Mississippi is giving America a glimpse into the future of incarceration. As state and local budgets continue to contract, look for policymakers to condition punishment on the health of the offender. How much will it cost taxpayers to punish an unhealthy offender?
Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour has ordered the release of the Gladys and Jamie Scott, imprisoned for their involvement in a 1993 robbery. The governor cited the $190,000 cost of Jamie’s dialysis treatment, reports the Jackson Clarion-Ledger. The release is also conditioned on Gladys donating Jamie a kidney.
The sisters were not eligible for parole until 2014. Barbour said he has asked the state prison director to look at all inmates receiving dialysis to determine whether they are fit for release. There are 16 inmates receiving dialysis. “The ones who are not threats to society, I don’t think the Mississippi taxpayers ought to bear that cost,” Barbour told the Clarion-Ledger.
The sisters were convicted of luring two acquaintances to a secluded area where three teens beat and robbed them.
Many states will be facing similar issues as corrections budgets shrink across the country. Health care costs make-up a significant portion of correction budgets and corrections is often the largest single budget expenditure in many states. Don't be surprised, what is happening in Mississippi is already happening in other states with much less fanfare.
To read more: http://www.clarionledger.com/article/20101231/NEWS/12310344/Scott+sisters++mom+plans+Florida+homecoming
Friday, December 31, 2010
Thursday, December 30, 2010
Murder Down In Largest Cities
The USA Today recently wrote about the dramatic decline in murder in America's three largest cities. The numbers are incredible when it comes to New York, Chicago and Los Angeles. Homicides in New York have dropped 79% during the past two decades — from 2,245 in 1990 to 471 in 2009, the last full year measured. Chicago is down 46% during that period, from 850 to 458. Los Angeles is down 68%, from 983 to 312.
In 2009, New York had its fewest killings since it began using its current tracking system in 1963. Yet city crime reports through November indicate that homicides have jumped 14.4% and rape is up 15.6% this year, compared with the same period last year. The numbers don't approach those recorded during the 1990s, but are notable in a city that has been a model for reducing crime.
In Los Angeles, authorities have tamped down persistent gang violence. Violent crime was down 11% through November compared with the same period in 2009. But police officials acknowledge that the successes are fragile in a never-ending effort to maintain local public safety even as gang membership has risen slightly, from 43,000 in 2008 to 45,000 this year.
In Chicago, Police Superintendent Jody Weis says the city has struggled to break an unusual cycle of slayings involving child victims. Although the number of homicides has been cut nearly in half since 1990, Weis says the nature of the killings has undermined a public perception of safety citywide.
The USA Today demonstrates that the past is nothing short of spectacular; but, what will the future hold. There is no question that a sagging economy has not pushed economically disenfranchised people to turn to crime as some commentators suggested it would. However, tightening local and state government budgets will reduce police forces, open prison gates and eliminate rehabilitative programming-and will inevitably usher in a new era of rising violence. New York's shrinking police force and it increasing homicide rate may be a harbinger of things to come.
To read more: http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2010-12-29-1Ahomicide29_CV_N.htm
In 2009, New York had its fewest killings since it began using its current tracking system in 1963. Yet city crime reports through November indicate that homicides have jumped 14.4% and rape is up 15.6% this year, compared with the same period last year. The numbers don't approach those recorded during the 1990s, but are notable in a city that has been a model for reducing crime.
In Los Angeles, authorities have tamped down persistent gang violence. Violent crime was down 11% through November compared with the same period in 2009. But police officials acknowledge that the successes are fragile in a never-ending effort to maintain local public safety even as gang membership has risen slightly, from 43,000 in 2008 to 45,000 this year.
In Chicago, Police Superintendent Jody Weis says the city has struggled to break an unusual cycle of slayings involving child victims. Although the number of homicides has been cut nearly in half since 1990, Weis says the nature of the killings has undermined a public perception of safety citywide.
The USA Today demonstrates that the past is nothing short of spectacular; but, what will the future hold. There is no question that a sagging economy has not pushed economically disenfranchised people to turn to crime as some commentators suggested it would. However, tightening local and state government budgets will reduce police forces, open prison gates and eliminate rehabilitative programming-and will inevitably usher in a new era of rising violence. New York's shrinking police force and it increasing homicide rate may be a harbinger of things to come.
