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September 30, 2006

Finally, Sunshine in California Prisons - NOT!

On Saturday, for the third year in a row, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed legislation that would have allowed news reporters the kind of run-of-the-mill access to interview prison inmates available in many other states.

Schwarzengger---who has been criticized for a troubled prison system plagued with overcrowding, medical care problems and high recidivism rates---said that the bill, sponsored by state senator Gloria Romero,  would glamorize murderers and distress crime victims and their families, writes the Associated Press. 

Posted by Celeste Fremon at 08:23 PM | | TrackBacks (0)

Generation Gap

One way to peg people into generational pigeonholes is to ask them if they know: 1) who John Lennon was; 2) that he's dead; and 3) whether he was "more popular than Jesus."

A recent book and a new documentary help all of us learn surprising facts about the Beatle Nixon tried to deport.

ANN HORNADAY posted this for the Washington Post, and JON WIENER posted this report on Truthdig.

Lennon's lawyer, LEON WILDES, posts his version of events here.

(And yes, he's dead.) 

Posted by Dan Kowalski at 02:49 PM | | TrackBacks (0)

September 29, 2006

Mexico to lobby Bush against fence bill

 Mexico said Friday it will try to persuade President Bush not to sign a bill that would extend a wall along the border in an effort to stop illegal immigrants. E. EDUARDO CASTILLO in the Washington Post.

Posted by Matt Mundy at 05:05 PM | | TrackBacks (0)

House votes for border fence in security bill

Hundreds of miles of new fences along the U.S.-Mexico border would be funded under a bill passed on Friday in the U.S. House of Representatives as part of an election-year clamp-down on illegal immigration. RICHARD COWAN in the Washington Post.

Posted by Matt Mundy at 05:04 PM | | TrackBacks (0)

Court temporarily halts immigration law

A temporary restraining order was issued Sept. 25 preventing the City of Valley Park from enforcing an ordinance targeting undocumented immigrants. JOSEPH KENNY in the St. Louis Review.

Posted by Matt Mundy at 05:02 PM | | TrackBacks (0)

Egyptian students learn tough lesson in U.S. immigration law

Seventeen students from Egypt arrived at Kennedy Airport in late July for what was supposed to be an exciting month in America. Their destination was a Montana university where they were to learn about U.S. history and culture while improving their English. But things didn't go as planned. NAHAL TOOSI in the San Jose Mercury News.

Posted by Matt Mundy at 04:59 PM | | TrackBacks (0)

Judge denies bid to block immigration activists deportation

A federal judge struck a blow Friday to the hopes of an immigration activist who has taken refuge in a Chicago church to avoid deportation, dismissing her lawsuit against the government. MIKE ROBINSON in the Chicago Tribune.

Posted by Matt Mundy at 04:57 PM | | TrackBacks (0)

September 28, 2006

In Immigrant Fight, Grass-Roots Groups Boost Their Clout

Joseph Turner is part of an anti-immigrant brushfire that is gathering force at the grass-roots level around the U.S. Small groups like Mr. Turner's Save Our State are cropping up from coast to coast, recruiting members and devising tactics to tackle illegal immigration in their communities. Critics call many of these groups racist, a charge organizers deny. What no one disputes is that they are tapping into widespread frustration over the federal government's failure to adopt a national immigration policy while a deeply divided Congress clashes over how to deal with 12 million illegal immigrants. MIRIAM JORDAN for the Wall Street Journal.

Posted by Hanna Ingber at 09:14 PM | | TrackBacks (0)

Where's Momentum of Immigration Marchers?

The fact that enforcement-only immigration bills still remain in play leads one to wonder what happened with the momentum of the marchers. How could so much energy dissipate so quickly? MARCELA SANCHEZ for the Seattle Post Intelligencer.

Posted by Hanna Ingber at 09:07 PM | | TrackBacks (0)

Immigration Reform is Homophobic

One aspect of immigration and its so-called reform that is rarely addressed in the mainstream media is how GBLT immigrants and their families are impacted. Certainly there are gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender immigrants of varying statuses within the United States. Unfortunately all the immigration "reform" proposals on the Congressional table choose to be blind to that fact. Posted by MEAGAN LA MALA on Vivirlatino.

Posted by Hanna Ingber at 09:01 PM | | TrackBacks (0)

US Senate Backs Terror Trial Bill

 The US Senate passed controversial legislation endorsing President George W Bush's proposals to interrogate and prosecute foreign terror suspects. BBC News.

Posted by Hanna Ingber at 08:56 PM | | TrackBacks (0)

Immigration Politics

Senate and House Republican leaders might as well forget about immigration legislation before adjourning for the November election. The issue is important, but illegal immigration doesn't constitute an imminent national threat. The issue deserves dispassionate consideration that's absent in this election season. Editorial in the Hartford Courant.

Posted by Hanna Ingber at 08:52 PM | | TrackBacks (0)

Effort to delay ID rule fails

A major clash erupted among Republican congressional leaders Tuesday over an agreement to delay stringent new identification requirements for Americans crossing the border. DOUGLAS TURNER in The Buffalo News.

Posted by Matt Mundy at 06:55 PM | | TrackBacks (0)

Immigration activists lack a party's backing

For Nativo Lopez, one of the leading organizers of the marches, the House's actions demonstrate that the immigrant population in this country doesn't have a political party on its side. "Many have the illusion that the Democratic Party can serve as the party for immigrants, for workers and for Latinos," he said. And while there are moderate voices on immigration among Republicans and Democrats in the House, without party backing few have surfaced. MARCELA SANCHEZA in The Arizona Daily Star.

Posted by Matt Mundy at 06:52 PM | | TrackBacks (0)

Border fence may harm animal migration

A plan to fence off a third of the U.S. border to stop illegal immigration from Mexico may harm migration routes used by animals including rare birds and jaguars, environmentalists and U.S. authorities warn. TIM GAYNOR in the Washington Post.

Posted by Matt Mundy at 06:32 PM | | TrackBacks (0)

Border fence bill clears Senate hurdle

A bill authorizing construction of a fence along the U.S. border with Mexico advanced in the U.S. Senate on Thursday as Republican backers pushed to get an immigration measure to President George W. Bush desk before the November 7 elections. The Washington Post reports.

Posted by Matt Mundy at 06:30 PM | | TrackBacks (0)

U.S. immigration reform in a cycle

On the streets across America and in the halls of Congress, those arguing for more restrictive immigration policies usually preface their assertions by saying that they are not motivated by race or ethnicity. But some historians, including Victor Chavez, a professor at Southwestern College, say that history ---- specifically the history of U.S. immigration laws ---- says otherwise. EDWARD SIFUENTES in the North County Times.

Posted by Matt Mundy at 06:25 PM | | TrackBacks (0)

What Will Happen To Kayla?

A rich six-part series in the Charlotte Observer by DANICA COTO and PETER ST. ONGE: "In April, the Observer reported the story of a soccer mom from Monroe who had been arrested for being in the U.S. illegally after being stopped with an expired vehicle tag. Today, we will tell you what has since happened to Deysi Ramírez - and we'll introduce you to her 11-year-old daughter, Kayla.  This six-day story continues our yearlong series on the impact of illegal immigration in the Carolinas and the nation, "Hiding in Plain Sight." It focuses on an oft-forgotten side of the debate - what happens to the U.S.-born children of arrested illegal immigrants?"

Posted by Dan Kowalski at 07:45 AM | | TrackBacks (0)

Unions, Immigrants, and the "Rebirth" of Labor?

UCLA Sociologist RUTH MILKMAN lays it down: "Nowhere in the United States is there more palpable evidence of the potential for today’s working-class immigrants to reenact the drama of union upsurge that brought earlier generations of newcomers to the United States into the economic mainstream in the 1930s and 1940s." Boston Review, Sept./Oct. 2006 issue.

Posted by Dan Kowalski at 06:30 AM | | TrackBacks (0)

September 27, 2006

Latest Chapter in a Silly Saga of Border War

A wall on the U.S.-Mexico border is meant to secure only one thing: the re-election of members of Congress. Editorial in the Tuscon Citizen.

Posted by Hanna Ingber at 07:56 PM | | TrackBacks (0)

Anchor Babies

In response to the so-called anchor baby trend, some lawmakers are proposing amending the U.S. Constitution to deny the citizenship now conferred on all infants born in the United States. An Editorial in the Houston Chronicle.

Posted by Hanna Ingber at 07:45 PM | | TrackBacks (0)

Struggling to Enter the Country, Legally

According to immigration experts, the process of establishing permanent U.S. residency can take decades. CARLOS VILLATORO for the Napa Valley Register.  

Posted by Hanna Ingber at 07:41 PM | | TrackBacks (0)

Crowded jails contribute to growing crisis in Colorado

The prisons and jails are full, and the financial crisis it will cause in Colorado will be a “train wreck.” R. SCOTT RAPPOLD in The Gazette.

Posted by Matt Mundy at 07:40 PM | | TrackBacks (0)

Farm industry pushes Congress on immigrants

The agriculture industry, facing a major labor shortage in California and elsewhere of the illegal immigrants on whom growers depend to tend and harvest crops, is making a last-minute push to give undocumented farmworkers temporary status as part of a border-security measure in Congress. FRANK DAVIES in The San Jose Mercury News.

Posted by Matt Mundy at 07:38 PM | | TrackBacks (0)

New Mexico governor opposes border fence bill

The bill before the Senate to create a 730-mile fence across some of the nearly 2,000-mile border with Mexico is a "terrible proposal," Gov. Bill Richardson says. "It's repressive. It's not going to work. It's too expensive," Richardson said of the proposal to build two layers of fence on some of the border, including a portion from Columbus, N.M., to just outside El Paso. JAMES W. BROSNAN in The Albuquerque Tribune.

