‘60s to try and discredit him, such as mounting a full-court press to portray him as a Communist provocateur, attempting to disrupt tributes after Dr. King won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964 and repeatedly bugging his hotel rooms.</p> <p>The FBI so viewed Dr. King as a threat that they even tried to covertly besmirch his reputation after his assassination, when Congress in 1969 first considered making his birthday a national holiday.</p><p><a href="http://www.aclu.org/blog/national-security/fbis-war-against-dr-king-revisited">Read on...</a><br /></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3969011969972135797-2510676808095741355?l=crimbrary.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15145634702414231472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-52379659767499474202012-01-16T10:03:00.001-05:002012-01-16T10:06:25.690-05:00Shocker: Is Our World Becoming Less Violent?<span style="font-style: italic;">Many believe the 20th century represents the pinnacle of human violence, but psychologist Steven Pinker argues that the opposite is true.<br /><br /></span>Humanity's lust for violence has undergone a long, precipitous decline at every level of social interaction, from domestic abuse to violent crime to interstate wars. That's the sweeping and somewhat counterintuitive thesis of psychologist Steven Pinker's new book, <em><a href="http://www.powells.com/partner/32513/biblio/9780670022953">The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined</a></em>. The pacification of humanity, says Pinker, is “a fractal phenomenon, visible at the scale of millennia, centuries, decades, and years.”<p name="paragraph2" id="paragraph2">Pinker writes that the “very idea invites skepticism, incredulity and sometimes anger.” He sets out to overcome that barrier by surveying a broad swath of data, from examinations of ancient bones unearthed in peat bogs and on long-forgotten battlefields, to homicide statistics based on European coroners' inquests and local records dating back 800 years, to databases of modern interstate conflicts and civil wars.</p><p name="paragraph3" id="paragraph3">Does Pinker's research validate his thesis? And if so, what forces might explain such a profound shift in human society?</p><p name="paragraph3"><a href="http://www.alternet.org/books/153762/shocker%3A_is_our_world_becoming_less_violent/">Read on...</a><br /></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3969011969972135797-5237965976749947420?l=crimbrary.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15145634702414231472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-26709299083881885242012-01-16T09:58:00.001-05:002012-01-16T10:00:51.376-05:00On MLK Day: How a Racist Criminal Justice System Rolled Back the Gains of the Civil Rights Era<span style="font-style: italic;">For Martin Luther King, Jr. day, Democracy Now! hosts a discussion of mass incarceration among African-Americans and how it has created a new Jim Crow era.<br /><br /></span>On this eve of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s birthday, we host a wide-ranging discussion with TransAfrica founder Randall Robinson and author Michelle Alexander about the mass incarceration of African Americans that has rolled back many achievements of the civil rights movement. Today there are more African Americans under correctional control, whether in prison or jail, on probation or on parole, than there were enslaved in 1850. And more African-American men are disenfranchised now because of felon disenfranchisement laws than in 1870. Alexander, whose book "The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness" is newly released in paperback, argues that "[n]othing less than a major social movement has any hope of ending mass incarceration in America or inspiring a recommitment to [Martin Luther] King's dream... My view is that this has got to be a human rights movement. It’s got to be a movement for education, not incarceration; for jobs, not jails; a movement that acknowledges the basic humanity and dignity of all people, no matter who you are or what you have done."<br /><br /><a href="http://www.alternet.org/story/153782/on_mlk_day%3A_how_a_racist_criminal_justice_system_rolled_back_the_gains_of_the_civil_rights_era/">Read on....</a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3969011969972135797-2670929908388188524?l=crimbrary.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15145634702414231472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-26482657772757036022012-01-15T12:09:00.001-05:002012-01-15T12:11:34.148-05:0010 Reasons the US is No Longer the Land of the Free<div class="author"> by <a href="http://www.commondreams.org/author/jonathan-turley">Jonathan Turley</a> </div> <p>Every year, the State Department issues <a href="http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2010/index.htm" rel="nofollow">reports on individual rights</a> in other countries, monitoring the passage of restrictive laws and regulations around the world. Iran, for example, has been criticized for denying fair public trials and limiting privacy, while Russia has been taken to task for undermining due process. Other countries have been condemned for the use of secret evidence and torture.</p> <p>Even as we pass judgment on countries we consider unfree, Americans remain confident that any definition of a free nation must include their own — the land of free. Yet, the laws and practices of the land should shake that confidence. In the decade since Sept. 11, 2001, this country has comprehensively reduced civil liberties in the name of an expanded security state. The most recent example of this was <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/obama-signs-defense-bill-pledges-to-maintain-legal-rights-of-terror-suspects/2011/12/31/gIQATzbkSP_story.html" rel="nofollow">the National Defense Authorization Act</a>, signed Dec. 31, which allows for the indefinite detention of citizens. At what point does the reduction of individual rights in our country change how we define ourselves?</p> <p>While each new national security power Washington has embraced was controversial when enacted, they are often discussed in isolation. But they don’t operate in isolation. They form a mosaic of powers under which our country could be considered, at least in part, authoritarian. Americans often proclaim our nation as a symbol of freedom to the world while dismissing nations such as Cuba and China as categorically unfree. Yet, objectively, we may be only half right. Those countries do lack basic individual rights such as due process, placing them outside any reasonable definition of “free,” but the United States now has much more in common with such regimes than anyone may like to admit.</p><p><a href="http://www.commondreams.org/view/2012/01/14-6">Read on...</a><br /></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3969011969972135797-2648265777275703602?l=crimbrary.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15145634702414231472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-87500466249715211132012-01-12T14:06:00.000-05:002012-01-12T14:09:10.735-05:00A Conversation with Sudhir Venkatesh<iframe src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/SbQVdDx6848" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" width="420"></iframe><br /><br />Sudhir Venkatesh, William B. Ransford Professor of Sociology at Columbia University, talks with Vera director Michael Jacobson about his 18 months advising the FBI on working with local law enforcement agencies to deal with gang-related crime and his current research on informal justice systems in urban communities. This podcast is part of the 2011-2012 Neil A. Weiner Research Speaker Series.<br /><br />Professor Venkatesh is author most recently of Gang Leader for a Day: A Rogue Sociologist Takes to the Streets. He is completing an ethnographic study of policing.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3969011969972135797-8750046624971521113?l=crimbrary.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15145634702414231472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-18538774235659888552012-01-12T14:03:00.000-05:002012-01-12T14:04:28.400-05:00David Garland: Peculiar Institution: America's Death Penalty in an Age of Abolition<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/C6QEZ0EMjeo" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3969011969972135797-1853877423565988855?l=crimbrary.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15145634702414231472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-84508316389853949372012-01-12T13:53:00.001-05:002012-01-12T13:56:31.538-05:00Why California's Prisoners Are Starving Themselves<p style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; ">On 19 December 2011, three prisoners at Corcoran State Prison <a href="http://sfbayview.com/2011/new-hunger-strike-petition-for-improved-conditions-in-administrative-segregation-unit-at-corcoran-state-prison/">wrote a letter to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) threatening to go on hunger strike</a> if improvements were not made to their living conditions. Evidently, they received no response from the CDCR: the hunger strike began on 28 December.</p><p name="paragraph2" id="paragraph2">This latest hunger strike, the third in less than six months, is small potatoes compared to the previous two, which were state-wide and involved thousands of inmates. According to Terry Thornton, a CDCR spokeswoman, it may already be over. But the fact that Californian prisoners have once again resorted to starving themselves to protest the conditions of their confinement does suggest that something is rotten in the Golden State's penal system. </p><p name="paragraph3" id="paragraph3">The first hunger strike began on 1 July 2011, and ended three weeks later when the CDCR agreed, in theory at least, to address the participants' five core demands, which amounted to better living conditions, adequate food and clothing, an end to group punishments and most importantly, an end to the gang validation policy that sentences inmates to endless terms in solitary confinement cells, known as SHUs.</p><p name="paragraph3"><a href="http://www.alternet.org/newsandviews/article/761553/why_california%27s_prisoners_are_starving_themselves/">Read on....</a><br /></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3969011969972135797-8450831638985394937?l=crimbrary.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15145634702414231472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-6571639271089376752012-01-12T10:15:00.001-05:002012-01-12T10:17:42.303-05:00The black hole of GuantanamoWhen killing becomes routine, I guess they feel the need to desecrate. There's nothing particularly new in this --- except the laws against it.<br /><br />That's just awful. That it comes on the <span style="font-style:italic;">10th anniversary</span> of the opening of Guantanamo makes it all the worse.<br /><br />Dahlia Lithwick <a href="http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/jurisprudence/2012/01/what_we_might_want_to_remember_about_forgetting_on_the_10th_anniversary_of_the_prison_camp_at_guantanamo.html">has an excellent piece</a> up about that tragic decision and the legal fallout, which contains many insights, this one especially:<br /><br />The paradox of Guantanamo has always been that it’s been invisible to so many Americans, and yet the only thing the rest of the world sees. The whole point of the prison camp there was to create a legal black hole. We’ve fished our wish: The world sees only blackness; we see only a hole.<br /><br /><a href="http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2012/01/black-hole-of-guantanamo.html">Read on...</a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3969011969972135797-657163927108937675?l=crimbrary.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15145634702414231472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-83671681375753593742012-01-12T10:05:00.001-05:002012-01-12T10:07:39.921-05:00Canadians trust Mounties, but leadership an issue<p>More than 80 per cent of Canadians believe Canada's Mounties are honest and work with integrity and professionalism, according to an annual survey gauging satisfaction with the national police force.</p><p>However, the same survey showed Canadians have a dimmer view of the force when it comes to its leadership and its ability to communicate. And less than 60 per cent of First Nations respondents said the force was responsive to aboriginal issues.</p><p>The Harris/Decima survey involving 7,000 Canadians took place over June and July 2011, prior to the appointment of a new commissioner and before the emergence of a sexual harassment scandal involving the force. A margin of error was not provided.</p><div style="overflow: hidden; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-align: left; text-decoration: none; border: medium none;"><a href="http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/Canadians+trust+Mounties+leadership+issue/5981418/story.html">Read on...</a><br /></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3969011969972135797-8367168137575359374?l=crimbrary.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15145634702414231472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-25620900455412024742012-01-09T15:50:00.001-05:002012-01-09T15:52:56.554-05:00My Guantánamo Nightmare<h6 class="byline">By LAKHDAR BOUMEDIENE</h6><p> ON Wednesday, America’s detention camp at Guantánamo Bay will have been open for 10 years. For seven of them, I was held there without explanation or charge. During that time my daughters grew up without me. They were toddlers when I was imprisoned, and were never allowed to visit or speak to me by phone. Most of their letters were returned as “undeliverable,” and the few that I received were so thoroughly and thoughtlessly censored that their messages of love and support were lost. </p><p> Some American politicians say that people at Guantánamo are terrorists, but I have never been a terrorist. Had I been brought before a court when I was seized, my children’s lives would not have been torn apart, and my family would not have been thrown into poverty. It was only after the United States Supreme Court <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/13/washington/13scotus.html">ordered the government</a> to defend its actions before a federal judge that I was finally able to clear my name and be with them again.<br /></p><p><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/08/opinion/sunday/my-guantanamo-nightmare.html?_r=3&partner=rss&emc=rss">Read on....</a><br /></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3969011969972135797-2562090045541202474?l=crimbrary.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15145634702414231472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-46224837176545621502012-01-09T09:28:00.002-05:002012-01-09T09:32:27.547-05:00Use of Solitary Confinement Scrutinized by Prison Watchdogs<p>RICHMOND — At Red Onion State Prison, built on a mountaintop in a remote pocket of southwest Virginia, more than two-thirds of the inmates live in solitary confinement.</p><p><span class="image-right" style="width: 275px;"> <img src="http://www.commondreams.org/sites/commondreams.org/files/imagecache/headline_image/article_images/solitary-confinement.jpg" alt="" title="" class="imagecache imagecache-headline_image imagecache-default imagecache-headline_image_default" width="275" height="206" /> <span class="caption"><br /></span></span></p><p><span class="image-right" style="width: 275px;"><span class="caption"> </span></span>In a state where about 1 in 20 prisoners are held in solitary, Red Onion, a so-called supermax prison, isolates more inmates than any other facility, keeping more than 500 of its nearly 750 charges alone for 23 hours a day in cells the size of a doctor’s exam room.