To read more: http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2010-12-29-1Ahomicide29_CV_N.htm
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
Gramlich: Death Penalty Summary for 2010
As the end of the year approaches the use of the death penalty for 2010 comes into better focus. With Mississippi failing to carry-out and execution tentatively scheduled for December 29, 2010 and presumably no death penalty trials facing verdict during the holiday week, the numbers are final. John Gramlich a staff writer at Stateline.com provided an accurate picture of capital punishment for 2010 in an article last week.
Excerpts of the article are below:
Officially, 35 states retain the death penalty, but far fewer use it with any regularity, as a new report from the Death Penalty Information Center, an anti-capital punishment research and advocacy group, makes clear.
In 2010, only seven states — Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, Ohio, Oklahoma, Texas and Virginia — executed more than one prisoner, the report finds. Of those seven states, Texas was far and away the most active, executing 17 inmates in 2010, compared with eight for Ohio, the second-busiest state. Alabama was third with five executions.
Nationally, 46 prisoners were executed this year, a 12-percent drop from the 52 who were executed last year. Ten years ago, 85 executions took place nationally. Death sentences, too, have seen a sharp decline over the last decade, with 114 people sentenced to die this year, compared with more than twice as many — 234 — in 2000.
The reasons behind the decline in death sentences and executions are a point of debate. According to the Death Penalty Information Center's new report, capital punishment "continued to be mired in conflict in 2010, as states grappled with an ongoing controversy over lethal injections, the high cost of capital punishment, and increasing public sentiment in favor of alternative sentences."
But the Criminal Justice Legal Foundation, a victims' rights group in Sacramento, California, notes that the number of executions this year — 46 — is the exact average of executions nationally over the last four years, not the sharp decline that the Death Penalty Information Center portrays. The group also says the declining number of death sentences is a reflection not of juries' uneasiness with the death penalty, but simply a decline in murders.
To read more: http://www.stateline.org/live/details/story?contentId=537042
Excerpts of the article are below:
Officially, 35 states retain the death penalty, but far fewer use it with any regularity, as a new report from the Death Penalty Information Center, an anti-capital punishment research and advocacy group, makes clear.
In 2010, only seven states — Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, Ohio, Oklahoma, Texas and Virginia — executed more than one prisoner, the report finds. Of those seven states, Texas was far and away the most active, executing 17 inmates in 2010, compared with eight for Ohio, the second-busiest state. Alabama was third with five executions.
Nationally, 46 prisoners were executed this year, a 12-percent drop from the 52 who were executed last year. Ten years ago, 85 executions took place nationally. Death sentences, too, have seen a sharp decline over the last decade, with 114 people sentenced to die this year, compared with more than twice as many — 234 — in 2000.
The reasons behind the decline in death sentences and executions are a point of debate. According to the Death Penalty Information Center's new report, capital punishment "continued to be mired in conflict in 2010, as states grappled with an ongoing controversy over lethal injections, the high cost of capital punishment, and increasing public sentiment in favor of alternative sentences."
But the Criminal Justice Legal Foundation, a victims' rights group in Sacramento, California, notes that the number of executions this year — 46 — is the exact average of executions nationally over the last four years, not the sharp decline that the Death Penalty Information Center portrays. The group also says the declining number of death sentences is a reflection not of juries' uneasiness with the death penalty, but simply a decline in murders.
To read more: http://www.stateline.org/live/details/story?contentId=537042
Mississippi Won't Carry-Out Year-End Execution
The Mississippi Supreme Court has yet to rule on Attorney General Jim Hood’s motion to set an execution date of December 29, 2010 for Frederick Bell. Hood’s motion came after the U.S. Supreme Court on Nov. 29 declined to hear an appeal from Bell.
It appears unlikely that the execution will occur this year. The leaves 46 executions carried out nationwide for 2010. That is 6 fewer executions than were carried out in 2009.
In 2010, only seven states — Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, Ohio, Oklahoma, Texas and Virginia — executed more than one prisoner, the report finds. Of those seven states, Texas was far and away the most active, executing 17 inmates in 2010, compared with eight for Ohio, the second-busiest state. Alabama was third with five executions, according to Stateline.com.
Bell and Anthony Joe Doss were convicted of killing Bert Bell, no relation, on May 6, 1991, during an armed robbery of Sparks Stop-N-Shop in Grenada County. Doss also was sentenced to death, according to the Associated Press.