Posted by Matt Mundy at 07:36 PM | | TrackBacks (0)

Republicans bitterly divided over border fence

Senate and House Republicans seeking broad changes in immigration law conceded Tuesday that a 700-mile fence on the Mexican boarder will probably pass the Senate this week, but warned the fence will not stop illegal immigration and that lawmakers will continue after the November election to try to expand the ways to gain legal entry into the United States. CAROLYN LOCHHEAD in the San Francisco Chronicle.

Posted by Matt Mundy at 07:33 PM | | TrackBacks (0)

Visas for skilled workers still frozen

But the attempt by Congress to rewrite the nation's immigration laws has bogged down in controversy over border security and illegal immigration. That means changes in the skilled-worker programs, while less controversial, are also in limbo. S. MITRA KALITA in the Washington Post.

Posted by Matt Mundy at 07:30 PM | | TrackBacks (0)

Valley Park anti-immigration ordinance faces opposition

One day after a judge stopped the city of Valley Park from enforcing its illegal-immigration ordinance, the city’s Board of Aldermen will consider repealing the law and replacing it with a new one at a specially called meeting tonight. STEPHEN DEERE in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Posted by Matt Mundy at 07:27 PM | | TrackBacks (0)

Bipartisan Immigration Shame

Anyone interested in actually fixing the immigration problem has to be very disappointed in Congress’ antics on the issue over the last few weeks. FLAVIA JIMENEZ for TomPaine.com.

Posted by Hanna Ingber at 07:22 PM | | TrackBacks (0)

Cruel and Unusual On Trial

In a four-day trial in California that's one of several court proceedings around the nation in which lethal injection is facing Constitutional challenges as a violation of the ban on cruel and unusual punishment, an anesthesiologist  testified Wednesday that executed inmates "may have been conscious when they were administered a drug that induces suffocation and an 'excruciating'' experience comparable to drowning or strangulation," report HENRY WEINSTEIN and MAURA DOLAN for the Los Angeles Times.

Posted by Celeste Fremon at 06:46 PM | | TrackBacks (0)

Anti-immigration panic

Republican leaders want you to think they are hard at work overhauling the broken immigration system in the last days before going home. But don’t be fooled by the noise and dust. These are piecemeal rehashes of legislation the House passed last December. Editorial in The New York Times attacks Republican immigration proposals.

Posted by Matt Mundy at 05:50 PM | | TrackBacks (0)

Controlling Judgment

In Wednesday’s Wall Street Journal, SANDRA DAY O’CONNER writes that “the breadth and intensity of rage currently being leveled at the judiciary may be unmatched in American history.”  In a strongly-worded editorial, the former Supreme Court justice says that while criticism of the judiciary is both healthy and necessary, intimidation is destructive because it produces fearful judges who “cannot adequately fulfill the considerable responsibilities that the position demands…”

Posted by Celeste Fremon at 02:17 PM | | TrackBacks (0)

Letters From The Other Side

ANABELLE GARAY of AP writes: "What happens to the women left behind by husbands and sons who leave to work arduously and illegally in the United States? Director Heather Courtney set out to answer the question using video letters exchanged between people living on separate sides of the border. The result was her documentary, Letters from the Other Side, which airs Tuesday on Public Broadcasting Service stations in Austin and Dallas and nationally in October."

Posted by Dan Kowalski at 09:07 AM | | TrackBacks (0)

September 26, 2006

Sealing our border - why it won't work

The Arizona Daily Star conducts a four-part multimedia investigation on border security, and concludes that attempts at sealing it are not practical.

Posted by Matt Mundy at 10:13 PM | | TrackBacks (0)

Border fence bound to fail

History offers little hope for a nation attempting to seal its southern border. The government slowed illegal crossings to a trickle in targeted areas of El Paso and San Diego. So illegal entrants shifted their routes to Arizona and New Mexico. Now they're shifting back. BRADY MCCOMBS in the Arizona Daily Star.

Posted by Matt Mundy at 10:09 PM | | TrackBacks (0)

Congress poised to delay border check program

Travelers entering the United States from Canada will win a reprieve from a post-September 11 border security program requiring passports or other high-tech IDs, under a bill set to pass Congress this week. REUTERS in the Washington Post.

Posted by Matt Mundy at 10:06 PM | | TrackBacks (0)

SJ offers alternative to juvenile incarceration

Some troubled boys and girls now have an alternative to incarceration with a new county rehabilitation program launched this week. The 30-day program is designed to serve up to 24 youths at a time who have violated probation or committed minor offenses such as petty theft or drug use. TONY BURCHYNS in the Gilroy Dispatch.

Posted by Matt Mundy at 10:03 PM | | TrackBacks (0)

States, Counties Begin to Enforce Immigration Law

Police here operated for years under what amounts to a "don't ask, don't tell" policy toward illegal immigrants. As elsewhere in the United States, law enforcement officers did not check the immigration status of people they came into contact with, and in the vast majority of cases, a run-in with the law carried little threat of deportation. But that accommodation for the burgeoning illegal population ended abruptly in April, when the Mecklenburg County sheriff's office began to enforce immigration law, placing more than 100 people a month into deportation proceedings. Some of them had been charged with violent crimes, others with traffic infractions. PETER WHORISKEY for the Washington Post.

Posted by Hanna Ingber at 07:49 PM | | TrackBacks (0)

California Clergy Push for Broad Immigration Bill

Religious leaders Tuesday scolded lawmakers who oppose a broad immigration policy overhaul and urged them at a Capitol Hill news conference to put people over politics. DENA BUNIS for The Orange County Register.

Posted by Hanna Ingber at 07:43 PM | | TrackBacks (0)

Costa Mesa Votes Face a National Issue Turned Local: Immigration

My guess is, Costa Mesa Mayor Allan Mansoor thought he had a surefire winner when he took on illegal immigration in his town. And maybe he does. Nobody I've ever talked to is in favor of illegal immigration, even those softhearted, softheaded liberals that conservatives pity. It's just that lots of Americans think trying to stop illegal entry is a fool's errand and that the contributions illegal immigrants make somewhat dilute the arguments against their presence. Other issues come into play at the local level, and on Nov. 7 Costa Mesa voters will give us all an updated scorecard of how a community feels about illegal immigration. DANA PARSONS for the Los Angeles Times.

Posted by Hanna Ingber at 07:37 PM | | TrackBacks (0)

Immigration Setback for GOP

In a setback to Republican-led efforts to promote an enforcement-only approach to overhauling immigration law, a congressional negotiating committee on Monday shunted aside several measures the House passed last week. NICOLE GAOUETTE for the Los Angeles Times.

Posted by Hanna Ingber at 07:34 PM | | TrackBacks (0)

Justices to Rule on Immigrant Car Theft

The Supreme Court agreed today to decide whether all immigrants involved in car theft, even as accomplices, must be deported. DAVID G. SAVAGE for the Los Angeles Times.

Posted by Hanna Ingber at 03:22 PM | | TrackBacks (0)

Seattle Security Firm Sued For Religious Bias

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: September 26, 2006

CONTACT:

Joan Ehrlich, District Director (415) 625-5611 cell (415) 238-0973 William R. Tamayo, Regional Attorney (415) 625-5645 cell (415) 336-8805 John F. Stanley, Acting Supervisory Trial Attorney (206) 220-6896 Molly Küçük, Trial Attorney (206) 220-6892

 

OLYMPIC SECURITY SERVICES SUED

FOR RELIGIOUS DISCRIMINATION

Company Refused to Hire Man Because of Religiously Required Beard

TUKWILA, Wash.  A large Seattle-based company which provides security

guards to private companies and government agencies violated federal law

when it refused to hire an applicant because wore a beard for religious

reasons, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charged

in a lawsuit it filed today.

The EEOC's suit (filed in U.S. District Court for the Western District of

Washington) asserts that Olympic Security Services, Inc. refused to hire

Elmer Taylor despite his qualifications and experience after it learned that he

could not shave his neatly kept beard, which he wore as a religious

observance based on his Christian faith and Old Testament studies. Taylor

tried to explain to the company that it had an obligation to try to

accommodate his religious practice, but the company refused, stating it

maintained a strict no-beard policy and that Taylor could only work there if

he shaved his beard.

"I couldn't believe they wouldn't hire me because of my beard," said

Taylor. "I thought to myself  if they won't hire me, that means there are

whole groups of religious men with beards they wouldn't hire  Orthodox

Jews, Sikhs, Muslims. It just isn't right."

Refusing to reasonably accommodate an employee's (or potential employee's)

religious practices violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which

protects individuals from employ¬ment discrimination on the bases of race,

color, national origin, religion, sex (including pregnancy), and retaliation. The

EEOC filed this suit only after first attempting to reach a voluntary settlement

through conciliation. The suit seeks monetary damages, training on anti-

harassment and discrimin¬ation laws, posting of notices at the worksite and

other injunctive relief.

According to EEOC San Francisco District Director Joan Ehrlich, "Employers

have an obligation to discuss options to accommodate potential employees

whose religious practices conflict with company policy. Failing to do so

closes the door to many qualified applicants based solely on their religious

beliefs."

EEOC Regional Attorney William R. Tamayo added, "Title VII protects the

rights of workers to get a job regardless of their religious affiliations. We

hope this suit is a reminder to employers that failing to reasonably

accommodate the religious practices of potential employees is religious

discrimination and will invite litigation."

The EEOC is responsible for enforcing the nation's laws prohibiting

employment discrimination based on race, color, gender (including sexual

harassment and pregnancy), religion, national origin, age, disability and

retaliation. Further information about the EEOC is available on its web site at

www.eeoc.gov.

# # #

Posted by Martha Mendoza at 02:10 PM | | TrackBacks (0)

Arizona Democrats allege that strict new voting laws are discriminatory

Mrs. Steele and Mr. Pearce are two players in a spreading partisan brawl over new and proposed voting requirements around the country. Republicans say the laws are needed to combat fraud, especially among illegal immigrants. Democrats say there is minimal fraud, if any, and accuse Republicans of suppressing the votes of those least likely to have the required documentation — minorities, the poor and the elderly — who tend to vote for Democrats. JOYCE PURNICK in the New York Times.