</p> <p>Virginia, one of 44 states that use solitary confinement, has 1,800 people in isolation, a sizable share of the estimated 25,000 people in solitary in the nation’s state and federal prisons.</p> <p>As more becomes known about the effects of isolation — on inmate health, public safety and prison budgets — some states have begun to reconsider the practice, among them Texas, which, like Virginia, is known as a law-and-order state.</p> <p>Mississippi, New York and Texas have begun to scale back the use of solitary confinement under pressure from prison watchdogs.</p><p><a href="RICHMOND%20%C3%A2%C2%80%C2%94%20At%20Red%20Onion%20State%20Prison,%20built%20on%20a%20mountaintop%20in%20a%20remote%20pocket%20of%20southwest%20Virginia,%20more%20than%20two-thirds%20of%20the%20inmates%20live%20in%20solitary%20confinement.%20%20As%20more%20becomes%20known%20about%20the%20effects%20of%20isolation%20%C3%A2%C2%80%C2%94%20on%20inmate%20health,%20public%20safety%20and%20prison%20budgets%20%C3%A2%C2%80%C2%94%20some%20states%20have%20begun%20to%20reconsider%20the%20practice,%20among%20them%20Texas,%20which,%20like%20Virginia,%20is%20known%20as%20a%20law-and-order%20state.%20Mississippi,%20New%20York%20and%20Texas%20have%20begun%20to%20scale%20back%20the%20use%20of%20solitary%20confinement%20under%20pressure%20from%20prison%20watchdogs.%20In%20a%20state%20where%20about%201%20in%2020%20prisoners%20are%20held%20in%20solitary,%20Red%20Onion,%20a%20so-called%20supermax%20prison,%20isolates%20more%20inmates%20than%20any%20other%20facility,%20keeping%20more%20than%20500%20of%20its%20nearly%20750%20charges%20alone%20for%2023%20hours%20a%20day%20in%20cells%20the%20size%20of%20a%20doctor%C3%A2%C2%80%C2%99s%20exam%20room.%20%20Virginia,%20one%20of%2044%20states%20that%20use%20solitary%20confinement,%20has%201,800%20people%20in%20isolation,%20a%20sizable%20share%20of%20the%20estimated%2025,000%20people%20in%20solitary%20in%20the%20nation%C3%A2%C2%80%C2%99s%20state%20and%20federal%20prisons.%20%20As%20more%20becomes%20known%20about%20the%20effects%20of%20isolation%20%C3%A2%C2%80%C2%94%20on%20inmate%20health,%20public%20safety%20and%20prison%20budgets%20%C3%A2%C2%80%C2%94%20some%20states%20have%20begun%20to%20reconsider%20the%20practice,%20among%20them%20Texas,%20which,%20like%20Virginia,%20is%20known%20as%20a%20law-and-order%20state.%20%20Mississippi,%20New%20York%20and%20Texas%20have%20begun%20to%20scale%20back%20the%20use%20of%20solitary%20confinement%20under%20pressure%20from%20prison%20watchdogs.">Read on...</a><br /></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3969011969972135797-4622483717654562150?l=crimbrary.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15145634702414231472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-28869297096261296382012-01-09T09:15:00.001-05:002012-01-09T09:18:18.108-05:00Stop the School-to-Prison Pipeline<em>Every man in my family has been locked up. Most days I feel like it doesn’t matter what I do, how hard I try—that’s my fate, too.”</em> —11th-grade African American student, Berkeley, Calif.<br /><br /><p>This young man isn’t being cynical or melodramatic; he’s articulating a terrifying reality for many of the children and youth sitting in our classrooms—a reality that is often invisible or misunderstood. Some have seen the growing numbers of security guards and police in our schools as unfortunate but necessary responses to the behavior of children from poor, crime-ridden neighborhoods. But what if something more ominous is happening? What if many of our students—particularly our African American, Latina/o, Native American, and Southeast Asian children—are being channeled toward prison and a lifetime of second-class status?</p> <p>We believe that this is the case, and there is ample evidence to support that claim. What has come to be called the “school-to-prison pipeline” is turning too many schools into pathways to incarceration rather than opportunity. This trend has extraordinary implications for teachers and education activists. It affects everything from what we teach to how we build community in our classrooms, how we deal with conflicts with and among our students, how we build coalitions, and what demands we see as central to the fight for social justice education.</p><p><a href="http://www.commondreams.org/view/2012/01/08-0">Read on...</a><br /></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3969011969972135797-2886929709626129638?l=crimbrary.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15145634702414231472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-83253964413817164892012-01-09T09:01:00.001-05:002012-01-09T09:03:58.556-05:00Police learn how to deal with the mentally ill in crisisMichael’s manic episodes started after an injury stopped him from doing what he loved most – playing hockey. Feeling like he had lost his identity, he took a job as a bouncer at a nightclub, and started abusing drugs and alcohol. His volatile lifestyle came to a head one night when a scuffle with police landed him in Mental Health Court.<br /><br />Police say he assaulted an officer. Michael, who asked to be identified by his first name, says he was the one hurt in the encounter. But the result, court-ordered participation in recovery groups and therapy combined with medication, gave him a new lease on life. Ontario’s Mental Health Court is a court system designed for people with mental illness. “The opportunity that was awarded to me through Mental Health Court was great. I wish it didn’t have to be my head bouncing off cement that got me there,” Michael said. “I wish it was something a little softer.”<br /><a href="http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/police-learn-how-to-deal-with-the-mentally-ill-in-crisis/article2295503/"><br />Read on...</a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3969011969972135797-8325396441381716489?l=crimbrary.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15145634702414231472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-67318206137982460852012-01-08T09:20:00.001-05:002012-01-08T09:23:18.940-05:00Dispatch from torture nation: execution by pepper sprayby digby<br /><br />No this isn't a story from North Korea or Pinochet's Chile. <a href="http://www.care2.com/causes/florida-man-tortured-and-pepper-sprayed-to-death-by-police.html#ixzz1io2pz85w">I swear</a>:<br /><br />It has been two and half years since 62-year old Nick Christie was tortured and pepper-sprayed to death by police at the Lee County Jail. Although the medical examiner ruled his death a homicide, the law enforcement officers who kept him strapped naked to a chair and then pepper sprayed him until he died have not been charged in his death.<br /><br />On January 20, 2010, the Injury Board’s National News Desk reported that Nick Christie’s wife, Joyce Christie, and her son, were planning to file a federal lawsuit because the police violated her husband’s constitutional rights. The article describes what allegedly happened when Christie was arrested for trespassing:<br /><br /><a href="http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2012/01/dispatch-from-torture-nation-execution.html">Read on...</a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3969011969972135797-6731820613798246085?l=crimbrary.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15145634702414231472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-74446444791273787622012-01-06T12:35:00.000-05:002012-01-06T12:37:06.802-05:00FBI changes definition of rape to include men as victimsThe <a href="http://content.usatoday.com/topics/topic/Organizations/Government+Bodies/Federal+Bureau+of+Investigation" title="More news, photos about FBI">FBI</a> is changing its long-standing definition of rape for the first time to include sexual assaults on males following persistent calls from victims advocates who claim that the offense, as currently defined in the agency's annual crime report, has been undercounted for decades.<br /><br /><p class="inside-copy">Under the current definition, established 85 years ago, many of the sex crimes alleged in the ongoing prosecution of former <a href="http://content.usatoday.com/topics/topic/Organizations/Schools/Penn+State+University" title="More news, photos about Penn State">Penn State</a> assistant football coach <a href="http://content.usatoday.com/topics/topic/Jerry+Sandusky" title="More news, photos about Jerry Sandusky">Jerry Sandusky</a> would not be counted in the bureau's Uniform Crime Report, one of the most reliable measures of crime in the <a href="http://content.usatoday.com/topics/topic/Places,+Geography/Countries/United+States" title="More news, photos about United States">United States</a>. Sandusky is accused in alleged assaults and sexual misconduct involving 10 male victims.</p><p class="inside-copy">Rape is currently defined as the "carnal knowledge of a female forcibly and against her will."</p><p class="inside-copy"> The new provision will define rape as any kind of penetration of another person, regardless of gender, without the victim's consent. It also includes a broad range of rapes involving both males and females in which attackers use objects to penetrate their victims.</p><p class="inside-copy"><a href="http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/story/2012-01-06/fbi-rape-definition-adds-men/52398350/1">Read on...</a><br /></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3969011969972135797-7444644479127378762?l=crimbrary.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15145634702414231472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-4223014436793565562012-01-06T09:16:00.001-05:002012-01-06T09:18:54.731-05:00The CourtsThe conservative takeover will be complete.<br /><br />For anyone considering the 2012 election’s importance to the future of the American judiciary, one fact stands out: next November, Ruth Bader Ginsburg will be seventy-nine years old. If a Republican wins the presidential election, he or she may have an opportunity to seat Ginsburg’s successor, replacing the Supreme Court’s most reliably liberal jurist with a conservative. That would mean that the Court—currently balanced almost elegantly between four liberals, four conservatives, and the moderate conservative Anthony Kennedy—would finally tilt decisively to the right, thereby fulfilling Edwin Meese’s dream, laid out in his famous 1985 speech before the American Bar Association, of reshaping the Court around one coherent “jurisprudence of original intention.” Meese, who was then Ronald Reagan’s attorney general, wanted nine conservative constitutional originalists on the Court. He may soon get his wish. A 2008 study by Richard Posner, a federal appeals court judge, and William Landes, a law professor at the University of Chicago, examined the voting records of seventy years of Supreme Court justices in order to rank the forty-three justices who have served on the Court since 1937. They concluded that four of the five most conservative justices to serve on the Supreme Court since 1937 sit on the Supreme Court today. Justice Clarence Thomas ranked first.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/magazine/january_february_2012/features/the_courts034474.php">Read on...</a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3969011969972135797-422301443679356556?l=crimbrary.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15145634702414231472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-49260251813245845752012-01-06T09:07:00.001-05:002012-01-06T09:09:59.015-05:00Why You Can Be Branded a Terrorist for Fighting Animal AbuseThe Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act has had a chilling effect on activists scared to participate in what should be constitutionally protected activity.<br /><br /><p name="paragraph1" id="paragraph1">Five longtime activists are challenging a federal law that defines a wide spectrum of peaceful – and in some cases, otherwise lawful – animal rights activism as acts of terrorism. They say that the <a href="http://abolishtheaeta.org/web/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/the-animal-enterprise-terrorism-act.pdf">Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act</a> (AETA) violates their First Amendment right to free speech and has had a chilling effect on activists who are refraining from participating in what should be constitutionally protected activity out of fear of being labeled a terrorist.</p><p name="paragraph2" id="paragraph2">They have good reason to worry. In 2009, the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force arrested and indicted four California protesters for terrorism, each of whom faced 10 years in prison. Their crimes? They “<a href="http://www.greenisthenewred.com/blog/aeta-arrests/1070/">marched, chanted, and chalked</a>” sidewalk slogans outside the homes of animal researchers and distributed fliers about their campaign.</p><p name="paragraph2">In 2010, federal judge Ronald M. Whyte <a href="http://ccrjustice.org/newsroom/press-releases/judge-dismisses-animal-enterprise-terrorism-act-indictments-against-activists">dismissed</a> the indictments, agreeing with the defense that the charges were too vague because the “behavior in question spans a wide spectrum from criminal conduct to constitutionally protected political protest.” Nevertheless, AETA continues to pose a threat to those participating in animal rights advocacy.</p><p name="paragraph2"><a href="http://www.alternet.org/rights/153650/why_you_can_be_branded_a_terrorist_for_fighting_animal_abuse/">Read on....</a><br /></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3969011969972135797-4926025181324584575?l=crimbrary.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15145634702414231472noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-24264549664913675832012-01-05T12:16:00.001-05:002012-01-05T12:19:16.055-05:00Jails don’t keep people out of jail<p>Collectively, we have nearly 10 decades of experience in the area of corrections and conditional release. There are many issues we have disagreed over, but we are united in our concerns with the direction of the Harper government’s “tough on crime” agenda.</p><p>In a country that prides itself on fairness, compassion and the pursuit of equality, why do we accept the idea that community safety will be enhanced through increased incarceration?</p><p>At both the federal and provincial levels, Canadian jails are overcrowded. It is becoming common to see double- and triple-bunking of inmates in cells designed for one. This overcrowding limits access to already scarce rehabilitative programming and increases the incidence of institutional violence. The fastest-growing portions of the inmate population continue to be those most marginalized within our society: the mentally ill, women and aboriginals. Decades of reports have detailed our correctional systems’ failure to reasonably address the needs of these offenders and limit their numbers.</p><p><a href="http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/opinions/opinion/jails-dont-keep-people-out-of-jail/article2291589/">Read on...</a></p><p><span style="font-style: italic;">This is an opinion piece from the Globe and Mail</span>. Tom<br /></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3969011969972135797-2426454966491367583?l=crimbrary.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15145634702414231472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-24295028831166246782012-01-05T09:26:00.002-05:002012-01-05T09:30:26.326-05:00Despite weak economy, crime in Los Angeles County still declines<h2 style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-size:100%;">There were thousands fewer crimes reported in 2011 than 2010 in areas the LAPD and Sheriff's Department patrol. The trend puzzles some but reinforces a common police view that other factors are at play.