Three Mississippi death row inmates were executed in 2010. Department of Correction records show the last time the state executed more than two inmates in one year was 1961, when five men were put to death. Paul Everette Woodward and Gerald James Holland were executed in May. Joseph Daniel Burns was executed in June.
To read more: http://picayuneitem.com/statenews/x636375796/Bell-execution-date-still-pending
It appears unlikely that the execution will occur this year. The leaves 46 executions carried out nationwide for 2010. That is 6 fewer executions than were carried out in 2009.
In 2010, only seven states — Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, Ohio, Oklahoma, Texas and Virginia — executed more than one prisoner, the report finds. Of those seven states, Texas was far and away the most active, executing 17 inmates in 2010, compared with eight for Ohio, the second-busiest state. Alabama was third with five executions, according to Stateline.com.
Bell and Anthony Joe Doss were convicted of killing Bert Bell, no relation, on May 6, 1991, during an armed robbery of Sparks Stop-N-Shop in Grenada County. Doss also was sentenced to death, according to the Associated Press.
Three Mississippi death row inmates were executed in 2010. Department of Correction records show the last time the state executed more than two inmates in one year was 1961, when five men were put to death. Paul Everette Woodward and Gerald James Holland were executed in May. Joseph Daniel Burns was executed in June.
To read more: http://picayuneitem.com/statenews/x636375796/Bell-execution-date-still-pending
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
L.A. Murder Rate Drops to 40 Year Low
Los Angeles is on track to end the year with fewer than 300 killings, that has not happened since 1967. As of the day after Christmas, the Los Angeles Police Department had tallied 291 homicides, reported the Los Angeles Times. The last time the city had under 300 murders it had 30 percent fewer people.
According to the Times, longer-term declines are even more notable. The city's homicide rate this year marks a 75% drop from 1992, when 1,092 people were killed during a crack cocaine epidemic and gang wars. Homicides investigated by the Sheriff's Department have dropped by more than half since the mid-1990s.
The change, according to the Times, is not easily explained and is probably the result of several factors working together, including effective crime-fighting strategies, strict sentencing laws that have greatly increased the number of people in prison, demographic shifts and sociological influences.
A significant factor, said Columbia University Law School Professor Jeffrey Fagan, is the absence of a drug epidemic in recent years. The three distinct periods in U.S. history when homicides have spiked, he told the Times, coincide with the emergence of heroin, powder cocaine and crack cocaine, each of which gave rise to "a chaotic, violent street drug culture."
The city's total number of murders translates into roughly 7.5 killings per 100,000 people and puts it in league with New York City and Phoenix as having among the lowest homicide rates among major U.S. cities, according to the Times.
To read more: http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-la-crime-20101217,0,1871598.story
According to the Times, longer-term declines are even more notable. The city's homicide rate this year marks a 75% drop from 1992, when 1,092 people were killed during a crack cocaine epidemic and gang wars. Homicides investigated by the Sheriff's Department have dropped by more than half since the mid-1990s.
The change, according to the Times, is not easily explained and is probably the result of several factors working together, including effective crime-fighting strategies, strict sentencing laws that have greatly increased the number of people in prison, demographic shifts and sociological influences.
A significant factor, said Columbia University Law School Professor Jeffrey Fagan, is the absence of a drug epidemic in recent years. The three distinct periods in U.S. history when homicides have spiked, he told the Times, coincide with the emergence of heroin, powder cocaine and crack cocaine, each of which gave rise to "a chaotic, violent street drug culture."
The city's total number of murders translates into roughly 7.5 killings per 100,000 people and puts it in league with New York City and Phoenix as having among the lowest homicide rates among major U.S. cities, according to the Times.
To read more: http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-la-crime-20101217,0,1871598.story
Monday, December 27, 2010
Father and Son Sentenced to Death in Oregon
Last week, a jury in Salem, Oregon sentenced a father and son to death for planting a bomb that exploded inside a bank in 2008, killing two police officers.
According to the Associated Press, prosecutors portrayed Bruce Turnidge and his son Joshua as bigoted men who hated authorities, were desperate for money and feared that President Obama would take away their guns. Father and son turned on each other during trial, each pointing the finger at the other for building and planting the bomb.
The Turnidges will be sent to the maximum-security Oregon State Penitentiary in Salem, where most inmates sentenced to death are housed.