Posted by Matt Mundy at 12:56 AM | | TrackBacks (0)

September 25, 2006

California’s Main Prison Reformer Judge

 U.S. District Court Judge Thelton Henderson is the man to whom the state of California has to answer on much of its troubled prison policy.  ANDY FURILLO of the Sacramento Bee has an interview with Henderson that gives a glimpse into the judge’s thinking on corrections policy, and how he feels about the new documentary made about his life.

Posted by Celeste Fremon at 09:07 PM | | TrackBacks (0)

America's Other Border: High Tech, High Trust

Debate about America's borders is decidedly a one-sided affair. Rising illegal immigration and lingering worries about security have focused a bright light on the southern border. Left in the shadows is the northern border - a 4,000-mile stretch of land that's sparsely guarded even though it's twice as long as the US-Mexican border and sees far more international commerce. It's also much more varied. ALFREDO SOSA for the Christian Science Monitor.

Posted by Hanna Ingber at 05:50 PM | | TrackBacks (0)

Immigrants' Group to Take US Government to Court

A coalition of immigrants' rights groups has announced plans to file a lawsuit against the U.S. government on behalf of U.S.-born children of undocumented immigrants. Advocates told supporters at a Miami rally that the children of illegal immigrants live in constant fear of having their parents deported. CINDY SAINE for Voice of America.

Posted by Hanna Ingber at 05:39 PM | | TrackBacks (0)

House Leaders Stall Defense Bill Action

House leaders are holding up action on a major defense bill, demanding that unrelated measures on immigration and court security be attached. ANNE PLUMMER FLAHERTY for The Associated Press.

Posted by Hanna Ingber at 05:32 PM | | TrackBacks (0)

Good Fences Make Bad Law

This year seemed to be a historic moment for immigration reform. Millions marched for change. President Bush echoed the call. And Senators Edward Kennedy and John McCain, an Arizona Republican, crafted a bipartisan plan for tough enforcement and smart reform. But sadly, the outcome may only be a fence -- a monument to political failure, states an editorial in The Boston Globe.

Posted by Hanna Ingber at 05:28 PM | | TrackBacks (0)

Cop Killing Sparks Immigration Debate

The shooting of a Houston police officer has sparked a new battle over immigration. Juan Leonardo Quintero, an illegal immigrant, has been charged with killing a Houston police officer last week after a routine traffic stop. ABC News.

Posted by Hanna Ingber at 05:26 PM | | TrackBacks (0)

Prison reform must include sentencing and parole changes

California’s distinction of having the worst overcrowding in the country -- more than 71 percent over capacity -- should be no surprise. It is a direct result of other distinguishing factors: some of the toughest sentencing laws and the highest rate of parolees returning to prison, currently at about 70 percent. Overcrowding has cut prison rehabilitation programs to almost nil, and the cycle continues out of control, producing an increasingly older, sicker, and socially maladjusted (to put it mildly) inmate population with increasingly more expensive medical and ultimately rehabilitative needs. DR. B. CAYENNE BIRD in the California Chronicle.

Posted by Matt Mundy at 04:23 PM | | TrackBacks (0)

For O'odham, border fence poses real problems

The 700-mile border fence that's being bandied about in Congress looks like a reasonable solution to illegal immigration problems if you happen to not live anywhere near the border.
However, for the desert-dwelling Tohono O'odham Indians, who have lived in the region for centuries before any border existed, the fence poses unique problems that Congress should not ignore. The Arizona Daily Star.

Posted by Matt Mundy at 04:16 PM | | TrackBacks (0)

House border bills unlikely to pass

The Senate will begin considering a series of House bills this week aimed at strengthening border security and toughening enforcement of immigration laws, but given the cool reception the measures are getting from many senators, it appears unlikely that much of the legislation will pass. NICOLE GAOUETTE in the L.A. Times.

Posted by Matt Mundy at 04:12 PM | | TrackBacks (0)

Questions remain on cost of border bills

House Republicans have whipped through a series of bills to crack down on illegal immigration with hopes they might provide an election boost in November. But there's wide disagreement on what they would cost and little inclination among lawmakers to come up with the money in any case. SUZANNE GAMBOA in the Washington Post.

Posted by Matt Mundy at 04:09 PM | | TrackBacks (0)

New Jersey town tries different local response to immigration

While some New Jersey towns have worked to make life more difficult for illegal immigrants, Edison is considering a policy that would prevent its police from cooperating with federal immigration authorities. SULEMAN DIN in The Star-Ledger.

Posted by Matt Mundy at 08:30 AM | | TrackBacks (0)

The politics of distraction

Congressional Republicans revealed their strategy going into the November elections last week as they pressed hard on immigration and anti-terrorism bills, most of which are unlikely ever to become law but which have dominated the nation's headlines. RON HARRIS in the St. Louis Dispatch.

Posted by Matt Mundy at 08:26 AM | | TrackBacks (0)

Justice Not Required

In a remarkable three-part series that begins today, WILLIAM GLABERSON for the New York Times explores the unchecked “abuses of law and power” in New York State’s town and village courts.

“People have been sent to jail without a guilty plea or a trial,” writes Glaberson, “or tossed from their homes without a proper proceeding. In violation of the law, defendants have been refused lawyers, or sentenced to weeks in jail because they cannot pay a fine. Frightened women have been denied protection from abuse.”

Posted by Celeste Fremon at 01:12 AM | | TrackBacks (0)

September 24, 2006

Girls and NY's Juvenile Prisons, Not a Pretty Picture

Both Human Rights Watch and the ACLU are extremely alarmed at the abusive and neglectful way teenage girls are being treated in New York’s juvenile facilities says a disturbing report released today by Human Rights Watch, according to Reuters.

Posted by Celeste Fremon at 10:28 PM | | TrackBacks (0)

Law and Order and Flesh and Blood

Writing in the Los Angeles Times, IJJ Senior Fellow JOE DOMANICK reminds us that beyond the cold, stark numbers of the criminal justice system lurk live and very complex human beings. Take the case of Fernando Belmontes...

Posted by Marc Cooper at 05:58 PM | | TrackBacks (0)

Expanding Tremors From a 2004 Legal “Bombshell”

Stanford law prof, ROBERT WEISBERG, argues in Sunday’s LA Times that a little noticed 2004 Supreme Court ruling, Blakely v. Washington, is an important legal landmark on the level of Miranda.  The decision---which established that judges may not increase criminal sentences based on conclusions that have not been decided by a jury or confessed to by the defendant, and that to do otherwise violates the Sixth Amendment---has already affected another important ruling by the Supremes (U.S. v. Booker), and is likely to be applied in an upcoming California court case to be argued in mid-October. "At stake is the California sentencing system," writes Weisberg.  Well, maybe. But what is likely at stake is California's elaborate system of sentencing "enhancements," many of which don't require proof beyond a reasonable doubt to be implemented.

Posted by Celeste Fremon at 04:06 PM | | TrackBacks (0)

Of Reading, Politics and....er... “Dirtbags”

 On Friday the Department of Education’s Inspector General released a blistering internal review revealing that those running President Bush’s billion bucks-a-year Reading First program broke the law, fostered and/or blatantly ignored conflicts of interest, and unethically dictated what curricula schools could and couldn’t use. 

In one colorful e-mail, according to the report, the program’s director told staff to slam a company he didn't support. "They are trying to crash our party and we need to beat the (expletive deleted) out of them in front of all the other would-be party crashers who are standing on the front lawn waiting to see how we welcome these dirtbags," the program director wrote, reports BEN FELLER for the Associated Press.

Posted by Celeste Fremon at 03:20 PM | | TrackBacks (0)

Sealing Our Border: Why It Won't Work

A rich four-part series, beginning Sunday, Sept. 24, 2006, including text, videos, slide shows, graphics and more, in the Arizona Daily Star out of Tucson.  Take your time to poke around, there's a lot here.

The team of reporters included JAMES GREGG, STEPHANIE INNES, BRADY McCOMBS, LINDSAY A. MILLER, KELLY PRESNELL AND ANDREW SATTER.

Posted by Dan Kowalski at 12:44 PM | | TrackBacks (0)

September 23, 2006

Musical Chairs Among LAPD Brass

The Los Angeles Police Department is continuing its interesting new trend of importing its top brass to other US cities. This summer, Assistant Chief George Gascon, formerly LAPDs 2nd in command, left the department to become chief of Mesa, Arizona’s troubled department.  Now, it was announced on Friday that Deputy Chief Michael Berkow, head of the department’s Professional Standards Bureau (otherwise known as Internal Affairs), will leave in two months to assume the chief’s position in Savannah, GA for the Savananh-Chatham Metropolitan Police reports BROOKE KELLY for WTOC11 News.

So why are all these top guys fleeing LA?  Easy.  When LAPD Chief William Bratton’s 2nd term is up, five years from now, somebody will need to take his place---and these are two of the men who hope to be first in line.  The thinking is, somebody who knows Los Angeles well but has also run a department or two of his or her own, will be have a leg up on other candidates. 

Posted by Celeste Fremon at 12:38 PM | | TrackBacks (0)

September 22, 2006

Tougher Enforcement Swell's Detention Center's Population

Stepped up enforcement by immigration officers has resulted in a sharp increase in the number of detainees at the Krome detention center in west Miami-Dade where the population may now exceed 1,000 -- almost double its publicly stated capacity. Detainees said the crowding was leading to fights, and unsanitary dormitories, showers and clogged toilets. ALFONSO CHARDY in the Miami Herald.

Posted by Hanna Ingber at 09:11 PM | | TrackBacks (0)

Homeland Security Seeks Verification of Employee Citizenship Status

The Department of Homeland Security isn't waiting for Congress to require employers to verify they're hiring legal immigrants. It's preparing new rules that would compel companies to take swift action when they receive notice that a worker may be using fake documents, even as another federal agency warns that the proposed rule would be an invitation to discrimination lawsuits. By MARISA TAYLOR and KEVIN G. HALL of McClatchy Newspapers.