</span></h2><p>Even since the economy began stalling several years ago, there have been dire warnings that crime would rise.<br /><br />But in Southern California, crime continues its long decline despite the weak economy. Indeed, 2011 brought new worries about a "double dip recession," yet streets in many parts of the region were the safest they've been in decades.<br /><br /> The trend continues to puzzle some criminologists but has reinforced the view of many in law enforcement that factors other than the economy determine the rise or fall of crime.<br /><br />Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck said crime rates are determined largely by how well police do their job and the "informal social standards" set by communities — that is, what kind of behavior people are willing to tolerate from others.</p><p><a href="http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-crime-stats-20120105,0,518472.story">Read on...</a><br /></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3969011969972135797-2429502883116624678?l=crimbrary.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15145634702414231472noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-53781261419564846402012-01-05T08:56:00.003-05:002012-01-05T09:31:35.933-05:00Canaries in the Data MinesCivil libertarians raise alarm over America’s national surveillance network<br /><br />We’re going to have a little chat,” the plain-clothed officer said to Susan Barney as he fastened handcuffs around her wrists and led her from the cell at the Boston police station, where she was being held with three other political activists. It was January 2009, and they had been arrested after refusing to move from the lobby of the building that houses the Israeli consulate while taking part in a “die-in” to protest Israel’s invasion of Gaza. <p>This is odd, Barney thought. She had been arrested for civil disobedience several times and never before had the police wanted to chat.</p> <p>Barney was led to a small room where the officer joined three other medvbzcvzkdvn around a table. They introduced themselves–she remembers someone from the Boston Police Department (BPD) and another from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS)–and then began questioning her about her political activities and associations. Barney, schooled in civil disobedience and keenly aware of her rights, turned her back to the table and refused to answer, but not before one of her interrogators said, “I’m sure you recognize us. We come to all your protests.” She didn’t recognize them at the time, but now reports that two of them have shown up regularly at subsequent protests, including Occupy Boston.</p><p><a href="http://www.inthesetimes.org/article/12427/canaries_in_the_data_mines">Read on...</a><br /></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3969011969972135797-5378126141956484640?l=crimbrary.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15145634702414231472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-7683617144843007422012-01-03T10:07:00.000-05:002012-01-03T10:09:10.258-05:00USA – Doubts surface as Chicago police sharply increase Taser use: Electroshock weapons fired more frequently by city, suburban cops (2012-01-01)<p><em><strong>[[SUMMARY / COMMENTS : Chicago police were deploying tasers at a rate of more than twice a day in 2011; taser use has jumped fivefold in the city since 2008. The author of an official National Justice Dept. report says: “"It's a wonderful tool, when used properly. But they've just got to be used judiciously, and in many departments, they aren't." One problem is reporting difference between Chicago precincts, but the trend toward more frequent use was clear. Amnesty International says there have been 490 taser-related deaths in the USA.]]</strong></em></p> <p>Chicago Tribune, by Dan Hinkel</p> <p>The traffic stop began peacefully three hours into New Year’s Day 2010, with the woman driving the SUV telling the officer that she hadn’t been drinking and her husband merrily exclaiming he was the source of the alcohol smell.</p> <p>But the situation soured when Steven Kotlinski, 55, stepped out to watch his wife’s sobriety test, provoking the Mundelein officers to order him into the SUV. He reluctantly obeyed, but one officer said Kotlinski had obstructed his efforts. He ordered him back out, then tried to pull him out.</p> <p>Next came the electric crackle of a Taser, a sound heard far more often in Chicago and many suburbs than it was just a few years ago.</p><p><a href="http://www.globalshock.org/2012/01/01/usa-doubts-surface-as-chicago-police-sharply-increase-taser-use-electroshock-weapons-fired-more-frequently-by-city-suburban-cops-2012-01-01/">Read on...</a><br /></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3969011969972135797-768361714484300742?l=crimbrary.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15145634702414231472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-26789334373350642612012-01-03T09:37:00.001-05:002012-01-03T09:38:51.533-05:00THE EFFECTS OF PRISON VISITATION ON OFFENDER RECIDIVISMResearch Summary<br />Following recent studies in Florida (Bales and Mears, 2008) and Canada (Derkzen, Gobeil, and Gileno, 2009), this study examines the effects of prison visitation on recidivism among 16,420 offenders released from Minnesota prisons between 2003 and 2007. Using multiple measures of visitation (any visit, total number of visits, visits per month, timing of visits, and number of individual visitors) and recidivism (new offense conviction and technical violation revocation), the study found that visitation significantly decreased the risk of recidivism, a result that was robust across all of the Cox regression models that were estimated. The results also showed that visits from siblings, in-laws, fathers, and clergy were the most beneficial in reducing the risk of recidivism, whereas visits from ex-spouses significantly increased the risk. The findings suggest that revising prison visitation policies to make them more “visitor friendly” could yield public safety benefits by helping offenders establish a continuum of social support from prison to the community. It is anticipated, however, that revising existing policies would not likely increase visitation to a significant extent among unvisited inmates, who comprised nearly 40 percent of the sample. Accordingly, it is suggested that correctional systems consider allocating greater resources to increase visitation among inmates with little or no social support.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.doc.state.mn.us/publications/documents/11-11MNPrisonVisitationStudy.pdf">Read on...</a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3969011969972135797-2678933437335064261?l=crimbrary.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15145634702414231472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-2998413636656621052012-01-03T09:19:00.001-05:002012-01-03T09:21:07.426-05:00The NDAA's Historic Assault on American Liberty<h3 class="subtitle"><span style="font-size:100%;">By signing into law the NDAA, the president has awarded the military extraordinary powers to detain US citizens without trial</span></h3><div class="author"> by <a href="http://www.commondreams.org/author/jonathan-turley">Jonathan Turley</a> </div> <p>President Barack Obama rang in the New Year by signing the NDAA law with its provision allowing him to indefinitely detain citizens. It was a symbolic moment, to say the least. With Americans distracted with drinking and celebrating, Obama signed one of the greatest rollbacks of civil liberties in the history of our country … and citizens partied in unwitting bliss into the New Year.</p> <p>Ironically, in addition to breaking his promise not to sign the law, Obama broke his promise on signing statements and <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2011/12/with-reservations-obama-signs-act-to-allow-detention-of-citizens/" rel="nofollow">attached a statement that he really does not want to detain citizens indefinitely</a> (see <a href="http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2011/12/31/statement-president-hr-1540" rel="nofollow">the text of the statement here</a>).</p> <p>Obama insisted that he signed the bill simply to keep funding for the troops. It was a continuation of the dishonest treatment of the issue by the White House since the law first came to light. <a href="http://jonathanturley.org/2011/12/15/obama-breaks-promise-to-veto-bill-allowing-indefinite-detention-of-americans/" rel="nofollow">As discussed earlier</a>, the White House told citizens that the president would not sign the NDAA because of the provision. That spin ended after sponsor Senator Carl Levin (Democrat, Michigan) went to the floor and disclosed that it was the White House and insisted that there be no exception for citizens in the indefinite detention provision.</p><p><a href="http://www.commondreams.org/view/2012/01/02-7">Read on...</a><br /></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3969011969972135797-299841363665662105?l=crimbrary.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15145634702414231472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-78144506581995371792012-01-02T10:18:00.001-05:002012-01-02T10:21:07.731-05:00Montana High Court Says 'Citizens United' Does Not Apply In Big Sky StateState Supreme Court Issues Remarkable Ruling Against Corporate Speech<br /><br />Montana’s Supreme Court has issued a stunning <a href="http://electionlawblog.org/wp-content/uploads/MT-expenditures-decision.pdf">rebuke</a> to the U.S. Supreme Court’s <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citizens_United_v._Federal_Election_Commission"><em>Citizens United</em> </a>decision in 2010 that infamously decreed corporations had constitutional rights to directly spend money on ‘independent expenditures’ in campaigns.<br /><br />The Montana Court vigorously upheld the state’s right to regulate how corporations can raise and spend money after a secretive Colorado corporation, Western Tradition Partnership, and a Montana sportsman’s group and local businessman sued to overturn a 1912 state law banning direct corporate spending on electoral campaigns.<br /><br /><p name="paragraph4" id="paragraph4">“Organizations like WTP that act as a conduit for anonymously spending by others represent a threat to the political marketplace,” wrote Mike McGrath, Chief Justice of the Montana Supreme Court, for the majority. “Clearly the impact of unlimited corporate donations creates a dominating impact on the political process and inevitably minimizes the impact of individual citizens.”</p><p name="paragraph5" id="paragraph5"><a href="http://www.alternet.org/story/153623/montana_high_court_says_%27citizens_united%27_does_not_apply_in_big_sky_state/"> Read on...</a><br /></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3969011969972135797-7814450658199537179?l=crimbrary.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15145634702414231472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-70375034569543878532012-01-02T10:04:00.001-05:002012-01-02T10:06:35.671-05:00NYPD Rings In New Year With Arrests, Press Harassment<p class="p1"> Occupy Wall Street returned to Zuccotti Park this weekend for a planned New Year's Eve celebration in which protesters, according to the Facebook event page, would "reclaim" the park, "and the area around it."</p> <p class="p1"> Hundreds turned out for the protest, <a href="http://gothamist.com/2012/01/01/occupy_the_new_year_hundreds_clash.php#photo-8" target="_blank">documented</a> by vigilant tweeter <a href="http://twitter.com/#%21/newyorkist" target="_blank">Newyorkist</a>:</p> <blockquote> <p class="p1"> "There is a small tent in Liberty. Toy sized. Police tried to remove. Ppl locked arms around it," "Police turning ppl away from park. Is it closed, I asked. No, one said. Can ppl come in? No, same said. Who's enforcing it? No one answered," "Just spoke w/ Captain Duffy of NYPD. Tells me NYPD closed park because 'going to be impending arrests. We don't want anymore ppl inside,'" "Officer told man who asked, as soon as tent is put away, Zuccotti Park will reopen," "Now 25 ppl circling park, chanting "we are unstoppable another world is possible," and "Via mic check: deal discussed btw mom, kids w/ tent and NYPD. Hand tent over & police will open park. Kids to personally hand tent over."</p> </blockquote> <p class="p1"> Gothamist has a nice <a href="http://gothamist.com/2012/01/01/occupy_the_new_year_hundreds_clash.php#photo-8" target="_blank">recap</a> of the night's events here. At one point, protesters tore down the metal barricades that have been set up around the park since the early days of the now-destroyed Liberty camp.<br /></p><p class="p1"><a href="http://www.inthesetimes.org/uprising/entry/12474/nypd_rings_in_new_year_with_arrests_press_harassment/">Read on...</a><br /></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3969011969972135797-7037503456954387853?l=crimbrary.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15145634702414231472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-15204112012647108032012-01-02T09:23:00.000-05:002012-01-02T09:25:16.043-05:00Homicides plunge in Toronto to lowest level in 25 years<p>Toronto has closed the book on 2011 with the lowest homicide total in a quarter century.</p> <p>The city recorded 45 homicides, the lowest number since 1986 when there were 37 murders. In 2010 there were 61 homicides.</p> <p>This is also the fourth straight year of declines since 2007 when the city recorded its deadliest year (matched in 1991) with 86 homicides.</p> <p>The big drop in Toronto numbers no doubt bolsters Chief Bill Blair’s image, which took a hit in 2010 following the mass arrests during the meeting of G20 leaders and the controversy that followed.</p> <p>Blair says there’s still more work to do.</p> <p>“I think we can make this city safer,” the chief told the<em> Star</em>.</p><p><a href="http://www.thestar.com/news/crime/article/1109315--homicides-plunge-in-toronto-to-lowest-level-in-25-years?bn=1">Read on...</a><br /></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3969011969972135797-1520411201264710803?l=crimbrary.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15145634702414231472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-82964592668119288692011-12-31T12:02:00.001-05:002011-12-31T12:05:32.096-05:00Defense Act Affirms Indefinite Detention of US Citizens<p><span>ATLANTA, Georgia - Civil liberties groups and many citizen activists are outraged over language in the National Defense Authorization Act of 2011 (NDAA) that appears to lay the legal groundwork for indefinite detention of U.S. citizens without trial.</span></p><p><span class="image-right" style="width: 275px;"> <img src="https://www.commondreams.org/sites/commondreams.org/files/imagecache/headline_image/article_images/106339-20111230.jpg" alt="" title="" class="imagecache imagecache-headline_image imagecache-default imagecache-headline_image_default" height="206" width="275" /> <span class="caption"> Activists in Washington DC demand the closure of the Guantanamo Bay detention center. (Credit:Matt Daloisio/100dayscampaign.org/CC By 2.0) </span></span>David Gespass, president of the <a href="http://www.nlg.org/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">National Lawyers Guild</a>, called it an "enormous attack on the U.S. and our heritage" and a "significant step" towards fascism, in an interview with IPS.</p> "For a very long time the U.S. has been moving towards what I personally think of as fascist - the integration of monopoly capital with state power, that's combined with an increased repression at home and greater aggression around the world. I don't think we're there yet, but I do see that we're going in that direction," Gespass said. "I think the... act is a significant step in that direction."