The Oregon Supreme Court will hear the Turnidges direct appeal as part of an automatic review process in capital cases. The appeals processes on death penalty cases can take years. Some inmates on Oregon's death row have been there more than 15years, according to the Department of Corrections. Inmates on death row spend less time out of their prison cells and have fewer privileges, more restricted visiting and higher levels of security than inmates in general population.
Executions in Oregon are conducted by lethal injection. According to the Statesman Journal, the last execution was of Harry Charles Moore,in 1997. Under Oregon law, only a conviction of aggravated murder can result in a death sentence. There are 391 inmates in Oregon who have been convicted of aggravated murder, but only 36 inmates face execution, according to the Department of Corrections.
To read more: http://www.statesmanjournal.com/article/20101223/NEWS/12230340/Death-row-inmates-face-tighter-restrictions-lengthy-appeals-process#ixzz19JyaCs1j
According to the Associated Press, prosecutors portrayed Bruce Turnidge and his son Joshua as bigoted men who hated authorities, were desperate for money and feared that President Obama would take away their guns. Father and son turned on each other during trial, each pointing the finger at the other for building and planting the bomb.
The Turnidges will be sent to the maximum-security Oregon State Penitentiary in Salem, where most inmates sentenced to death are housed.
The Oregon Supreme Court will hear the Turnidges direct appeal as part of an automatic review process in capital cases. The appeals processes on death penalty cases can take years. Some inmates on Oregon's death row have been there more than 15years, according to the Department of Corrections. Inmates on death row spend less time out of their prison cells and have fewer privileges, more restricted visiting and higher levels of security than inmates in general population.
Executions in Oregon are conducted by lethal injection. According to the Statesman Journal, the last execution was of Harry Charles Moore,in 1997. Under Oregon law, only a conviction of aggravated murder can result in a death sentence. There are 391 inmates in Oregon who have been convicted of aggravated murder, but only 36 inmates face execution, according to the Department of Corrections.
To read more: http://www.statesmanjournal.com/article/20101223/NEWS/12230340/Death-row-inmates-face-tighter-restrictions-lengthy-appeals-process#ixzz19JyaCs1j
Sunday, December 26, 2010
Fed's Pursue First Execution Under President Obama
The Justice Department is preparing to carry out the first federal execution under President Barack Obama. The Bureau of Prisons announced its intention to execute Jeffrey Paul. He was sentenced to death for killing an 82-year-old retired National Park employee in Arkansas, according to Politico.com.
In a filing with the federal court, the U.S. Department of Justice has asked the court to schedule an execution date following a 120 day waiting period as required by law. Paul's lawyers said that they were not aware of the government's request to set an execution date.
Three federal executions were carried out under President George W. Bush, including that of Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh in 2001. The last execution was in 2003. Before McVeigh was executed by lethal injection, the federal government went nearly 40 years without carrying out an execution, according to Politico.com.
President Obama supports the death penalty. However, his support is conditioned on capital punishment being restricted to "very narrow circumstances, for the most egregious of crimes." Some commentators are questioning whether Paul's case is of such a narrow or egregious nature that it passes President Obama's test.
Part of the reason for the 120 delay in scheduling an execution date is to provide the president with an opportunity to review the case for purposes of clemency. President Obama may have the opportunity to apply his self imposed criteria to Jeffrey Paul.
To read more: http://www.politico.com/blogs/joshgerstein/1210/Obama_administration_readies_first_execution.html
In a filing with the federal court, the U.S. Department of Justice has asked the court to schedule an execution date following a 120 day waiting period as required by law. Paul's lawyers said that they were not aware of the government's request to set an execution date.
Three federal executions were carried out under President George W. Bush, including that of Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh in 2001. The last execution was in 2003. Before McVeigh was executed by lethal injection, the federal government went nearly 40 years without carrying out an execution, according to Politico.com.
President Obama supports the death penalty. However, his support is conditioned on capital punishment being restricted to "very narrow circumstances, for the most egregious of crimes." Some commentators are questioning whether Paul's case is of such a narrow or egregious nature that it passes President Obama's test.
Part of the reason for the 120 delay in scheduling an execution date is to provide the president with an opportunity to review the case for purposes of clemency. President Obama may have the opportunity to apply his self imposed criteria to Jeffrey Paul.
To read more: http://www.politico.com/blogs/joshgerstein/1210/Obama_administration_readies_first_execution.html
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