Posted by Hanna Ingber at 09:04 PM | | TrackBacks (0)

Wineries' Need for Grape Pickers Clashes with Immigration Policy

A tightening of security at the border with Mexico means less labor will likely be available. Many people in the wine industry are hoping for a comprehensive overhaul of federal immigration laws. By CYRIL PENN in the San Francisco Chronicle.

Posted by Hanna Ingber at 08:57 PM | | TrackBacks (0)

Immigration Debate Heats Up in Governor's Race

Republican challenger Jim Barnett said Thursday that Gov. Kathleen Sebelius has changed her position on sending Kansas National Guard troops to the Mexican border, but she accused him of misleading voters. By JOHN HANNA of the Associated Press.

Posted by Hanna Ingber at 08:46 PM | | TrackBacks (0)

Punishing Refugees Twice

America’s excellent record of giving refuge to the persecuted is flagging — and one of the biggest barriers seems to have arisen inadvertently. Congressional authors of the Patriot Act and its sister Real ID provision tucked a clause into the immigration laws barring entry to anyone who has provided “material support” to a terrorist organization. The Bush administration has chosen to interpret “material support” to include people who act under duress. The New York TImes.

Posted by Hanna Ingber at 08:40 PM | | TrackBacks (0)

North Dakota death penalty debate could be revived

Alfonso Rodriguez Jr.'s death sentence may prompt the Legislature to reconsider whether North Dakota should have the ultimate penalty, Gov. John Hoeven and Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem believe. DAVE KOLPACK for the Duluth News Tribune.

Posted by Matt Mundy at 06:44 PM | | TrackBacks (0)

The death of immigration reform

It’s one of the oldest tricks in the political playbook: When you’re in trouble, conjure up a boogey man to distract from your failures and play on voters’ fears. This year’s targets: undocumented immigrants. JORGE MURSULI on tompaine.com.

Posted by Matt Mundy at 06:20 PM | | TrackBacks (0)

Local police may join immigration enforcement

Herndon officials are considering applying for a federal program that would train some of the town's police officers to enforce U.S. immigration law, including the initiation of deportation proceedings. BILL TURQUE in the Washington Post.

Posted by Matt Mundy at 06:14 PM | | TrackBacks (0)

The Myth Of Immigrant Criminality

Are foreign born or native born men more likely to land in lock-up? Popular perception holds that immigrants are jamming the nation’s jails and prisons. But is that assumption true? REUBEN RUMBOUT of Immigration Daily has some answers.

Posted by Celeste Fremon at 05:17 PM | | TrackBacks (0)

Depends on What You Mean by “Severe Pain”

Imagine if we had legal system that frowned on, say, robbery, assault and attempted murder, but didn’t make any of these acts actual crimes.  Do you imagine that robberies and the rest would stop or continue? This hypothetical is somewhat analogous to elements of the legislative deal made yesterday between the White House and key Republican senators who objected to, you know, torture and the shredding of Common Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions.  NINA TOTENBERG analyses the deal for NPR’s Morning Edition, and MIKE PESCA for NPR’s Day to Day has still more.

Posted by Celeste Fremon at 04:50 PM | | TrackBacks (0)

Shell Game

If your agency did something wrong, and later dissolved, and its functions were taken over by another agency, can you claim your agency was not responsible for the bad act?

You can if you are DOJ Attorney General Alberto Gonzales.

The INS used to be part of DOJ.  In 2002 then-Deputy Attorney General Larry D. Thompson signed the order deporting Maher Arar to Syria.  INS later dissolved, and deportation functions are now handled by DHS under Sec. Chertoff.

Thus, Gonzales was able to claim that "we [DOJ] were not responsible for [Arar's] removal to Syria," even though, well, they were.  KAREN DeYOUNG of the Washington Post is restrained enough to let you draw your own conclusions.

Posted by Dan Kowalski at 02:08 PM | | TrackBacks (0)

September 21, 2006

Solutions to prison violence offered

A growing prison population of tough, young gang members and the lack of enough educational and rehabilitation programs for other inmates is fueling much of the violence in Maryland's prisons, corrections officials told a legislative panel today. GREG GARLAND in the Baltimore Sun.

Posted by Matt Mundy at 08:16 PM | | TrackBacks (0)

Growers blame Congress for fruit picking woes

California farms employ at least 450,000 people at the peak of the harvest, with farm workers progressing from one crop to the next, stringing together as much as seven months of work. Growers estimate the state fell short this harvest season by 70,000 workers. Joe Bautista, a labor contractor from Stockton who brings crews to Lake County, said about one-third of his regular workers stayed home in Mexico this year, while others were caught by the Border Patrol trying to enter the United States. JULIA PRESTON in the New York Times.

Posted by Matt Mundy at 08:07 PM | | TrackBacks (0)

U.S. Wants More Mexican Forces in Border Drug City

The United States asked Mexico on Thursday to send federal security forces back to the border city of Nuevo Laredo, which is still struggling with drug violence despite a security crackdown last year. In Reuters.

Posted by Hanna Ingber at 07:57 PM | | TrackBacks (0)

Border Agents Find Immigrants in Sealed Duffel Bags

Agents working an immigration checkpoint found three illegal immigrants hidden in sealed nylon duffel bags, Customs and Border Protection said today. In the Associated Press.

Posted by Hanna Ingber at 07:47 PM | | TrackBacks (0)

U.S. to Closely Watch Boeing's Border Plan

Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said yesterday that the government learned its lessons from failed border-security initiatives and will move cautiously with its private-sector partner, Boeing Co., in the latest effort to use technology to curb illegal immigration. GRIFF WITTE and SPENCER S. HSU in the Washington Post.

Posted by Hanna Ingber at 07:44 PM | | TrackBacks (0)

House bill passes, allows local immigration arrests

Immigrants' advocates in El Paso were disappointed to see a bill pass the House today that would empower local law enforcement officers to arrest undocumented immigrants, an idea that was tried recently in El Paso County and abandoned. LOUIE GILOT in the El Paso Times.

Posted by Matt Mundy at 07:44 PM | | TrackBacks (0)

House passes border security bills

Republicans took a new crack at old border-security legislation Thursday as the House approved pre-election bills on deporting gang members, imprisoning tunnelers and empowering local police to arrest illegal immigrants. JIM ABRAMS for the Associated Press.

Posted by Matt Mundy at 07:41 PM | | TrackBacks (0)

Reptriation flights do nothing to cut desert deaths

A U.S. government program that returns illegal immigrants to Mexico by flying them deep into the country is ineffective at reducing the number of deaths in the Arizona desert, analysts said Wednesday. The Arizona Daily Star reports.

Posted by Matt Mundy at 07:39 PM | | TrackBacks (0)

Illegal Workers Supplant U.S. Ones, Report Says

New illegal immigrants accounted for 56 percent of the increase in employed workers in the United States in the five years after 2000, and competition from these immigrants contributed to a sharp decline in employment of teenage and young adult Americans, according to a labor market study released yesterday. JULIA PRESTON in The New York Times.

Posted by Hanna Ingber at 07:35 PM | | TrackBacks (0)

Border Fence Is Borderline Insanity

Erecting a 700-mile barrier will trample protected wilderness and endangered species, but it won't address illegal immigration's root causes. By PATT MORRISON in L.A. Times

Posted by Hanna Ingber at 07:28 PM | | TrackBacks (0)

No More “F” Grades for Florida

 In a deal worked out Wednesday, the Florida state Board of Education is forcing 141 of the state’s failing public schools to make big changes.  Among the reform measures, schools that received grades of "D" or "F" in the last assessment cycle will add reading and math coaches for low-performing classrooms and mentors for school principals, reports NBC 12.  The widely praised deal has been in the works for months, reports MATTHEW PINZUR for the Miami Herald.

Posted by Celeste Fremon at 04:04 PM | | TrackBacks (0)

The Coming "Terrorist Menace" in US Prisons

Due to a recent study released jointly by George Washington University and the University of Virginia, there has been a rash of articles (like this one from LARA JAKES JORDAN of AP) warning that American prisons are a fertile breeding ground for Muslim terrorists. But, in a more nuanced look at the issue, other experts point out that there have been only a handful of documented cases of Islamist radicalization in US prisons and express concern that the new alarm is out of balance with the facts.  Experts like Gregory Saathoff, executive director of the Critical Incident Analysis Group at the University of Virginia, contend that the real worry is that “isolated cases could end up dictating what could ultimately end up being bad policy,” writes ALEXANDRA MARKS for Christian Science Monitor.

Posted by Celeste Fremon at 03:46 PM | | TrackBacks (0)

Poll Tax, Version 2006?

Yesterday, HR 4844, the so-called Federal Election Integrity Act, was passed by the US House of Representatives.  If it becomes law, the new bill will require Americans to produce photo IDs in order to vote by 2008, proof of citizenship by 2010.  Proponents say that the bill is merely aimed at deterring fraud. Critics of the bill say that it’s a ploy to disenfranchise poor and minority voters, and that far greater problems loom over the electoral system than voter misrepresentation—namely scarcity of polling places, ill-prepared poll workers, faulty and hackable voting machines, and lack of language-appropriate voting materials. LUKE BURBANK of NPR’s Morning Edition has the story.

Posted by Celeste Fremon at 11:44 AM | | TrackBacks (0)

September 20, 2006

Strip Searches in High Schools?

Civil liberties advocates are concerned about the deceptively titled "Student and Teacher Safety Act of 2006" just passed by the House of Representatives and now headed to the Senate. If enacted, the bill would require any school receiving federal funding to adopt policies allowing teachers and school officials to conduct random, warrantless searches of every student, at any time, on the flimsiest of pretexts. “The searches could take the form of pat-downs, bag searches, or strip searches depending on how administrators interpret the law,” reports the Drug Policy Alliance.

The PTA, the American Association of School Administrators, the National School Boards Association and the ACLU all oppose the bill.