<br /><br />"It's quite severe. If this continues, people will not be able to count on constitutional protections at all," Debra Sweet, national director of the group <a href="http://www.worldcantwait.net/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">World Can't Wait</a>, told IPS.<br /><br />Subtitle D of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Defense_Authorization_Act" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">act</a> contains several controversial provisions on indefinite detention of terrorism suspects.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2011/12/30-8">Read on...</a><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">And of course the sheeple apparently could care less.</span> Tom<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3969011969972135797-8296459266811928869?l=crimbrary.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15145634702414231472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-3303555716713701042011-12-31T11:56:00.001-05:002011-12-31T11:57:48.371-05:00Omnibus crime bill will target gangs not teens, Justice Minister saysCanadian jail cells are not going to be filled with teenagers and college students who share marijuana with friends, according to Justice Minister Rob Nicholson, who says his crime bill has been grossly misrepresented. <p>In a year-end interview with Postmedia News, he said mandatory minimum sentences for marijuana production are designed to target organized crime, gangs and grow-ops. They don’t apply to youths — and even new provisions that aim to penalize adults who are trafficking drugs around schools mean perpetrators would have to be caught with an “eight-pound joint” to be saddled with a mandatory minimum under the safe streets and communities act, he argued.</p> <p><span id="more-125076"></span></p> <p>“For the most part the laws with respect to marijuana aren’t changed, but they are changed with respect to trafficking associated with organized crime, gangs and grow-ops for the purpose of trafficking,” he said. “I want to make that very clear because it was not clear in some of the criticisms. If somebody was thrown in jail under this bill, they were in the business of trafficking.”</p><p><a href="http://news.nationalpost.com/2011/12/30/omnibus-crime-bill-will-target-gangs-not-teens-justice-minister-says/">Read on...</a><br /></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3969011969972135797-330355571671370104?l=crimbrary.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15145634702414231472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-91351038331190986542011-12-31T11:40:00.002-05:002011-12-31T11:42:55.182-05:00Police Tactic: Keeping Crime Reports Off the BooksJill Korber walked into a drab police station in Queens in July to report that a passing bicyclist had groped her two days in a row. She left in tears, frustrated, she said, by the response of the first officer she encountered.<br /><br /><p> “He told me it would be a waste of time, because I didn’t know who the guy was or where he worked or anything,” said Ms. Korber, 34, a schoolteacher. “His words to me were, ‘These things happen.’ He said those words.” </p><p> Crime victims in New York sometimes struggle to persuade the police to write down what happened on an official report. The reasons are varied. Police officers are often busy, and few relish paperwork. But in interviews, more than half a dozen police officers, detectives and commanders also cited departmental pressure to keep crime statistics low. </p><p> While it is difficult to say how often crime complaints are not officially recorded, the Police Department is conscious of the potential problem, trying to ferret out unreported crimes through audits of emergency calls and of any resulting paperwork.<br /></p><p><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/31/nyregion/nypd-leaves-offenses-unrecorded-to-keep-crime-rates-down.html?_r=1&hp">Read on...</a><br /></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3969011969972135797-9135103833119098654?l=crimbrary.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15145634702414231472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-89623970166245846002011-12-22T09:26:00.001-05:002011-12-22T09:29:45.467-05:00Bill Black's Handy Guide to Bankster Fraud, From 'Small Fraudulent Fry' to 'Septic Tank Scum'<span style="font-style: italic;">The white collar criminologist calls out Bush and Obama for not prosecuting financial fraud and demands an end to the free pass for campaign contributors.<br /><br /></span><p name="paragraph1" id="paragraph1"><i>Sixty Minutes</i>' December 11, 2011 <a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-18560_162-57341024/interview-with-president-obama-the-full-transcript/?tag=contentMain;contentBody"> interview of President Obama</a> included a claim by Obama that, unfortunately, did not lead the interviewer to ask the obvious, essential follow-up questions.</p><blockquote class="tr_bq"> “I can tell you, just from 40,000 feet, that some of the most damaging behavior on Wall Street, in some cases, some of the least ethical behavior on Wall Street, wasn't illegal.”</blockquote><p name="paragraph3" id="paragraph3">Obama did not explain what Wall Street behavior he found least ethical or what unethical Wall Street actions he believed was not illegal. It would have done the world (and Obama) a great service had he been asked these questions. He would not have given a coherent answer because his thinking on these issues has never been coherent. If he had to explain his position he, and the public, would recognize it was indefensible. I offer the following scale of unethical banker behavior related to fraudulent mortgages and mortgage paper (principally collateralized debt obligations (CDOs)) that is illegal and deserved punishment. I write to prompt the rigorous analytical discussion that is essential to expose and end Obama and Bush’s “Presidential Amnesty for Contributors” (PAC) doctrine. The financial industry is the leading campaign contributor to both parties and those contributions come overwhelmingly from the wealthiest officers – the one-tenth of one percent that thrives by being parasites on the 99 percent.</p><p name="paragraph3"><a href="http://www.alternet.org/economy/153524/bill_black%27s_handy_guide_to_bankster_fraud%2C_from_%27small_fraudulent_fry%27_to_%27septic_tank_scum%27_/">Read on...</a><br /></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3969011969972135797-8962397016624584600?l=crimbrary.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15145634702414231472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-26262865251339317722011-12-22T09:22:00.001-05:002011-12-22T09:25:18.874-05:00Madness: Even School Children Are Being Pepper-Sprayed and Shocked with Tasers<span style="font-style: italic;">An alarming series of incidents offers some insight into how casual police have become about deploying "less lethal" weapons.<br /><br /></span> <div class="story_images_top"> </div> <div class="story_images" style="margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px !important;"> <img src="http://images.alternet.org/images/managed/storyimages_1324511287_taserx26.jpg_640x368_310x220" style="width: 310;" class="story-image" /> </div> <div class="article_insert_separator"> </div>There is something truly disturbing about a society that seeks to control the behavior of schoolchildren through fear and violence, a tactic that harkens back to an era of paddle-bruised behinds and ruler-slapped wrists. Yet, some American school districts are pushing the boundaries of corporal punishment even further with the use of Tasers against unruly schoolchildren. <p name="paragraph2" id="paragraph2">The deployment of Tasers against “problem” students coincides with the introduction of police officers on school campuses, also known as School Resource Officers (SROs). According to the <em>Los Angeles Times</em>, as of 2009, the number of SROs carrying Tasers was <a href="http://articles.latimes.com/2009/mar/02/local/me-taser2/2">well over 4,000</a>.</p><p name="paragraph3" id="paragraph3">As far back as 1988, the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, National Congress of Parents and Teachers, American Medical Association, National Education Association, American Bar Association, and American Academy of Pediatrics <a href="http://www.aacap.org/cs/root/policy_statements/corporal_punishment_in_schools">recognized</a> that inflicting pain and fear upon disobedient children is far more harmful than helpful. Yet, we continue to do it with disturbing results, despite mountains of evidence of more effective methods of discipline.</p><p name="paragraph3"><a href="http://www.alternet.org/rights/153536/madness%3A_even_school_children_are_being_pepper-sprayed_and_shocked_with_tasers_/">Read on...</a><br /></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3969011969972135797-2626286525133931772?l=crimbrary.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15145634702414231472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-23665612841754444772011-12-18T17:15:00.002-05:002011-12-18T17:18:47.392-05:00Battlefield America: Is Gitmo in Your Future?A retired top CIA analyst ponders if he could be arrested and held under the Senate's new military detention policy.<br /><br /> <div class="story_images_top"> </div> <div class="story_images" style="margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px !important;"> <img src="http://images.alternet.org/images/managed/storyteaser_gitmoprisoner_1252428309.jpg_310x220" style="width: 310;" class="story-image" /> </div> <div class="article_insert_separator"> </div> <div class="article_insert_container" style="margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px !important;"> <div class="insert_border_bottom"> Ambiguous but alarming new wording, which is tucked into the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) and was just passed by the Senate, is reminiscent of the “extraordinary measures” introduced by the Nazis after they took power in 1933.</div></div>And the relative lack of reaction so far calls to mind the oddly calm indifference with which most Germans watched the erosion of the rights that had been guaranteed by their own Constitution. As one German writer observed, “With sheepish submissiveness we watched it unfold, as if from a box at the theater.”<p name="paragraph3" id="paragraph3">The writer was Sebastian Haffner (real name Raimond Pretzel), a young German lawyer worried at what he saw in 1933 in Berlin, but helpless to stop it since, as he put it, the German people “collectively and limply collapsed, yielded and capitulated.”</p><p name="paragraph4" id="paragraph4">“The result of this millionfold nervous breakdown,” wrote Haffner at the time, “is the unified nation, ready for anything, that is today the nightmare of the rest of the world.” Not a happy analogy.</p><p name="paragraph4"><a href="http://www.alternet.org/story/153321/battlefield_america%3A_is_gitmo_in_your_future/">Read on...</a><br /></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3969011969972135797-2366561284175444477?l=crimbrary.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15145634702414231472noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-91208670048615662782011-12-18T17:09:00.003-05:002011-12-18T17:13:44.551-05:00The 13 Best Political Films of 2011Looking back at the movies that moved us most.<br /><br /> <div class="story_images_top"> </div> <div class="story_images" style="margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px !important;"> <img src="http://images.alternet.org/images/managed/storyimages_1323819319_wewereheremain11.jpeg_640x480_310x220" style="width: 310;" class="story-image" /> <div class="story-image-sourcing"> <div class="story-image-caption"><small>We Were Here</small></div> <div class="story-image-source"><i><small>Photo Credit: wewerehere.com</small></i></div> </div> </div> <div class="article_insert_separator"> </div>This year was defined by anxiety: the economy roiled, the GOP was increasingly hostile, the government careened towards shutdown more than once. And while these things all still seem to loom, 12 months later, there is a landscape of renewed hope and empowerment. The Arab Spring set off revolutions across the Middle East, which first inspired the Western world to rise up into Occupy Wall Street. Now the ripple effect of people power travels further, as we see the germination of the Russian Winter. Culturally, we’re gearing for a seismic shift: In 2012, expect to see the effects of the year manifested in film, music, and art. But in 2011, we felt the tremors, and a clutch of political films and documentaries both presaged and inspired the increasing awareness and resolve we’ve seen smattering across the globe. You’ll see some of these in the Oscar nomination lineup, but all of them are must-see.<br /><br /><p name="paragraph2" id="paragraph2">1. <a href="http://margincallmovie.com/">Margin Call</a> (dir. JC Chandor)</p><p name="paragraph3" id="paragraph3">As Occupy Wall Street was congealing—and the scrutiny surrounding Wall Street's robbery and subsequent bailout was occupying America's consciousness—an intensely disquieting thriller called <em>Margin Call</em> was released. Set over the course of 24 hours inside an ostensibly fictional Wall Street firm in the hot zone that was 2008, it's an intimate look at the decision-making that precipitated the financial crisis, "inspired" by real events, including the ultimate meltdown of mortgage securities. The all-star ensemble cast is collectively brilliant at portraying the nuance of the morality, and lack of it, that these firms displayed—Zachary Quinto's troubled math genius acts as a compass against the supreme evil embodied in the CEO and other top-level employees, portrayed by Jeremy Irons, Simon Baker, and Demi Moore, whose Machiavellian greed leads them to sacrifice not only company employees, but the American people. Though the technical aspects of the financial crisis can sometimes seem arcane, <em>Margin Call</em> threaded together an idea of how it could happen—as interpreted by writer/director JC Chandor, who'd never made a film before this one—and gave us a clearer view into what exactly we were protesting. Stunning. (Currently in theaters.)</p><p name="paragraph3"><a href="http://www.alternet.org/story/153423/the_13_best_political_films_of_2011/">Read on...</a><br /></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3969011969972135797-9120867004861566278?l=crimbrary.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15145634702414231472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-78614223005477728742011-12-18T16:59:00.001-05:002011-12-18T17:01:50.442-05:00The Silent Treatment<h3 class="dek"><span style="font-size:100%;">Imagine serving decades in prison for a crime your sibling framed you for. Now imagine doing it while profoundly deaf. </span></h3><p>"This is a collect call from a correctional institution," says the robotic female voice at the other end of the line. After a moment of confusion, I realize it must be Felix Garcia, whom I'd visited several weeks earlier in a northern Florida prison. He is serving a life sentence for a robbery-murder for which his own brother now admits to framing him. I'd sent him a card for his 50th birthday. It had a picture of flowers—something he probably hasn't seen in 30 years—and some lame words of encouragement. Now he's calling to thank me and to plead for help. His words seem surreal, relayed in the emotionless drone of a TTY operator: Four of his fellow deaf inmates have tried to commit suicide—one somehow managed to swallow a razor blade. It sounds like he's thinking about doing the same. "Please,'' the voice intones, "will you phone my lawyers? I can't get through to them."</p> <p>Felix has been deaf, for all practical purposes, since childhood. For most of his three decades behind bars, which began when he was 19, he's been housed in the general population with few special services for his disability. His experiences are the stuff of TV prison dramas: He's ignored or taunted by guards, raped and brutalized by other prisoners. Last year, he tried to hang himself.</p> <p>"Felix," I plead awkwardly. "You are not going to kill yourself. Please, please, hold on."</p> <p>"I won't do it,'' he says finally. "I have Jesus."</p><p><a href="http://motherjones.com/politics/2011/12/deaf-prisoners-felix-garcia">Read on...</a><br /></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3969011969972135797-7861422300547772874?l=crimbrary.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15145634702414231472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-69853108435193692172011-12-18T16:55:00.001-05:002011-12-18T16:57:59.045-05:00Private Prisons Gone WildLegal challenges are no match for Arizona politicians determined to privatize the state’s correctional services.<br /><br /><p>The recent dismissal of a lawsuit filed against both Arizona Department of Corrections (ADC) Director Charles Ryan and Arizona Governor Jan Brewer (R) is the latest step in the state’s hell-bent plan to roughly double its number of privately managed prison “beds.”</p> <p>The suit, filed in an Arizona Superior Court by the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) on September 12, sought an injunction against ADC and the governor’s pending award of 5,000 new prison beds to be operated by a for-profit vendor. The state currently contracts out more than 6,500 minimum- and medium-security beds at seven facilities with Geo Group, the nation’s second largest private prison operator, and Management and Training Corporation (MTC).<br /></p><p>AFSC argued that ADC is negligent in its statutorily required duty to conduct biennial cost and quality assessments of the state’s private prisons. The purpose of these assessments is to determine whether the state is receiving the same quality of service from private prison operators as provided by public facilities. </p> <p>Nevertheless, ADC has not completed a single survey.</p><p><a href="http://www.inthesetimes.org/article/12423/private_prisons_gone_wild">Read on....</a><br /></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3969011969972135797-6985310843519369217?l=crimbrary.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15145634702414231472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-61361601203860590692011-12-15T11:24:00.000-05:002011-12-15T11:26:40.128-05:00The Return Of Debtor’s Prisons: Thousands Of Americans Jailed For Not Paying Their BillsFederal imprisonment for unpaid debt has been illegal in the U.S. since 1833. It’s a practice people associate more with the age of Dickens than modern-day America. But as more Americans struggle to pay their bills in the wake of the recession, collection agencies are using harsher methods to get their money, ushering in <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/22/debtors-prison-legal-in-more-than-one-third-of-us-states_n_1107524.html">the return of debtor’s prisons</a>. <p>NPR <a href="http://www.npr.org/2011/12/12/143274773/unpaid-bills-land-some-debtors-behind-bars">reports</a> that it’s becoming increasingly common for people to serve jail time as a result of their debt. Because of “<a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704396504576204553811636610.html">sloppy, incomplete or even false documentation</a>,” many borrowers facing jail time <a href="http://www.npr.org/2011/12/12/143274773/unpaid-bills-land-some-debtors-behind-bars">don’t even know they’re being sued</a> by creditors:</p><p><strong>Take, for example, what happened to Robin Sanders in Illinois. She was driving home when an officer pulled her over for having a loud muffler. But instead of sending her off with a warning, the officer arrested Sanders, and she was taken right to jail</strong>.And I didn’t know what it was about.” <strong>Sanders owed $730 on a medical bill. She says she didn’t even know a collection agency had filed a lawsuit against her</strong>. [...]</p><p><a href="http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2011/12/13/388303/the-return-of-debtors-prisons-thousands-of-americans-jailed-for-not-paying-their-bills/">Read on...</a><br /></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3969011969972135797-6136160120386059069?l=crimbrary.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15145634702414231472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-62235545182566699172011-12-14T17:52:00.001-05:002011-12-14T17:54:33.893-05:00Stanley Cup riot proceedings should be televised: B.C. attorney generalThe Crown gave notice in court Wednesday that the attorney general wants to televise proceedings involving accused Stanley Cup rioters. <p>Prosecutor Patti Tomasson told a judge that the Crown would apply to have the proceedings televised involving people accused of participating in the June 15 riot. B.C. Premier Christy Clark has said she wants to see riot-related court proceedings televised for the public.</p> <p>The prosecutor gave notice Wednesday at the bail hearing of Ryan Dickinson, who remains in custody. His case was adjourned until Friday at 9 a.m. at Vancouver Provincial Court.</p><p><a href="http://news.nationalpost.com/2011/12/14/stanley-cup-riot-proceedings-should-be-televised-crown-prosecutor/">Read on....</a><br /></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3969011969972135797-6223554518256669917?l=crimbrary.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15145634702414231472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-29004398649345412132011-12-14T17:47:00.001-05:002011-12-14T17:49:23.145-05:00Survey: 1 in 4 U.S. women victims of severe violenceIt's a startling number: 1 in 4 women surveyed by the government say they were violently attacked by their husbands or boyfriends.<br /><br /><p class="inside-copy">Experts in domestic violence don't find it too surprising, although some aspects of the survey may have led to higher numbers than are sometimes reported.</p><p class="inside-copy">Even so, a government official who oversaw the research called the results "astounding."</p><p class="inside-copy">"It's the first time we've had this kind of estimate" on the prevalence of intimate partner violence, said Linda Degutis of the centers for Disease Control and Prevention.</p><p class="inside-copy">The survey, released by the <a href="http://content.usatoday.com/topics/topic/Organizations/Government+Bodies/Centers+for+Disease+Control+and+Prevention" title="More news, photos about CDC">CDC</a> Wednesday, marks the beginning of a new annual project to look at how many women say they've been abused.</p><p class="inside-copy"><a href="http://yourlife.usatoday.com/sex-relationships/story/2011-12-14/Survey-1-in-4-US-women-victims-of-severe-violence/51913926/1?loc=interstitialskip">Read on...</a><br /></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3969011969972135797-2900439864934541213?l=crimbrary.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15145634702414231472noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-21218972755399761662011-12-14T17:44:00.001-05:002011-12-14T17:46:30.723-05:00"Don't Be Fooled": The Indefinite Detention Bill DOES Apply to American Citizens on U.S. Soil<p>Even at this 11th hour - when all of our liberties and freedom are about to go down the drain - many people still don't understand that the indefinite detention bill passed by Congress allows indefinite detention of Americans on American soil.</p> <p>The bill is confusing. As Wired <a href="http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2011/12/senate-military-detention/">noted</a> on December 1st:</p> <blockquote><div class="quote_start"> </div> <div class="quote_end"> </div> <p>It’s confusing, because two different sections of the bill seem to contradict each other, but in the judgment of the University of Texas’ Robert Chesney — a nonpartisan authority on military detention — “<a href="http://www.lawfareblog.com/2011/12/does-the-ndaa-authorize-detention-of-us-citizens/">U.S. citizens are included in the grant of detention authority</a>.”</p></blockquote> <p>A <a href="http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2011/12/admiral-and-judge-advocate-general-says-indefinite-military-detention-of-u-s-citizens-is-a-win-for-terrorists-the-enemy-is-just-laughing-over-this-because-they-will-have-gotten-another-victory.html">retired admiral, Judge Advocate General and Dean Emeritus of the University of New Hampshire School of Law</a> also says that it applies to American citizens on American soil.</p> <p>The ACLU <a title="explains" href="http://www.aclu.org/blog/national-security/senators-demand-military-lock-american-citizens-battlefield-they-define-being" target="_blank">notes</a>:</p> <blockquote><div class="quote_start"> </div> <div class="quote_end"> </div> <p>Don’t be confused by anyone claiming that the indefinite detention legislation does not apply to American citizens. It does. There is an exemption for American citizens from the mandatory detention requirement (section 1032 of the bill), but no exemption for American citizens from the authorization to use the military to indefinitely detain people without charge or trial (section 1031 of the bill). So, the result is that, under the bill, the military has the power to indefinitely imprison American citizens, but it does not have to use its power unless ordered to do so.</p> <p>But you don’t have to believe us. Instead, read what one of the bill’s sponsors, <a href="http://www.c-spanvideo.org/appearance/600840428">Sen. Lindsey Graham said about it on the Senate floor</a>: “1031, the statement of authority to detain, <span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-style: italic;">does</span> apply to American citizens</span> and it designates the world as the battlefield, including the homeland.”</p><p><a href="http://www.zerohedge.com/contributed/dont-be-fooled-indefinite-detention-bill-does-apply-american-citizens-us-soil">Read on....</a><br /></p></blockquote><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3969011969972135797-2121897275539976166?l=crimbrary.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15145634702414231472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-65752885940752266972011-12-13T10:56:00.003-05:002011-12-13T11:01:50.381-05:00Film The PoliceFrom the reaction of many police officers to being filmed, this may be more incendiary than the song that inspired it:<br /><br />There has been a nationwide move to restrict the people's right to film the authorities in the course of their duties and I would expect there to be much more of that as the culture of dissent explodes across the country.<br /><br />In one of the most pointed opinions yet, the U.S. First Circuit ruled unanimously against the police in one of these cases:<br /><br /> For those of you not familiar with Simon Glik's case, Glik was arrested on October 1, 2007, after openly using his cell phone to record three police officers arresting a suspect on Boston Common. In return for his efforts to record what he suspected might be police brutality -- in a pattern that is now all too familiar -- Glik was charged with criminal violation of the Massachusetts wiretap act, aiding the escape of a prisoner and disturbing the peace.<br /><br /><a href="http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2011/12/film-tha-police.html">Read on...</a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3969011969972135797-6575288594075226697?l=crimbrary.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15145634702414231472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-90584174133798056582011-12-13T09:53:00.002-05:002011-12-13T09:57:27.630-05:00Cute Little Psychokillers<span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">Why "bad seed" films are both deeply unsettling and confoundingly popular.</span><br /><br />Hypothetical question: What if a parasitic creature is squatting in one’s womb? What if, once born, the baby is a monster—alien and unlovable? What exactly does one do if the darkest and most unspeakable of parental fears come to terrifying fruition? These questions drive one of the classic tropes of horror: the bad seed film. Lynn Ramsay’s We Need To Talk About Kevin, a psychological thriller about the relationship between Eva (Tilda Swinton) and her sociopath son, is the most recent addition to a genre that is both deeply unsettling and confoundingly popular.<br /><br />In order for a film to legitimately be called a bad seed picture, it must have a strong parent-child element, and the "parent" is almost always the mother. Maternal guilt and culpability is the engine that keeps these films running, and generally, the father is at best haplessly naive and at worst complicit in the child’s misdeeds. And, as opposed to a film like Children of the Corn, in which evil children operate horrifically outside of the bounds of adult control, the bad seed movie gives us little monsters who are, at least nominally, under parental supervision. A viewer prone to identifying with characters in films, even bad horror movies, doesn’t feel sorrow over the death of lil’ Isaac, the crazed killer prophet from Children of the Corn, because his death represents the death of an aberration: a psychotic, parent-killing monster. In the evil spawn films, though, there can be no return to normal—one way or another, the order has been upended, and there is no way for these plots to end in a satisfactory manner for either the child or parent.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/movies/2011/12/bad_seed_films_history_of_the_horror_film_genre.html">Read on...</a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3969011969972135797-9058417413379805658?l=crimbrary.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15145634702414231472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-53506861539685779422011-12-13T09:22:00.000-05:002011-12-13T09:24:08.142-05:00Protests Boost Sales and Fears of Sonic Blaster<p><span><span>QUANTICO, Va.—Police deployment of sonic blasters at Occupy Wall Street and G-20 protest rallies is fueling both sales and criticism of the devices, which emit beams of sound with laser-like intensity. </span></span></p><p><span class="image-right" style="width: 275px;"> <img src="http://www.commondreams.org/sites/commondreams.org/files/imagecache/headline_image/article_images/ussonicblaster1_gallery.jpg" alt="" title="" class="imagecache imagecache-headline_image imagecache-default imagecache-headline_image_default" width="275" height="183" /> <span class="caption"> In this photo taken Sept. 14, 2011, Lt. Col. Jeffrey Bevington, requirements officer with the Joint Non-Lethal Weapons Directorate, demonstrates one of the military's latest voice projection system and instant translation technologies, that can project a human voice a mile away and instantly translate from English to another language, at the Marine Base in Quantico Va. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)<br /></span></span></p><p><span class="image-right" style="width: 275px;"><span class="caption"></span></span><span><span>More U.S. police and emergency-response agencies are using the so-called Long-Range Acoustic Devices instead of megaphones or conventional loudspeakers for crowd control, according to news reports and leading manufacturer LRAD Corp. of San Diego. </span></span></p> <p><span><span>But the products, which the makers developed as nonlethal options for military use, are prompting outcries from people on the receiving end, who call them "sound cannons." The city of Pittsburgh is fighting an American Civil Liberties Union lawsuit claiming the piercing tone from a police blaster during the 2009 G-20 summit permanently damaged a woman's hearing. At least one Occupy Wall Street protester says New York City police also used the punishing alert tone, although police say they have used the device only to broadcast messages.