 

Posted by Celeste Fremon at 11:23 PM | | TrackBacks (0)

Former Hoods Go to the Woods

The U.S. Forest Service has developed a Southern California-based fire crew training program that’s famous for turning former gang members into firefighters.  LEON BING profiles the program and one of its victory stories for the LA Weekly.

Posted by Celeste Fremon at 11:05 PM | | TrackBacks (0)

Alabama Ex-Felons Win Back The Vote

An Alabama circuit court judge has ruled that the rights of ex-felons were violated when they were denied the vote. ANDREW POST at Civilights.org.

Posted by Marc Cooper at 10:37 PM | | TrackBacks (0)

The Color of Education

In this coming Sunday’s New York Times Magazine, law professor, JEFFREY ROSEN writes about the upcoming Seattle and Louisville schools cases that are due to come before the Supreme Court before the end of the year.

“In its brief,” writes Rosen, “the Bush administration urged the justices to draw an inflexible line: ‘race-conscious measures’ designed to address ‘racial imbalance in communities or student bodies’ are just as unconstitutional as the segregation struck down in Brown v. Board of Education. This extreme colorblind position, if the court adopted it, could affect as many as 1,000 districts in the country that have concluded that some racial balancing in admissions is the only way to maintain meaningful racial integration.”

Posted by Celeste Fremon at 03:29 PM | | TrackBacks (0)

San Francisco Reporters May Face 18 Months Behind Bars

Two San Francisco Chronicle reporters, Mark Fainaru-Wada and Lance Williams, will appear in court Thursday to tell a federal judge why they shouldn't be jailed for refusing to reveal who leaked confidential grand jury testimony that they, in turn, reported in their much-lauded expose on the use of performance-enhancing drugs by highly-paid athletes.  Fainaru-Wada’s and Williams reporting is considered instrumental in inspiring tougher steroid-use policy in major league baseball, writes JOE GAROFOLI for the San Francisco Chronicle.  In a related story, BOB EGELKO of the Chronicle writes that Federal prosecutors have asked a judge to give the reporters the maximum 18 month sentence to “send a message.”

Posted by Celeste Fremon at 03:03 PM | | TrackBacks (0)

Prison time as a requirement for drug treatment

A new cutting edge drug treatment facility in Washington D.C. will surely be of great help to those who need it. The only catch is you must be recently paroled from a federal prison. COURTLAND MILLOY in the Washington Post.

Posted by Matt Mundy at 02:57 PM | | TrackBacks (0)

Border security could mean profit boon for defense contractors

The Secure Border Initiative Net (SBInet) has got defense contractors salivating over the potential profits to be made. How the obsession with border security is playing right into the hands of these companies. FLOYD J. MCKAY in The Seattle Times.

Posted by Matt Mundy at 02:32 PM | | TrackBacks (0)

Republican immigration initiatives 'just for show'

Now, less than two months before the midterm elections, House Republicans seem to have brushed aside the Sensenbrenner bill, the Hutchison-Pence plan and the possibility of working out differences with the Senate bill, which offers illegal immigrants a path to citizenship. Instead, Republicans have cobbled together a slate of 10 just-for-show measures intended to make voters think the illegal immigration problem can be fixed with a little spit and glue. RUBEN NAVARRETTE in The Sacramento Bee.

Posted by Matt Mundy at 01:52 PM | | TrackBacks (0)

N.Y. County Takes Aim at Undocumented Workers

RIVERHEAD, N.Y. -- Business owners could soon face fines and even jail time if they hire illegal immigrants in this Long Island community, the latest in one of many efforts by local governments across the country to crack down on undocumented workers. FRANK ELTMAN in the Seattle Post Intelligencer.

Posted by Matt Mundy at 01:48 PM | | TrackBacks (0)

House ups ante in immigration debate

WASHINGTON — The House voted Wednesday to require Americans to show proof of citizenship in order to vote, and the Senate moved to build a 700-mile fence along the Mexican border as Republicans sharpened attacks on illegal immigration before the midterm elections. JIM ABRAMS in The Houston Chronicle.

Posted by Matt Mundy at 01:44 PM | | TrackBacks (0)

Govt Report Says Hispanics Need More Representation

A GAO report released today says more could be done to increase Hispanic representation in government. Worth a look.

http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-06-832

Highlights - http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d06832high.pdf

Posted by Martha Mendoza at 12:24 PM | | TrackBacks (0)

Soldiers on the Border

Everyone talks about the militarization of the border, but few write about it like MARY JO McCONAHAY.  Here's the opener from her latest Texas Observer piece:

"Under the night sky an armored skybox lifts its sleek head from the sand and rises into the air on hydraulic legs, jerking into place like some monstrous desert insect. At the controls, a 21-year-old Texas National Guard soldier packing a 9 mm semiautomatic sidearm watches a gray-toned screen, where figures tracked by a night-vision camera appear from behind a mesquite bush, duck behind it again, then materialize once more, moving north toward the Rio Grande. The soldier, recently returned from Iraq near the Kuwait border, watches alone in the air-conditioned box. He’s looking for illegal border-crossers, just as he searched out 'the enemy' - the object of military reconnaissance - in the other desert. From this height, an irrigation canal winds slender and graceful as a rivulet below, under a half-moon that gives just enough light to confuse the naked eye about what it might be seeing in the distance. People? Animals? Iraq prepared him for this mission, the soldier says, with experience in 'staying vigilant, alert.' "

Posted by Dan Kowalski at 05:38 AM | | TrackBacks (0)

September 19, 2006

The Immigration Crisis South of the Border

As the baby-boomers head south to Mexico for vacations and retirement, a crisis is emerging as these new homeowners leave gentrification and ecological devastation in their wake. MIKE DAVIS on TomDispatch.com.

Posted by Matt Mundy at 11:11 PM | | TrackBacks (0)

Feds Mandate California Prisons Health Care System Fix-Ups

A federal court official handed down a 57-page report Tuesday outlining his intention to slam California with hundreds of millions in new construction and operational requirements as the first step in fixing the state’s badly broken prison health care system, writes ANDY FURILLO for the Sacramento Bee.

Posted by Celeste Fremon at 10:11 PM | | TrackBacks (0)

The Price of Solitary Confinement

A federal jury has awarded $150,000 to two former New Hampshire jail inmates at the after finding conditions in solitary confinement were bad enough to “shock the conscience,” writes the Associated Press

Posted by Celeste Fremon at 09:10 PM | | TrackBacks (0)

Planned Florida Execution Intensifies National Debate

Florida’s plans to execute 48-year-old Clarence Hill on Wednesday has ramped up the already hot argument around the issue of lethal injection, which critics contend could result in intense pain and thus would violate the U.S. Constitution's protection against undue pain and suffering.  The topic has already sparked multiple legal challenges around the nation. MICHAEL PELTIER for Reuters.

Posted by Celeste Fremon at 08:55 PM | | TrackBacks (0)

Fight Over New Jersey Prisoners' Voting Rights Goes International

Civil-liberties advocates are appealing to an international human-rights tribunal over New Jersey’s policy of denying some former prisoners the right to vote. MICHELLE CHEN in The New Standard.

Posted by Matt Mundy at 02:59 PM | | TrackBacks (0)

Push for Drug Rehab over Prison Slowing

Maryland continues to spend far more on sending drug offenders to prison than to treatment programs despite a high-profile bid by Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. to reverse that trend, according to a report released today by the Justice Policy Institute. MARY OTTO in The Washington Post.

Posted by Matt Mundy at 02:51 PM | | TrackBacks (0)

Deportation controversy in Lynn, MA

Eustaquio Juarez, a leader in the Guatemalan community in Lynn, MA, was deported earlier this month against a federal judge's order. GREG SKINNER in The Daily Item.

Posted by Matt Mundy at 01:56 PM | | TrackBacks (0)

Prison Reform Slows Down in California

Senator Mike Machado, D-Solano, is worried about the state's slow progress on prison reforms. He expects a more aggressive session on the issue when the Senate reconvenes. ERIN PURSELL in The Reporter.

Posted by Matt Mundy at 01:49 PM | | TrackBacks (0)

Indigenous immigrants finding it difficult to adapt

 Immigrants who have not adopted Spanish or English can struggle to find housing, jobs and fair interest rates, advocate groups say. Navigating the legal system is tricky -- sometimes it's difficult just to communicate. The Washington Times reports.

Posted by Matt Mundy at 01:35 PM | | TrackBacks (0)

Deportations on the rise

Federal prosecutions and deportations of immigrants have quadrupled during the past 10 years in a crackdown on illegal immigrants convicted of crimes. PATRICK MCGEE in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

Posted by Matt Mundy at 01:21 PM | | TrackBacks (0)

Good Work If You Can Get It...And Not Get Injured

Hats off to LIZ CHANDLER, DANICA COTO and many others at McClatchy Newspapers for this extensive coverage of the non-compensation of injured immigrant workers.  Take time to explore all the links, including video and audio, a graphic, and one man's struggle.

Posted by Dan Kowalski at 06:52 AM | | TrackBacks (0)

September 18, 2006

Border Fence Bill Nears Vote

The Senate will once again take up a bill this week that calls for constructing 700 more miles of fencing along the U.S.-Mexico border. CHARLES HURT in the Washington Times.

Posted by Marc Cooper at 10:37 PM | | TrackBacks (0)

Ooops. Really Sorry about the Torture

An official Canadian inquiry that concluded today reports that, in the fall of 2002, Canadian police wrongly fingered Ottawa software engineer, Maher Arar, as an Islamic extremist.  The unfiltered and faulty Canadian info, in turn caused U.S. agents to arrest Arar in New York City, then deport him to Syria, where for 12 months he was repeatedly tortured. As for the US agencies that actually did the deporting et al., they “declined to be questioned” by Judge Dennis O'Connor, the man who led the Canadian investigation, writes Reuters. 