<br /></span></span></p><p><span><span><a href="http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2011/12/12-2">Read on...</a><br /></span></span></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3969011969972135797-5350686153968577942?l=crimbrary.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15145634702414231472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-42065694906341387412011-12-13T08:58:00.003-05:002011-12-13T09:03:22.328-05:00Russian Protesters Encounter Surveillance UAV Drone<strong>Thank goodness this sort of thing doesn’t happen in the land of the free… oh wait<br /><br /></strong><p>Video has emerged of Russian pro Democracy protesters being watched by hovering surveillance drones overhead.</p> <p>25,000 people gathered in Bolotnaya Square in Moscow Saturday, were stunned to witness the strange hovering object directly above them. Some climbed trees to take pictures and get a closer look at the “UFO”.</p> <p>The craft is clearly some kind of small quadricopter drone similar to the one pictured below:</p><p><a href="http://www.infowars.com/russian-protesters-encounter-surveillance-uav-drone/">Read on...</a></p><p><span style="font-style: italic;">Alex Jones is over-the-top........but..........</span>. And there is this story:</p><h1><a href="http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-drone-arrest-20111211,0,324348.story"><span style="font-size:100%;">Police employ Predator drone spy planes on home front</span></a></h1><p> Tom<br /></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3969011969972135797-4206569490634138741?l=crimbrary.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15145634702414231472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-25442552949664255312011-12-07T14:00:00.000-05:002011-12-07T14:02:30.218-05:00Canada's prisons becoming warehouses for the mentally ill<p>Canada’s prisons are facing a growing crisis as they become the “institutions of last resort” for people with mental illnesses, the Canadian Psychiatric Association says.</p><p>“Corrections [Canada] is not geared to deal with some of the needs of a vast population of people with major mental illnesses,” CPA board member Gary Chaimowitz told The Globe and Mail.</p><p>Dr. Chaimowitz will be on Parliament Hill Wednesday morning to ask the federal government to improve prison services for mentally ill offenders.</p>More than one in 10 men and nearly one in three women held in federal prisons have mental-health problems, according to 2009 figures from the Correctional Service of Canada. Those numbers represent a near-doubling in the total proportion of inmates with mental illnesses between 1997 and 2009<br /><br /><a href="http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/canadas-prisons-becoming-warehouses-for-the-mentally-ill/article2262589/">Read on...</a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3969011969972135797-2544255294966425531?l=crimbrary.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15145634702414231472noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-25681157890772489792011-12-06T20:40:00.001-05:002011-12-06T20:42:33.839-05:00Study Finds Racial Disparity in Presidential Pardons<p>A <a href="http://www.propublica.org/article/shades-of-mercy-presidential-forgiveness-heavily-favors-whites">new study by Pro Publica</a> finds whites are four times more likely to receive a presidential pardon than minorities. </p> <blockquote><p>ProPublica's review examined what happened after President George W. Bush decided at the beginning of his first term to rely almost entirely on the recommendations made by career lawyers in the Office of the Pardon Attorney.</p> <p>The office was given wide latitude to apply subjective standards, including judgments about the "attitude" and the marital and financial stability of applicants. No two pardon cases match up perfectly, but records reveal repeated instances in which white applicants won pardons with transgressions on their records similar to those of blacks and other minorities who were denied.<br /></p><p><a href="http://www.talkleft.com/story/2011/12/5/224527/674">Read on...</a><br /></p></blockquote><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3969011969972135797-2568115789077248979?l=crimbrary.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15145634702414231472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-5483564477665612852011-12-06T20:36:00.000-05:002011-12-06T20:38:05.568-05:00Alabama Agriculture Department Advances Plan To Replace Immigrant Workers With PrisonersThinkProgress has been reporting on the <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2011/11/14/367967/alabama-immigration-40-million/">catastrophic economic consequences</a> of Alabama’s harshest-in-the-nation immigration law. Undocumented workers are the <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2011/10/05/336935/gop-sponsor-of-alabamas-anti-immigrant-law-refuses-challenge-to-try-immigrants-intensive-farm-work/">backbone of Alabama’s agriculture industry</a>, and their exodus has already <a href="http://aulaborlawforum.org/2011/12/02/employers-cant-fill-jobs-under-new-alabama-immigration-law/">created a labor shortage</a> in the state. Farmers say <a href="http://www.chron.com/news/article/Immigration-law-author-tells-farmers-No-changes-2200451.php">crops are rotting in the field</a> and they are in danger of losing their farms by next season. <p>GOP politicians have <a href="http://blog.al.com/birmingham-news-commentary/2011/12/our_view_analysis_shows_a_stee.html">crowed</a> that driving immigrants out of the state will reduce unemployment by letting native citizens fill those jobs. But they’ve quickly discovered that <a href="http://www.businessweek.com/printer/magazine/why-americans-wont-do-dirty-jobs-11092011.html">Americans are simply unwilling</a> to do the back-breaking labor of harvesting crops. </p> <p>To stave off the disastrous collapse of state agriculture, Alabama officials are seriously considering <a href="http://www.therepublic.com/view/story/104cc793b73c492fac9269c63c35521a/AL--Immigration-Law-Jobs/">replacing immigrant workers with prison laborers</a> who they could perhaps pay even less than immigrants. Earlier this year, the head of Alabama’s agriculture department <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2011/10/07/338922/alabama-prisoners-immigrants-farm-labor/">floated this idea</a>. Now, the department is actively promoting it to the state’s farmers:</p><p><a href="http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2011/12/06/382852/alabama-agriculture-department-promoting-plan-to-replace-immigrants-with-prisoners-to-farmers/">Read on....</a><br /></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3969011969972135797-548356447766561285?l=crimbrary.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15145634702414231472noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-54231949695423198082011-12-06T20:24:00.001-05:002011-12-06T20:27:22.757-05:00Pepper Spray, Tasers, and LRADs — What's Behind the Explosion of 'Less Lethal' Weapons for Crowd Control?<span style="font-style: italic;">From the battlefield of Afghanistan to your local Occupation, the government has invested big bucks in weapons that don't cause permanent damage.</span><br /><br />Hundreds of millions of dollars have been invested in the research and development of more "media-friendly" weapons for everyday policing and crowd control, and as uprisings around the world spread, the demand for nonlethal weapons is increasing.<br /><br /><p name="paragraph2" id="paragraph2">According to an October <a href="http://www.homelandsecurityresearch.com/2011/10/non-lethal-weapons-technologies-global-market-2012-2020/">report</a> by the Homeland Security Research Corporation, the global market for "less lethal" weapons is predicted to triple by 2020, with more than half of the current market devoted to crowd dispersal weapons like those being used against protesters at Occupy Wall Street.</p>Americans have a rich history of taking to the streets to demand social justice. From the labor strikes of the progressive era to the civil rights and antiwar movements of the 60s and 70s, the reaction by the powers-that-be has been the same: send in the riot police. As the Occupy Wall Street movement advances this tradition, the powerful have again reacted with overwhelming force. But the riot police of yesterday were armed much differently than they are today.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.alternet.org/rights/153329/pepper_spray%2C_tasers%2C_and_lrads_%E2%80%94_what%27s_behind_the_explosion_of_%27less_lethal%27_weapons_for_crowd_control/">Read on...</a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3969011969972135797-5423194969542319808?l=crimbrary.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15145634702414231472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-15405777019064105572011-12-06T20:15:00.000-05:002011-12-06T20:18:03.516-05:00Tory crime bill will make matters worse for mentally ill: expertAt least one group that never got a chance to make its pitch before a Commons committee reviewing the omnibus crime bill is now coming forward to voice its concerns after Conservatives used their majority Monday night to push the bill through the House of Commons. <p>Forensic psychiatrist and Canadian Psychiatric Association board member Gary Chaimowitz will be in Ottawa Wednesday to put forward a series of recommendations aimed at addressing the problem of mental illness in provincial and federal prisons — something critics have argued is completely ignored in Bill C-10.</p> <p><span id="more-116692"></span></p> <p>“The issue exists notwithstanding this bill, but the bill will likely exacerbate the crisis for patients with mental illness in the criminal justice system,” Chaimowitz said in an interview Tuesday, noting that in some parts of the country as much as half the inmate population could be suffering from mental illness and not receiving proper treatment.</p> <p>“It is timely.”</p><p><a href="http://news.nationalpost.com/2011/12/06/tory-crime-bill-will-make-matters-worse-for-mentally-ill-expert/">Read on...</a><br /></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3969011969972135797-1540577701906410557?l=crimbrary.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15145634702414231472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-74975012561340493152011-12-04T09:14:00.001-05:002011-12-04T09:17:09.961-05:00Even Bahrain's Use of 'Miami Model' Policing Will Not Stop the Uprising<h3 class="subtitle"><span style="font-size:100%;">Bahraini leaders have hired the architect of Miami's brutal policing methods, showing their disregard for reform</span></h3><p>In 2003, as a photography student in Chicago, I travelled to Miami to cover protests by trade unionists and other activists at a meeting of the <a href="http://www.ftaa-alca.org/alca_e.asp" title="ftaa-alca.org" rel="nofollow">Free Trade Area of the Americas</a>. I had just returned from witnessing the repressive tactics of the Israeli army against Palestinians – invasions, curfew, violent crackdown on unarmed protests – but never expected to see them deployed at home in a US city.</p><p>I was shocked when I reached Miami and found it similar to a West Bank town under occupation. The city was largely empty save for police vehicles speeding in every direction and helicopters hovering above. Once the protests began, it was impossible to move more than a few feet in any direction without confronting the police and their brutality. The thousands of police dressed in full riot gear and armed with teargas, rubber bullets, batons, electric tasers – all of which were used against protesters and journalists – were everywhere around Miami. </p><p>The "model", as Miami public officials called it at the time, was the brainchild of police chief John Timoney. After leading the head-bashing of protesters as Philadelphia's police commissioner during the Republican party's national convention in 2000, Timoney was hired by Miami and given more than $8m to introduce a level of police brutality unlike any we had ever seen in the US.</p><p><a href="http://www.commondreams.org/view/2011/12/03-4">Read on...</a><br /></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3969011969972135797-7497501256134049315?l=crimbrary.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15145634702414231472noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-58878541826263699572011-12-04T09:04:00.001-05:002011-12-04T09:07:26.337-05:00Five things about crime and doing the time in Canada<span><strong></strong></span> <div class="npStoryPhoto npTxtPlain"> <img src="http://nationalpostnews.files.wordpress.com/2011/12/prv070600kent-02.jpg?w=620" class="attachment-single-post-thumbnail wp-post-image" alt="Colin Price" title="Colin Price" height="465" width="620" /><br /><br /><p>The Post’s Sarah Boesveld lists five things you should know about the Statistics Canada Report on Cases in Adult Court by Province 2009-10:</p> <p><span id="more-115784"></span></p> <p><strong>1. Cases on the decline</strong><br />Canada’s courts heard far fewer criminal cases during the period of 2009-10 than the year prior, dropping to 262,616 criminal cases from the 392,907 disposed of by judges in the 2008-09 period. The number of cases was almost the same the year before that, but about 3% higher than in 2006-07. Before that, criminal court case loads had been dropping for four years.<br /></p><p><a href="http://news.nationalpost.com/2011/12/03/five-things-about-crime-and-doing-the-time-in-canada/">Read on...</a><br /></p><br /></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3969011969972135797-5887854182626369957?l=crimbrary.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15145634702414231472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-86823038409944102192011-12-04T08:49:00.000-05:002011-12-04T08:51:52.487-05:00Former Mountie paints picture of near daily harassment<p>RCMP Constable Janet Merlo says she felt compelled to respond when a supervising officer made a sexist remark to her in the company of a high-ranking official from the force.</p><p>“You know, if I were to make a complaint, I could probably retire on just what you say to me alone,” she said.</p><p>“What was that?” her boss replied. “Did you say you want to retire on me? Does that mean you like it on top?”</p><p>It was at this point that the senior RCMP officer in the room interjected.</p><p>“If you’re going to talk to her like that, do it somewhere else,” he said to the male officer. “I don’t want to be a witness to stuff like that.”</p><p>It was at that moment that Janet Merlo realized just how little hope there was for women in the force who, like her, were dealing with harassment of various forms on a near daily basis. In Ms. Merlo’s case, she says that would include everything from sex toys left in her desk drawer to a scolding for getting pregnant that came with the advice to “keep your ... legs closed” the next time she considered the idea.</p><p><a href="http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/former-mountie-paints-picture-of-near-daily-harassment/article2259072/">Read on...</a><br /></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3969011969972135797-8682303840994410219?l=crimbrary.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15145634702414231472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-69771782516735956122011-12-04T08:33:00.001-05:002011-12-04T08:36:02.892-05:00Ontario jail closures will send costs soaring: criticsPlans by Ontario’s cash-strapped Liberal government to close three jails to save money will spark major court delays, send transportation costs soaring and devastate rural communities, critics charge. <p>Jails in Owen Sound and Walkerton will close Sunday, while a third in Sarnia is slated for the chopping block in 2013.</p> <p>But it’s not too late for the Liberals to reverse a decision that will actually end up costing taxpayers more in the end, critics say.</p> <p>The government insists the closures, spelled out in last spring’s budget, will save $8 million a year by moving the inmates to newer and larger facilities in Windsor and Penetanguishene, north of Barrie.</p><p><a href="http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/article/1096617--ontario-jail-closures-will-send-costs-soaring-critics?bn=1">Read on...</a><br /></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3969011969972135797-6977178251673595612?l=crimbrary.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15145634702414231472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-54624831828413218372011-12-04T08:21:00.000-05:002011-12-04T08:23:10.963-05:00Police sting technique questioned by panelA legal but controversial police sting technique known as Mr. Big runs the risk of subverting justice in serious criminal cases, a panel of four familiar with the method told a University of Guelph audience Thursday. <p>“It increases the odds of (the target individual) making a false confession,” said York University doctoral candidate Karina Gagnier. Her thesis is on Mr. Big, in which undercover cops posing as crime figures tell their targets they must confess to crimes to be accepted into the crime underworld. They’re then arrested and charged with those offenses, up to and including first degree murder.</p> <p>Asked if Guelph Police Service is involved in such stings, spokesperson Sgt. Doug Pflug said by email, “we will not comment on covert police operations in the interest of officer and public safety.”</p> <p>The Ring Café crowd heard by telephone from Patrick Fischer, a British Columbia inmate convicted of murder in 2001 after confessing in a Mr. Big RCMP sting.</p> <p>“I’d never heard of anything like this before,” Fischer said, urging the crowd to join other Canadians in making clear to politicians “there’s strong opposition” to such stings.</p><p><a href="http://www.guelphmercury.com/news/local/article/634095--police-sting-technique-questioned-by-panel">Read on...</a><br /></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3969011969972135797-5462483182841321837?l=crimbrary.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15145634702414231472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-63382512904025042592011-12-02T09:23:00.000-05:002011-12-02T09:25:46.907-05:00U.S. Says Americans Are MILITARY Targets in the War on Terror … And that the Prez Alone Can Decide Who Is a Target<p> As everyone realizes by now, Congress' push for indefinite detention includes American citizens on American soil. As Huffington post <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/12/01/military-detention-us-citizens-senate-second-vote_n_1123929.html">notes</a>:</p> <blockquote><p>The debate also has left many Americans scratching their heads as to whether Congress is actually attempting to authorize the indefinite detention of Americans by the military without charges. But proponents -- led by Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.) and Carl Levin (D-Mich.), chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee -- say that is exactly what the war on terror requires. They argued that the bill simply codifies precedents set by the Supreme Court and removes uncertainty, which they said would better protect the country.</p></blockquote> <p>Here is John McCain justifying sending Americans to Guantanamo:</p><p><a href="http://www.zerohedge.com/contributed/%3F-older-posts-us-says-americans-are-military-targets-war-terror-%E2%80%A6-and-prez-alone-can-dec">Read on...</a><br /></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3969011969972135797-6338251290402504259?l=crimbrary.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15145634702414231472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-68336335904399233002011-12-01T20:48:00.001-05:002011-12-01T20:51:59.368-05:00Twenty Examples of the Obama Administration Assault on Domestic Civil LibertiesThe Obama administration has affirmed, continued and expanded almost all of the draconian domestic civil liberties intrusions pioneered under the Bush administration. Here are twenty examples of serious assaults on the domestic rights to freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, freedom of association, the right to privacy, the right to a fair trial, freedom of religion, and freedom of conscience that have occurred since the Obama administration has assumed power. Consider these and then decide if there is any fundamental difference between the Bush presidency and the Obama presidency in the area of domestic civil liberties.<br /><br /><strong>Patriot Act</strong><br /><br />On May 27, 2011, President Obama, over widespread bipartisan objections, approved a Congressional four year extension of controversial parts of the Patriot Act that were set to expire. In March of 2010, Obama signed a similar extension of the Patriot Act for one year. These provisions allow the government, with permission from a special secret court, to seize records without the owner’s knowledge, conduct secret surveillance of suspicious people who have no known ties to terrorist groups and to obtain secret roving wiretaps on people.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.commondreams.org/view/2011/12/01-7">Read on...</a><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Obama is a big disappointment.</span> Tom<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3969011969972135797-6833633590439923300?l=crimbrary.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15145634702414231472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-60635465240358840702011-12-01T19:08:00.002-05:002011-12-01T19:11:31.140-05:00Border deal fuels concerns in CanadaArmed U.S. police officers will for the first time be allowed to operate in Canada along with the RCMP as part of far-reaching changes in Canadian-American border operations to be unveiled next week by Prime Minister Stephen Harper and President Barack Obama. <p>The joint action plan to be announced at the White House will also break new ground by introducing exit-entry records that will track the movements of everyone who leaves the United States or Canada, with the information available to authorities in both countries.</p> <p>In the months and years ahead, the deal between Ottawa and Washington will reshape security, travel and commercial arrangements at the border in a variety of profound ways — some of which have already raised alarms among Canadians.</p> <p>The agreement, which has been the subject of confidential negotiations since last winter, is intended to reverse the economically damaging border tie-ups that have been growing since Sept. 11, 2001, while upgrading anti-crime and anti-terrorist security for both countries.</p><p><a href="http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/politics/article/1094483--border-deal-fuels-concerns-in-canada">Read on...</a></p><p><span style="font-style: italic;">This is not a good idea.</span> Tom<br /></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3969011969972135797-6063546524035884070?l=crimbrary.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15145634702414231472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-58885350183715016062011-12-01T12:24:00.000-05:002011-12-01T12:26:17.244-05:00Occupy Montreal protesters "branded" by police with numbers "in" their skin<p>This is weird and possibly illegal. The police attitude continues to be "whatever it takes to support the 1%." <a href="http://www.salon.com/2011/11/30/occupy_protesters_branded_with_uv_ink/">Salon</a>:<br /></p><blockquote>“They wrote on my hand with a permanent marker and then after I felt something pointy and metallic scraping across my skin,” wrote protester Nina Haigh on Facebook, continuing:<br /><br />I immediately asked “What are you doing” and they simply said we wrote on you with a pen and showed me a bunch of various pens in her hand.<br /><br />I didn’t argue about it and I was unable to look at my hands as they were tied behind my back with zipties. As soon as I was released I looked at my hands and there was no ink on them from a pen. …<br /><br />This morning we tested my hands under a black light and sure enough there was a number 2! The freaky thing is this is IN my skin, washing my hands and scrubbing with abrasives will not get this off…. perhaps in several months of my skin cells renewing themselves if will eventually fade.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.americablog.com/2011/12/occupy-montreal-protesters-branded-by.html">Read on....</a><br /></blockquote><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3969011969972135797-5888535018371501606?l=crimbrary.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15145634702414231472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-26667548109786718312011-11-30T10:36:00.001-05:002011-11-30T10:39:12.173-05:00The Shocking Ways the Corporate Prison Industry Games the SystemThe private prison system has rebounded, growing dramatically, and making big bucks with huge help from the Feds, as large numbers of immigrants are incarcerated.<br /><br /><div class="story_images" style="margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px ! important;"> <img src="http://images.alternet.org/images/managed/storyimages_picture9_1277272623.jpg_310x220" style="" class="story-image" /><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Arial;">The United States, with just 5 percent of the world’s population, currently holds <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/23/world/americas/23iht-23prison.12253738.html">25 percent of the world's prisoners</a>, and for the last 30 years America’s business entrepreneurs have found a lucrative way to cash in on the incarceration surplus: private for-profit prisons. </span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">While the implications of an industry that locks human beings in cages for profit is an old story, there is an important part of the history of private prisons that often goes untold.<span style=""><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Just a decade ago, private prisons were a dying industry awash in corruption and mired in lawsuits, particularly Corrections Corporation of America (CCA), the nation's largest private prison operator. Today, these companies are booming once again, yet the lawsuits and scandals continue to pile up. Meanwhile, more and more evidence shows that compared to publicly run prisons, private jails are filthier, more violent, less accountable, and contrary to what privatization advocates peddle as truth, do not save money. In fact, more recent findings suggest that private prisons could be more costly.<span style=""> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">So why are they still in business?</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><a href="http://www.alternet.org/story/153212/the_shocking_ways_the_corporate_prison_industry_games_the_system/">Read on...</a><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style=""> </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial;"></span></p><br /> </div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3969011969972135797-2666754810978671831?l=crimbrary.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15145634702414231472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-46879008385440455632011-11-30T08:30:00.001-05:002011-11-30T08:32:40.894-05:00Senate Passes Bill Allowing Indefinite Detention of Americans ... Considers Bill Authorizing More Torture<p>The Senate <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/29/senate-votes-to-let-military-detain-americans-indefinitely_n_1119473.html">passed</a> a bill today <a href="http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2011/11/congress-to-vote-next-week-on-explicitly-creating-a-police-state.html" title="allow indefinite detention of American citizens living within the U.S">allowing indefinite detention of American citizens living within the U.S</a>.</p> <p>While some have claimed that this is incorrect, and that American citizens would be exempted from the indefinite detention within U.S. borders authorized by the Act, the Committee chairman who co-sponsored the bill – Carl Levin – stated today in Senate debate that it could apply to American citizens.</p> <p>Levin <a href="http://thehill.com/blogs/floor-action/senate/195949-senate-defeats-amendment-to-remove-terrorist-detainee-language" target="_blank" title="cited">cited</a> the Supreme Court case of Hamdi which ruled that American citizens can be treated as enemy combatants:</p> <blockquote><p>“The Supreme Court has recently ruled there is no bar to the United States holding one of its own citizens as an enemy combatant,” said Levin. “This is the Supreme Court speaking.“</p> </blockquote> <p>Under questioning from Rand Paul, co-sponsor John McCain said that Americans suspected of terrorism could be sent to Guantanamo.</p> <p>You can hear the statements from Levin and McCain on <a href="http://www.kpfa.org/archive/id/75559" target="_blank" title="today’s broadcast">today’s broadcast</a> of KFPA’s Letters and Politics.</p> <p>As Raw Story <a href="http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/11/29/sen-paul-new-indefinite-detention-rule-puts-every-american-at-risk/" target="_blank" title="notes">notes</a>:</p><p><a href="http://www.zerohedge.com/contributed/senate-passes-bill-allowing-indefinite-detention-americans-considers-bill-authorizing-mo">Read on...</a></p><p><span style="font-style: italic;">Looks like the authorities are gearing up for a revolution.</span> Tom<br /></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3969011969972135797-4687900838544045563?l=crimbrary.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15145634702414231472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-54977438484633965712011-11-28T10:49:00.002-05:002011-11-28T10:55:58.852-05:00Public lacked faith in riots police<div class="galleria-stage"><div style="opacity: 0.8; display: block;" class="galleria-counter"><span class="galleria-current"></span><span class="galleria-total"></span><span class="storyTop "> </span> <p align="left"><span class="storyTop ">Lack of confidence in the police response to the initial riots in London led to further disturbances across the country, an independent report has found.</span></p><p align="left">The vast majority of people interviewed for a study of the causes of the disorder said they believed the "sole trigger" for disturbances in their areas was the perception that the police "could not contain" the scale of rioting in Tottenham, north London, and then across the capital in August.</p><p align="left">"Lack of confidence in the police response to the initial riots encouraged people to test reactions in other areas," the Riots Communities and Victims Panel found.</p><p align="left">"Most of the riots began with some trouble in retail areas with a critical mass of individuals and groups converging on an area.</p><p align="left"><a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/public-lacked-faith-in-riots-police-6269068.html">Read on...</a></p><p align="left"><span style="font-style: italic;">This will be bad news for future protesters, as the UK police will no doubt now adopt the Miami model of pain compliance.</span> Tom<br /></p><br /></div></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3969011969972135797-5497743848463396571?l=crimbrary.