 

DOUG STRUCK of the Washington Post has more about Arar's encounter with the US policy of "extraordinary rendition"---including Arar's beating-forced and false "confession," and his 10-month ordeal in "a coffin-size dungeon." 

Posted by Celeste Fremon at 07:10 PM | | TrackBacks (0)

The Weed Wars

According to the FBI’s Uniform Crime Report released today, US law enforcement officers made more arrests for “drug abuse violations” in 2005 (an estimated 1.8 million arrests, or 13.1 percent of the total) than for any other type of crime (except traffic-related violations).  And of those drug arrests, by far the largest percentage ( 42.5%) weren’t for crack or heroin or crystal meth, but for marijuana. In fact, even when arrests for all forms of cocaine plus heroin were combined, they still ran a distant second. Oh, yes, 88% of those 2005 pot arrests were for possession only. 

As to how many of the nation’s weed-toking lawbreakers found their way into America’s overcrowded jails and prisons, the FBI didn’t say. Talkleft.com has more.

Posted by Celeste Fremon at 06:49 PM | | TrackBacks (0)

Growers Want Expanded Guest Worker Program

As border enforcement shrinks the labor force of undocumented field hands and immigration reform looms in Congress, growers have focused with renewed vigor on the need for a simplified federal guest worker program. LEE ROMNEY in the L.A. Times.

Posted by Marc Cooper at 04:43 PM | | TrackBacks (0)

September 17, 2006

Deja Vu All Over Again: the Myth of the Kid-Driven Crime Wave

Despite a “huge decline” in homicides, violence and crime by Los Angeles youth over the last decade, and similar declines in youth crimes in other larger American cities, law enforcement officials got together in Washington DC last month and, reminiscent of the teenage superpredator scare erroneously trumpeted by academics in the early and mid 1990's, warned of what juvenile justice researcher MIKE MALES calls “imaginary” youth crime epidemics.   For the Los Angeles Times

Posted by Celeste Fremon at 04:06 PM | | TrackBacks (0)

Why are New York's Prisoners Getting High While PA’s are Clean?

Drugs flow into New York State’s prisons like “rain through a leaky roof," write LOU MICHEL and SUSAN SCHULMAN  for the Buffalo News,  while in nearby Pennsylvania, prisons are “99.9 percent drug free,” say MICHEL and SCHULMAN in a telling companion report for the Buffalo News.

Posted by Celeste Fremon at 01:56 PM | | TrackBacks (0)

Florida’s Death Penalty Plagued with Alarming Problems

A new report funded by the American Bar Association found that Florida’s death penalty system was rife with problems, racial disparities and a higher number of inmates originally tagged for execution later found to be innocent than any other state, writes LINDA KLEINDIENST for the Orlando Sun Sentinel.  The 454-page report, written by a team of  influential Florida lawyers, had a long laundry list of changes and recommendations for further study---particularly in the areas of racial inequitablilities, wrongful convictions and innocence claims (It seems there has been one exoneration for every three executions), writes SUSAN SPENCER-WENDEL of the Palm Beach Post.

Posted by Celeste Fremon at 01:43 PM | | TrackBacks (0)

September 16, 2006

Guardsmen deployed to border charged in shooting spree

It's hard to improve on this AP piece about three off duty Texas National Guardsmen who drank, drove, and shot.

"They gave us a bunch of yahoo military talk," [Chief Deputy Sheriff] Cano said. "We advised them we weren't playing with them. Once they had spent a night (in jail), they changed their attitude."

No wonder some are jumpy over "Operation Jump Start," the plan to deploy 6,000 Guardsmen along the southern border.

RAY PEDRAZA, reporting for KGBT in Harlingen, gives us a different view of Jump Start's effectiveness: "[F]olks we talked to say they're still crossing illegally even though the price of doing so is now sky high."

Posted by Dan Kowalski at 06:33 AM | | TrackBacks (0)

September 15, 2006

Time Bomb Behind Bars

U.S. prisons are a health time bomb, say researchers presenting at Friday’s Correctional Medicine Institute’s 2006 Conference in Baltimore, warning that the nation’s 2 million prisoners could act as unwitting incubators for bird flu and other diseases. From United Press International

Posted by Celeste Fremon at 01:31 PM | | TrackBacks (0)

Leave Your Laptop At Home

Forget the embarrassment over dirty underwear: if you travel internationally with your laptop, its contents may be searched at the border when you return to the U.S., same as your socks.

Writing for the ABA Journal eReport, STEVE SEIDENBERG reported on a July 24, 2006 decision by the  U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

Even if your computer files are encrypted, or if you are just using your laptop as a portal to access your home office's VPN, Customs can ask for your passwords or PGP keys.  (Same would hold, one must assume, regarding your USB thumb drives, removable zip drives, etc.)

Posted by Dan Kowalski at 08:47 AM | | TrackBacks (0)

September 14, 2006

GAO Report: Desert Border Deaths Soaring

A new federal report notes that border crossing deaths in the Tucson sector reached 11 during the year 1998 but have soared to 216 in 2005. The GAO report also criticizes the Border Patrol for the unreliable way it compiles those numbers. DAN SORENSON in the Arizona Daily Star.

Posted by Marc Cooper at 03:56 PM | | TrackBacks (0)

Calif DNA Program Logjammed

Two years after California set out to create a vast DNA database to help unravel thousands of unsolved crimes, the program is being severely hampered by a lack of resources. HENRY WEINSTEIN in the L.A. Times.

Posted by Marc Cooper at 02:40 PM | | TrackBacks (0)

Heck of a Job, Jim?

James Tilton, California's third Department of Corrections head within a year, helped create Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s $6 billion prison building plan---which was immediately rejected by the state’s legislature.  While generally considered bright, capable and well intentioned, critics say that Tilton has done little to address such major corrections problems as massive overcrowding, and a prison health care system that is in shambles. Nonetheless, following the lead of the private sector, on Wednesday the governor announced, without explanation, that he was giving Tilton a 70-percent raise over the salary of the last prison head, writes MARK MARTIN for the San Francisco Chronicle.

Posted by Celeste Fremon at 01:04 PM | | TrackBacks (0)

Quakers Slam American Prisons

The American Friends Service Committee announced the publication of a new book that analyzes the American penal system and describes the nation’s present “tough on crime” stance as a non-functional “culture of punishment,” with little accountability, that has led more incarceration, not less crime.  The book, called “Beyond Prisons” by Laura Magnani, Harmon L. Wray, also offers solutions in the form of “ a 12- point plan for immediate changes.”   From US Newswire

Posted by Celeste Fremon at 12:37 PM | | TrackBacks (0)

Who Votes?

STEVEN HARMON, writing in the San Jose Mercury News, reviews a new report by the Public Policy Institute of California entitled "California's Exclusive Electorate."  Some sobering findings: "The chasm between likely and unlikely voters is deep, in both socioeconomic status and how they view politics:

• Likely voters are more likely to be homeowners (77 percent), college graduates (53 percent), and with household incomes of $60,000 or more (56 percent).

• Non-voters, of whom 63 percent are Latino, are largely renters (66 percent), are less likely to graduate from college (17 percent), and have a household income of less than $60,000 a year (82 percent).

• California is the only state in which no ethnic or racial group constitutes the majority, with whites representing 46 percent of the population and Latinos 32 percent. Yet, whites make up 70 percent of the electorate, and Latinos only 16 percent."

Posted by Dan Kowalski at 04:46 AM | | TrackBacks (0)

September 13, 2006

35 Years After Attica

The deadly riot at Attica Correctional Facility, which drew national attention to prisoner abuse and mistreatment, occurred 35 years ago this month.  Lawyer David Love writes in the Hartford Courant about all that has not improved in the intervening 3 1/2 decades in terms of American prison conditions.

Posted by Celeste Fremon at 09:11 PM | | TrackBacks (0)

Next Time Try a Sitcom

A few years ago, Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio began posting live 24-hour webcam broadcasts on the Internet showing prisoners being booked, photographed and, in some cases, using the toilet at the county jail.  When prisoners sued, Arpaio argued that the so-called “jailcam” was a crime deterrent and allowed the public to see government in action. Several courts thought otherwise and, after losing a last appeal, the sheriff agreed to settle with the inmates for $500 in damages per person, writes DENNIS WAGNER for the Arizona Republic. 

Posted by Celeste Fremon at 08:57 PM | | TrackBacks (0)

Court Ruling May Soften Crack Sentencing

A Philadelphia federal appeals court has ruled that judges can disregard draconian, previously mandatory sentencing, which resulted in touger terms being imposed on crack rather than powder cocaine users. EMILE LOUNSBERRY in the Philadelphia Inquirer.

Posted by Marc Cooper at 08:33 PM | | TrackBacks (0)

The Conundrum of Death Penalty “Volunteers”

Today the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals handed down an interesting and sure to be controversial split decision (Comer v. Schriro) saying that a death row inmate may not withdraw a federal habeas corpus petition and ask to be executed.  No death penalty volunteers, they said.  Here’s part of the opinion:

“We hold that Comer’s sentence was invalid and hereby grant the writ of habeas corpus based on the violation of Comer’s due process rights that occurred when he was sentenced to death while nearly naked, bleeding, shackled, and exhausted.”

Posted by Celeste Fremon at 08:31 PM | | TrackBacks (0)

Immigration Missing from Dem House Agenda

If the Democrats take back the House in this November's election, immigration apparently won't be anywhere near the top of their agenda. ALEXANDER BOLTON in The Hill.

Posted by Marc Cooper at 08:28 PM | | TrackBacks (0)

Borderline Catastrophe

RACHEL MORRIS, writing in the Washington Monthly magazine, provides a detailed analysis of "how the fight over immigration blew up Rove’s big tent."

Posted by Dan Kowalski at 11:02 AM | | TrackBacks (0)

September 12, 2006

Lockheed Invests $16m in Border Security Plant

Military contractor Lockheed Martin Corp. said Tuesday it will invest $16 million over two years to build a border enforcement services center in a Southwest border community to reduce illegal immigration reports the AP.

Posted by Marc Cooper at 08:45 PM | | TrackBacks (0)

House Gop Prepares Get Tough Border Blan

House Republicans said Tuesday that they're preparing a package of tough border security initiatives that they hope will satisfy constituent demands for a crackdown on illegal immigration before they face voters in the Nov. 7 midterm elections. The initiatives, which are expected to include more Border Patrol agents and unmanned aerial vehicles and possibly hundreds of miles of fencing along the U.S-Mexico border, will be unveiled this week amid fading prospects for more comprehensive legislation embracing President Bush's call for an immigrant guest-worker program. DAVE MONTGOMERY in the San Jose Mercury News.

Posted by Marc Cooper at 08:43 PM | | TrackBacks (0)

A Backlog By Any Other Name

SARA A. CARTER, writing for the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin, reveals some interesting discrepancies in the official accounts of pending immigration case backlogs: "USCIS documents obtained by the Daily Bulletin show that the difference between the pending caseload and the official backlog lies in the definition of 'backlog,' which USCIS officials have changed at least two times since the president set the elimination deadline."

Posted by Dan Kowalski at 03:22 PM | | TrackBacks (0)

8th Circuit Court Setting Own Sentencing Guidelines?

After last year’s Supreme Court decision, US v. Booker, trial judges are supposed to be allowed a bit more leeway when sentencing.  But the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals appeared to have other ideas when it overturned an 11-year prison sentence for repeat offender, Jeffrey McDonald, in a meth case, saying the lock-up time was far too short  The recommended sentence was 22 to 27 years.  But the minimum was 10, which McDonald’s sentence exceeded.

Dissenting Judge Kermit Bye pointed out that, since Booker, the 8th had reversed 25 sentences below the recommended range, while reversing only one that went above the range, writes PAMELA MCCLEAN for Law.com.

Posted by Celeste Fremon at 12:38 PM | | TrackBacks (0)

Two Faces of Guantanamo

This Guantanomo detainee’s story makes for harrowing reading.  By MCKENZIE FUNK for Mother Jones.  And then, in Sunday’s Washington Post, ERIC RICH and DAN EGGAN profile of one of the fourteen “high value” Guantanamo prisoners.

Posted by Celeste Fremon at 12:11 PM | | TrackBacks (0)

The Fight over a Fed Prison HIV/AIDS Testing Bill

Last week, Congresswoman Maxine Waters introduced a bill that would require Federal prisons to provide tests for HIV/AIDS, both at entry to lock-up and upon release.  But, unlike previous proposals of its kind, it would have an opt out clause.  Even so, some civil liberties groups are balking, writes JEFFREY YOUNG for The Hill.

Posted by Celeste Fremon at 11:30 AM | | TrackBacks (0)

September 11, 2006

Immigration Judge Lets Salvadoran Child Stay

An immigration judgehas ruled that a 10-year-old Salvadoran boy who was apprehended crossing the U.S. border alone could stay in America at least until next summer. PETER PRENGAMAN for the AP.

Posted by Marc Cooper at 11:45 PM | | TrackBacks (0)

Arnold: Keep The Immigration Debate Civil

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger writes an op-ed lamenting congressional inaction on immigration and calls to keep the debate alive and civil. In the L.A. Times.

Posted by Marc Cooper at 11:42 PM | | TrackBacks (0)

Follow the (Prison-related) Money

Theoretically, states like New Mexico, Texas and Florida privatize prisons to relieve overcrowding and lower corrections costs.  But the non-partisan Institute on Money in State Politics did a study that suggests that often less noble agendas may be at work too as the prison corporations attempt to influence lawmakers to enact stiffer penalties in their respective states, thereby increasing “business” for prison profiteers, writes SILJA J. A. TALVI for In These Times.

Posted by Celeste Fremon at 09:53 PM | | TrackBacks (0)

No Terror Suspects Apprehended on AZ Border

Among the nearly half million undocumented apprehended along the Tucson sector of the Arizona border last year, only 21 came individuals came from countries of special interest. And exactly zero had any links to terrorism. CLAUDINE LOMONACO reports for the Tucson Citizen.

Posted by Marc Cooper at 06:10 PM | | TrackBacks (0)

September 10, 2006

Looking at Prisoner Re-Entry in Cleveland

The Urban institute is working on a four-state, longitudinal study entitled Returning Home: Understanding the Challenges of Prisoner Reentry.  The study will eventually look at reentry issues in Texas, Maryland, and Illinois, but its first stage---centered on prisoners form Cleveland, Ohio---has just been released.  A host of practical and psychological elements affect reentry success, says the study, but job-finding as a prisoner’s biggest challenge, writes MICHAEL SANGIACOMO of the Cleveland Plain Dealer. Meanwhile, other national studies find that the majority of American employers won’t knowingly hire an ex-prisoner.

Posted by Celeste Fremon at 06:56 PM | | TrackBacks (0)

Navarette: A Mistake To Not Act On Immigration

Republicans in Congress are misreading the tea leaves if they think they can go to voters and claim that the effort they made to scuttle the Senate bill (which would legalize millions of illegal immigrants) was their main accomplishment on immigration reform. Voters won't be satisfied with that. They want action. They want the problem fixed, not dodged for political reasons, says syndicated columnist RUBEN NAVARETTE JR.

Posted by Marc Cooper at 04:28 PM | | TrackBacks (0)

New Jersey’s Legal Last Chance

As New Jersey inmates get increasingly lengthy mandatory sentences, many are filing for what is called “post conviction relief.”  This unusual legal strategy can only be used once appeals are exhausted and is akin to starting the case over.  Although it only succeeds around seven percent of the time, more and more inmates are trying it, writes MARGARET McHUGH for the New Jersey Star-Ledger.

Posted by Celeste Fremon at 02:00 PM | | TrackBacks (0)

Follow The Money

DEAN CALBREATH in the San Diego Union-Tribune takes a long look at the relationship between the wages immigrants are paid, their immigration status, the money they put into the system and their net effect on the economy.  He reminds us that "wages rise after undocumented workers are legalized, as they did after the government offered amnesty to 2.7 million undocumented workers in 1986.  Within five years, real wages of formerly undocumented workers rose an average of 15 percent, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. Wages for many of the jobs had been declining prior to legalization.  Wages would also rise for native-born workers or legal immigrants who work in similar jobs. A University of California Los Angeles study five years ago estimated that if undocumented workers were legalized, wages for all workers would rise by about 5 percent in agriculture, 2.75 percent in services and 2.5 percent in manufacturing."

Posted by Dan Kowalski at 09:29 AM | | TrackBacks (0)

September 08, 2006

The Price of Innocence in California

On the last day of its session, the California legislature passed a bill aimed at keeping the innocent out of prison.  It was based on the findings of a state commission charged with analyzing the causes of wrongful convictions, and requires that interrogations of violent-crime suspects be tape recorded, and that new and better guidelines for eyewitness IDs be established.  Most major law enforcement figures in the state---including LAPD Chief, Bill Bratton, various city District Attorneys and the state Attorney General, Bill Lockyer--- support the bill.  But some other law enforcement agencies are urging Gov. Schwarzenegger to veto the thing because the “cost of recording equipment” is a bit on the high side. (Um. O-kay.) This is the first bill to come out of the commission’s findings, but more are expected.  And since California is often the bellwether for criminal justice trends, expect this particular development, if successful, to export itself. By BOB EGELKO for the San Francisco Chronicle.

Posted by Celeste Fremon at 11:27 PM | | TrackBacks (0)

Fruit and Poisoned Trees

Has President Bush immunized the men he calls the “worst of the worst” from being held accountable for their wrongdoing?   Law Professor DAVID COLE of Slate Magazine, thinks so.

“It seems highly unlikely that these men—who include Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the alleged mastermind of 9/11, as well as several other high-level al-Qaida leaders—can actually be brought to justice, precisely because of the way the CIA treated them….” writes Cole.

In other words, because they were tortured.  Or sort of tortured.  (It depends on whom you ask.) And the Supreme Court has long ruled that using “coerced testimony” to convict a defendant is a bigtime No No.  The way out, of course, is to circumvent the the Supremes and the Constitution by making up brand new rules for trying these “worst of the worst” folks---plus anyone else who happens to have the bad fortune to be thought an “enemy combatant.”

There are, however, downsides to this strategy too, reports RENEE MONTAGNE for NPR’s Morning Edition, who found that the Pentagon’s lawyers think key parts of the Bush administration bill to create military tribunals for trying terror suspects is a dreadful idea---mainly because it violates international law.

 The fact that the bill "explicitly states that no one can sue to enforce the protections of the Geneva Conventions or any other international protocol" might be the first clue that the legislation may be viewed as problematic by the rest of the world, writes EMILY BAZELON, also for Slate. 

Posted by Celeste Fremon at 07:40 PM | | TrackBacks (0)

Immigration Backlash Brewing?

The decision by congressional leaders not to try to bridge the big gulf between the House and Senate versions of immigration reform, at least not before the November midterm elections, is touching off a backlash that may deliver a sting to some incumbent lawmakers. How big the backlash grows may not be known until the day after the election, but it's surfacing in blogs, letters to the editor, and record-low approval ratings for Capitol Hill. AMANDA PAULSON in the Christian Science Monitor.

Posted by Marc Cooper at 09:05 AM | | TrackBacks (0)

September 07, 2006

Pro-Immigrant Rally Turnout Light. Congress Closes the Door.

A pro-immigration rally that promised to bring tens of thousands of marchers from across the nation to Washington yesterday managed to draw only a paltry number of demonstrators, raising questions about the movement's tactics and staying power. DARRYL FEARS and N.C. AIZENMAN for The Washington Post. Meanwhile, House Republicans are moving to "nail the coffin shut" on any comprehensive immigration reform for this year, reports the AP.