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15145634702414231472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-38883895154429385652011-11-28T10:26:00.001-05:002011-11-28T10:28:05.992-05:00Harper’s crime bill poised to pass - and Canadians still don’t know how much it costs<p> Stephen Harper’s crime legislation that triggered last spring’s election could pass through the Commons this week as it makes it way to becoming the law of the land - and Canadians still don’t know how much it costs. </p> <p> The irony is delicious. Opposition politicians voted to find Prime Minister Harper and his government in contempt of Parliament last March - this was a historic first - for not giving up the full costs of its so-called tough on crime legislation. Now, it is poised to pass the bill and Canadians are still no wiser.<br /></p><p> “It is a travesty that the Conservatives have told neither the Canadian people nor the provinces what all this is going to cost - with the slowing economy and big financial pressures all 'round this is even more irresponsible,” Interim Liberal leader Bob Rae told The Globe Monday morning. “Both the jets and the jails put the lie to the Conservative line about being the party of ‘fiscal prudence.’ Ridiculous.” </p> <p> In fact, it was Mr. Rae’s predecessor, Michael Ignatieff, who tabled the non-confidence motion in the government last March that ultimately led to its defeat. The opposition was also concerned about the costs of the stealth fighter jets.<br /></p><p><a href="http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/ottawa-notebook/harpers-crime-bill-poised-to-pass---and-canadians-still-dont-know-how-much-it-costs/article2251818/">Read on...</a><br /></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3969011969972135797-3888389515442938565?l=crimbrary.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15145634702414231472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-31359565824495367812011-11-28T09:41:00.001-05:002011-11-28T09:43:24.121-05:00Thought Crime in Washington: No Free Speech at Mr. Jefferson’s Library<h3 class="subtitle"><span style="font-size:100%;">George Orwell, Philip K. Dick, and Ray Bradbury Would Have Recognized Morris Davis's Problem </span></h3>Here’s the First Amendment, <a href="http://www.usconstitution.net/xconst_Am1.html" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">in full</a>: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.” <p>Those beautiful words, almost haiku-like, are the sparse poetry of the American democratic experiment. The Founders purposely wrote the First Amendment to read broadly, and not like a snippet of tax code, in order to emphasize that it should encompass everything from shouted religious rantings to eloquent political criticism. Go ahead, reread it aloud at this moment when the government seems to be carving out an exception to it large enough to drive a tank through.</p> <p>As the occupiers of Zuccotti Park, like those pepper-sprayed at UC Davis or the Marine veteran shot in Oakland, recently found out, the government’s ability to limit free speech, to stopper the First Amendment, to undercut the right to peaceably assemble and petition for redress of grievances, is perhaps the most critical issue our republic can face. If you were to write the history of the last decade in Washington, it might well be a story of how, issue by issue, the government <a href="http://www.tomdispatch.com/archive/175398/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">freed itself</a> from legal and constitutional bounds when it came to torture, the assassination of U.S. citizens, the holding of prisoners without trial or access to a court of law, the illegal surveillance of American citizens, and so on. In the process, it has entrenched itself in a comfortable shadowland of ever more impenetrable secrecy, while going after any whistleblower who might shine a light in.</p><p><a href="http://www.commondreams.org/view/2011/11/28">Read on...</a><br /></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3969011969972135797-3135956582449536781?l=crimbrary.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15145634702414231472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-76887719576406458802011-11-28T09:20:00.001-05:002011-11-28T09:31:50.978-05:00Congress to Vote Next Week on EXPLICITLY Creating a Police State<p class="MsoNormal"><strong><span>IF YOU THOUGHT POLICE BRUTALITY WAS BAD … WAIT UNTIL YOU SEE WHAT CONGRESS WANTS TO DO NEXT WEEK</span></strong></p> <p>The police brutality against peaceful protesters in <a href="http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2011/11/resisting-police-desires-is-labeled-violence-even-if-police-action-is-unlawful.html" title="Berkeley">Berkeley</a>, <a href="http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2011/11/police-force-peaceful-uc-davis-students-to-open-their-mouths-and-then-pepper-spray-down-their-throats.html" title="Davis">Davis</a>, <a href="http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2011/11/video-oakland-police-strike-army-ranger-with-nightsticks-on-his-back-ribs-shoulders-and-hands-lacerating-his-spleen-and-causing-internal-bleeding.html" title="Oakland">Oakland</a> and elsewhere is bad enough.</p> <p>But next week, Congress will vote on <span>explicitly </span>creating a police state.</p> <p>The ACLU’s Washington legislative office <a href="http://www.aclu.org/blog/national-security/senators-demand-military-lock-american-citizens-battlefield-they-define-being" target="_blank" title="explains">explains</a>:</p> <p>The Senate is gearing up for a vote on Monday or Tuesday that goes to the very heart of who we are as Americans. The Senate will be voting on a bill that will direct American military resources not at an enemy shooting at our military in a war zone, but at American citizens and other civilians far from any battlefield — even people in the United States itself.</p> <p> The Senate is going to vote on whether Congress will give this president—and every future president — the power to order the military to pick up and imprison without charge or trial civilians anywhere in the world.</p><p><a href="http://www.zerohedge.com/contributed/congress-vote-next-week-explicitly-creating-police-state">Read on....</a></p><p><span style="font-style: italic;">Boy, I hope Harper doesn't read this. </span> Tom<br /></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3969011969972135797-7688771957640645880?l=crimbrary.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15145634702414231472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-92171719136534061302011-11-28T09:09:00.000-05:002011-11-28T09:11:53.227-05:00UC Davis Pepper-Spray Video Shows Importance of Civilian Oversight of PoliceVideo of the Nov. 18 incident tells a different story. It shows a group of Occupy Davis student protesters sitting peacefully with arms interlocked while a UC Davis police officer walks back and forth, dousing them at close range with liberal amounts of pepper spray. There is an awful contemptuousness in his bearing. He could be spraying weeds in his garden or roaches in his kitchen.<br /><br />The victims of this assault have described the pain in searing terms. They speak of burning skin and vomiting, of the inability to breathe, of feeling as if acid had been poured into their faces. Two cops involved with this atrocity and the chief of police have been suspended — with pay. One hopes this is preparatory to a summary dismissal. <p>As we grapple with this vandalism of the First Amendment, we should ask ourselves this: What if there had been no cameras on hand? What if we had only the word of the protesters and their sympathizers that this happened versus the word of authority figures that it did not? Is it so hard to imagine the students' claims being dismissed, the media attention being a fraction of what it is, the public's outrage falling along predictable ideological lines and these cops getting a walk?</p><p><a href="http://www.commondreams.org/view/2011/11/27-2">Read on...</a><br /></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3969011969972135797-9217171913653406130?l=crimbrary.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15145634702414231472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-57830002476077117752011-11-25T10:44:00.000-05:002011-11-25T10:47:17.501-05:00Robocops vs Occupy Wall St: The Rise of Paramilitary Police Tactics<div class="story_images" style="margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px ! important;"> <img src="http://images.alternet.org/images/managed/storyteaser_riotpolice9208.jpg_310x220" style="" class="story-image" /><br /><br />The most aggressive policing originates in methods developed by law enforcement agencies in Miami in response to mass protests in 2003. <br /><br />Since the Occupy Wall Street movement began in mid-September, protesters and reporters have been learning the hard way how diverse police departments handle large-scale street demonstrations — sometimes with rubber bullets, sometimes, as in Davis, Calif., with <a href="http://www.salon.com/2011/11/23/the_geeky_triumph_of_pepper_spray_cop/">pepper spray in the face</a>.<p name="paragraph2" id="paragraph2">While police departments have deployed tear gas in cities including Denver, Seattle and on more than three separate occasions in Oakland, Calif., in response to Occupy street demonstrations, protesters in New York have been met with the sheer force of numbers, pepper spray, kettling nets to hold in crowds, and batons. Dozens have been hospitalized by a variety of crowd control tactics.</p><p name="paragraph2" id="paragraph2">The tactics vary from city to city, but the most aggressive policing originates in methods developed by law enforcement agencies in Miami in response to large protests against the proposed Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) agreement in November 2003. Miami’s approach, in the words of Miami-Dade State Attorney Kathy Fernandez Rundle, created, “a model … for the rest of the world to emulate in the future when these sort of events take place.”</p><p name="paragraph2" id="paragraph2"><a href="http://www.alternet.org/story/153193/robocops_vs_occupy_wall_st%3A_the_rise_of_paramilitary_police_tactics/?page=1">Read on...<br /></a></p><br /> </div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3969011969972135797-5783000247607711775?l=crimbrary.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15145634702414231472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-5835926701327194782011-11-25T10:37:00.001-05:002011-11-25T10:39:13.087-05:00Mounties wanted ‘low-key’ probe into G20 activities, documents showhe RCMP recommended an investigation into its G20 activities be kept “low-key,” noting that it played a limited role in the controversial mass arrests and detentions that occurred outside the summit, internal documents show.<p>The force’s G20 conduct is facing renewed public scrutiny following revelations that it spied on Ontario activists for a year and a half before the Toronto summit, but police still failed to stop the smashing rampage that took place in the streets that weekend.</p><p>In an August, 2010, briefing note to then RCMP commissioner William Elliott, bureaucrats suggested a proactive review of the force’s role in the G20 would be “low-key and measured.”</p><p>The note, obtained under Access to Information law, said the Commission for Public Complaints against the RCMP had proposed the review. Senior brass would have an opportunity to examine the findings and remove sensitive information, the note said.</p><p><a href="http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/toronto/mounties-wanted-low-key-probe-into-g20-activities-documents-show/article2248720/">Read on...</a></p><p><span style="font-style: italic;">Police investigating police. Works every time.</span> Tom<br /></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3969011969972135797-583592670132719478?l=crimbrary.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15145634702414231472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-21598684112659669102011-11-25T10:26:00.000-05:002011-11-25T10:27:47.305-05:00Happy TaserdayAnother sad story in the <a href="http://gawker.com/5862447/">war on the disabled:</a><br /><br />The call came on Monday night, and it made mention of a man who had fallen off his bicycle and injured himself in a parking lot. So Officer Turner pulled up to the scene, and found Roger Anthony — a local fixture who people call "Rabbit" because he had big ears — rolling down the street on his bicycle. Turner followed Anthony in his patrol vehicle, sirens blaring, and ordered him to pull over. Anthony didn't respond.<br /><br />Williams said Turner then saw Anthony take something out his pocket and put it into his mouth. At that time, Turner got out of the car and yelled for Anthony to stop. When Anthony didn't stop, the officer used a stun gun on him, causing him to fall off of his bike.<br /><br /><a href="http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2011/11/happy-taserday.html">Read on...</a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3969011969972135797-2159868411265966910?l=crimbrary.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15145634702414231472noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-86672108065560396032011-11-25T09:56:00.002-05:002011-11-25T09:59:39.951-05:00Two Scandals, One Connection: The FBI link between Penn State and UC Davis<p>Two shocking scandals. Two esteemed universities. Two disgraced university leaders. One stunning connection. Over the last month, we’ve seen Penn State University President Graham Spanier dismissed from his duties and we’ve seen UC Davis Chancellor Linda Katehi pushed to the brink of resignation. Spanier was jettisoned because of what appears to be a systematic cover-up of assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky’s serial child rape. Katehi has faced calls to resign after the she sent campus police <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BjnR7xET7Uo" rel="nofollow">to blast pepper spray in the faces of her peaceably assembled students</a>, an act for which she claims “full responsibility.” The university’s Faculty Association has since voted for her ouster citing a “gross failure of leadership.” The names Spanier and Katehi are now synonymous with the worst abuses of institutional power. But their connection didn’t begin there. In 2010, <a href="http://www.theaggie.org/2010/10/19/chancellor-katehi-appointed-to-fbi-advisory-board/" rel="nofollow">Spanier chose Katehi to join an elite team</a> of twenty college presidents on what’s called the National Security Higher Education Advisory Board, which “promotes discussion and outreach between research universities and the FBI.”</p> <p>Spanier <a href="http://www.fbi.gov/news/pressrel/press-releases/national-security-higher-education-advisory-board-meets-at-fbi-headquarters" rel="nofollow">said upon the group’s founding in 2005,</a> “The National Security Higher Education Advisory Board promises to help universities and government work toward a balanced and rational approach that will allow scientific research and education to progress and our nation to remain safe.” He also said that the partnership could help provide “internships” to faculty and students interested in “National Security issues.”</p><p><a href="http://www.commondreams.org/view/2011/11/24">Read on...</a></p><p><span style="font-style: italic;">"outreach between research universities and the FBI" This is insane. Please tell me there is not a similar program in Canada. Someone?</span> Tom<br /></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3969011969972135797-8667210806556039603?l=crimbrary.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15145634702414231472noreply@blogger.com1