Posted by Marc Cooper at 10:33 PM | | TrackBacks (0)

Forget the Harley, Here Come the “Big-House Choppers”

Yes, you read right, a new line of motorcycles “developed, designed and built on the sweat of felons”.  It may sound like a gimmick, but former drug-trafficking inmates say the program allows them to focus on “something beautiful” while developing skills that can lead them to straight life success when they get out.  The brand’s motto? “Built with conviction.”  From KLY PLASKON for KLASTV, Las Vegas

Posted by Celeste Fremon at 04:20 PM | | TrackBacks (0)

The Human Side of “Flash Incarceration” for California Drug Users

California’s Prop 36, which gives drug abusers the option of treatment rather than jail, has saved the state an estimated $1.3 billion dollars since its inception five years ago.  Yet there is also a high attrition rate;  only two thirds of those remanded for treatment ever show up, and a third complete it.  With this in mind, in July, the California legislature imposed jail time for program violations as a “motivation.”  Prop 36 supporters say that legislators are unclear on the concept, that the new “flash incarceration” strategy is counterproductive and slows recovery, and they’ve won a temporary restraining order blocking it.  On September 14, an Alameda County Superior Court judge will decide which POV will prevail in this legal and philosophical battle.  KARA PLATONI of the East Bay Express has an excellent story illustrating the human complexities of the issue.

Posted by Celeste Fremon at 01:34 PM | | TrackBacks (0)

Senator calls for troopers to be removed

Sen. Ernie Chambers has officially asked the state crime commission to revoke the law enforcement certification of a state trooper who joined a Web discussion group affiliated with the Ku Klux Klan. In a 13-page letter, Chambers said Klan membership is not consistent with the ethical, moral and professional standards for law enforcement certification.

Posted by Martha Mendoza at 12:42 PM | | TrackBacks (0)

EU Wants Locations of Secret US Lockups

Today lawmakers from the European Parliament were not in a good mood as they demanded that the US make public the locations of the secret CIA prisons after President George Bush talked openly of their existence on Wednesday, according to CNN.   The lawmakers also turned the spotlight on their own governments to ask (again) if they were secretly harboring any such prisons, according to DARRIN ENNIS of Reuters.  Poland and Rumania, in particular have been accused and Polish president, Lech Kaczynski, quickly stated that there were no such prisons in his country---at least not that he knew of anyway, according to Deutsche Presse-Agentur. And in a provocative interview by the Associated Press with Swiss senator Dick Marty, who heads a probe in the issue by the Council of Europe Marty said that Bush's admission that his administration has run secret CIA prisons for terror suspects is "just one piece of the truth......There is more, much more to be revealed," said Marty.  In other words, stay tuned. 

Posted by Celeste Fremon at 11:41 AM | | TrackBacks (0)

Border Samaritans Cleared

College students Shanti Sellz and Daniel Strauss volunteered with a Southern Arizona group called No More Deaths.  Over the years NMD and the Border Patrol had worked out a "protocol" detailing what humanitarian actions civilian border samaritans could take without risking prosecution for alien smuggling.

In July 2005 Sellz and Strauss encountered severely dehydrated migrants north of the border.  As Sellz and Strauss rushed the migrants to a Tucson hospital, they were arrested and eventually charged with alien smuggling.

Refusing a plea bargain, the pair readied for trial.  But on September 1st, U.S. District Judge Raner C. Collins dismissed the charges, holding the government had led the defendants to believe their actions were legal.

NMD is holding a press conference in Tucson today. 

Posted by Dan Kowalski at 05:08 AM | | TrackBacks (0)

September 06, 2006

Calif Prison Guards Endorse Dem for Governor

he 31,000-member union representing state prison guards, with millions of dollars in reserve for spending on the November election, endorsed Democratic gubernatorial candidate Phil Angelides on Wednesday. The California Correctional Peace Officers Association has tangled with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger since he took office and is in the middle of contract negotiations with the administration. It also helped derail Schwarzenegger's special legislative session on prison reform this summer and his proposal to spend $6 billion on prison construction. DON THOMPSON for the AP.

Posted by Marc Cooper at 11:39 PM | | TrackBacks (0)

Daily Cat and Mouse Game on U.S. Border

As the nation debates what to do about tens of thousands of people who cross into the USA illegally every year, it is along the dusty Southwestern border that one sees the enormous difficulty of cutting off the flow. Despite night-vision cameras, helicopters and seismic-motion detectors, the success of border-enforcement policies in the Southwest often come down to whether an agent can run faster than whomever he is chasing. WILLIAM M. WELCH in USA Today.

Posted by Marc Cooper at 08:36 PM | | TrackBacks (0)

Bush Asks for Trials That Permit Coerced Evidence

President Bush asked Congress Wednesday to approve a new system of military-style justice for terrorism suspects that would, for the first time, permit convictions in American courts based on the use of coerced evidence. The Bush administration proposal also would permit war crimes convictions based on evidence that was never made available to the accused.  MAURA REYNOLDS, RICHARD B. SCHMITT and DAVID SAVAGE for the L.A. Times.

Posted by Marc Cooper at 08:32 PM | | TrackBacks (0)

Throwaway Lives

While fewer American workers are killed yearly on the job, that's not so for Latinos. An explosion of immigrant workers has created a throwaway workforce. Hungry for money, they take the most dangerous jobs. They rarely complain, and when hurt, rarely get help. An occasional series about workers at risk from the Chicago Tribune.

Posted by Marc Cooper at 08:30 PM | | TrackBacks (0)

Where Crime and Mental Health Collide

According to a study released today by U.S. Department of Justice's Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS), the research arm of the DOJ, an astonishing one half of the nation’s prison and jail inmates suffer from mental health problems---figures that are far worse than most imagined. (Note: This is not entirely a surprise to some experts who’ve long said that, when it comes to solving the nation’s criminal justice problems, mental health is the elephant in the middle of the room.)   The DOJ group came to their conclusions after surveying 25,000 US prisoners, writes JENIFER WARREN for the Los Angeles Times

Posted by Celeste Fremon at 01:38 PM | | TrackBacks (0)

September 05, 2006

The Meaning of Hamdan v. Rumsfeld

On June 29, the Supreme Court decided Hamdan v. Rumsfeld , the case in which the Supremes ruled that the military tribunals set up by President Bush to try accused war criminals at Guantanamo weren’t legal. Now NPR’s NINA TOTENBERG  has a smart rundown on how the case came about and its real significance regarding the limits of presidential power.

Meanwhile, Alberto Gonzales said Tuesday that the administration was putting in lots of time during the last weeks of summer trying to convince members of Congress that they have to reinstate the tribunals, according to GREG GORDEN and JAMES ROSEN of the San Jose Mercury News..  Plus the Washington Post has a letter from a Kuwaiti father whose son has been locked up at Gitmo for the past four and a half years with no end in sight.

Posted by Celeste Fremon at 10:46 PM | | TrackBacks (0)

Internet use by race

 

 

 Ben Feller at The Associated Press reports today that many more white children use the Internet than do Hispanic and black students, a reminder that going online is hardly a way of life for everyone. Two of every three white students — 67% — use the Internet, but less than half of blacks and Hispanics do, according to federal data released Tuesday. For Hispanics the figure is 44%; for blacks, it's 47%.

http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2006-09-05-digital-divide_x.htm

Posted by Martha Mendoza at 09:42 AM | | TrackBacks (0)

Missouri School District ordered to end school prayer

 

 A federal judge in St. Louis has ordered a southeast Missouri school district to end school-initiated or -sponsored prayer or other religious activities.

http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/local/15443995.htm

Posted by Martha Mendoza at 09:40 AM | | TrackBacks (0)

Atlantic Monthly on Justice and Islamic Extremists

 

 Interesting and thoughtful article about the complex question:The United States is now prosecuting suspected terrorists on the basis of their intentions, not just their actions. But in the case of Islamic extremists, how can American jurors fairly weigh words and beliefs when Muslims themselves can’t agree on what they mean?

By Amy Waldman

http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/prem/200610/waldman-islam

Posted by Martha Mendoza at 09:37 AM | | TrackBacks (0)

Wouldn't Happen On Amtrak

KAREN MATTHEWS writes for AP: "An Arab human rights activist was prevented from boarding a plane at Kennedy Airport while wearing a T-shirt that read, 'We will not be silent' in English and Arabic.  Raed Jarrar was at the gate to board a JetBlue Airways flight to Oakland, Calif., on Aug. 12 when four officials from the airline or a government agency stopped him and told him he could not board with the shirt on, he said Wednesday."

One very interesting feature of this story is the fact that you can't find it anywhere in the New York Times, even though the event occurred at JFK.  And Ms. Matthews' AP story didn't run until August 30th, more than two weeks after the event. 

Posted by Dan Kowalski at 09:36 AM | | TrackBacks (0)

Today We March; When Do We Vote?

Immigration march organizers hoped to mobilize a surge in voter registration.  According to MICHAEL R. BLOOD and PETER PRENGAMAN of AP, that's not happening.

Posted by Dan Kowalski at 08:16 AM | | TrackBacks (0)

September 04, 2006

Immigrants Rally On Labor Day While Congress Stalls

Spirited groups of immigrant rights supporters rallied in Illinois and Arizona on Monday in marches intended to keep the drumbeat going for changes in immigration law reports The New York Times. But as Congress returns to work this week, there seems little chance of any agreement on the issues, reports KATHY KIELY for USA Today.

Posted by Marc Cooper at 10:17 PM | | TrackBacks (0)

September 01, 2006

Born Again Prison Transparency

1 Remember that bill that we mentioned earlier about letting the press back into California prisons?  Well, it sailed through both houses of the state legislature by huge majorities, and is now awaiting Gov. Schwarzenegger’s signature. (And given the dismal condition of this governor’s corrections system, a veto would be---how to put it?---unwise.) Still, the story of how one state assembly member was suddenly reborn as a believer in the bill makes interesting reading, from the Editorial Staff of the Vallejo Times-Herald

 

Posted by Celeste Fremon at 02:28 PM | | TrackBacks (0)