Criminal Justice : Due process |
Treatment of criminal suspects by police in making arrests and courts in imposing sentences and permitting probation and patrol; how the “criminal justice” system works or fails to work for suspected criminals and for victims.
12/7/08 "The judicial system in Macon County sucks." So says the mother of the 1994 victim of a brutal murder, referring to the judicial system that convicted a possibly innocent man and then kept him in an Illinois prison suffering from multiple sclerosis and medical neglect, after previous Governor George Ryan commuted death sentences for all Illinois prisoners before he left office. Having been extradited from California with a promise to execute him if found guilty, there is now pressure to return the near-comatose man to CA to face another capital charge.
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Analysis & views: 11/11/08 Program of DNA database collection to be used in solving crimes falters in U.K. as figures show no increase in crimes solved by use of DNA evidence. 11/9/08 Canadian Supreme Court to take up case testing the legality of the country's property forfeiture law, which allows cash and other property to be seized from those arrested on suspicions of crimes where there is no established relationship between the crime and the property. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20081108.wforfeit08/BNStory/National/home 4/3/08 British inventor has sold, in Europe and North America, 4,000 units of his Mosquito, an electronic device that emits a high-pitched noise, described as similar to a "demented alarm clock," that mostly only people under 20 can hear. Called a "teen-repellent" device, the inventor meant it for protection of children like his daughter from street hoodlums, but critics are worried about abuses by police in situations involving attempted dispersals of youthful protesters. (If an over-20 cop can't hear it, how can he/she be sure that kids are not being "over-dosed?") http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080402/wl_uk_afp/britaineutechnologyyouth 2/1/08 Trial of "serial burglar" in France highlights some of the pecularities of French criminal justice...and of French society. http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0131/p20s01-woeu.html 12/18/07 Canadian study: Use of tasers by police does not decrease police shootings:. Contrary to claims, data shows that police shootings with conventional weapons remain consistently low across Canada, while the number of Taser shootings has grown exponentially. http://www.cbc.ca/canada/manitoba/story/2007/12/17/cp-tasers.html#skip300x250 12/12/07 Disturbing the peace in Haiti and New Orleans: A tale of two countries:. A Catholic priest, long a dissenter against authoritarian government action in Haiti, is given an open if still unconclusive trial for charges against him for disturbing the peace during his protests. A New Orleans Catholic lawyer, supporting the protest of Katrina flood victims against HUD's decision against re-building, is brutally arrested and held in New Orleans for disturbing the peace at a New Orleans City Council meeting. http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2007/12/11/5760/ 12/7/07 Judge in India has issued summons to two Hindu Gods to appear in court to help him make decision in a property dispute case. So far they haven't responded. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7132124.stm 11/17/07 Canadian public is incensed by release of a video of an incident last month in Vancouver airport when a Polish man, engaged in angry and disruptive behavior, was approached by RCMP officers and stunned with a Taser gun, shortly after which he died of "uncertain" cause. http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2007/11/16/5283/ 11/8/07 London police commissioner faces heavy pressure to resign after questions are raised about police tactics in the shooting of a civilian. http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,,2207158,00.html#article_continue 10/18/07 Scotland Yard officials are accused of "manipulating" the photograph of a terrorist suspect by making him look more similar to a failed suicide bomber arrestee. http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/legal/article3070589.ece 9/19/07 World press takes note of use of taser against University of Florida student at Kerry meeting: This article, for example, from BBC: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7001464.stm 9/7/07 Some neighborhoods in Copenhagen are designated by police as "body search zones," areas deemed dangerous and in which police can pat down for weapons any people passing through them. http://www.cphpost.dk/get/103373.html 8/19/07 In India, a "justice bus" now travels to remote villages, providing relief for the extreme difficulty of rural people in travel to cities to prosecute legal claims. 7/17/07 UK's Oxford University is snooping on student face-book entries to detect and institute disciplinary action on some of the misdeeds that students brag about thereon. http://education.guardian.co.uk/students/news/story/0,,2128269,00.html 7/2/07 Five minute video clip of Greek police forcing apprehended young men to slap one another raises a "police brutality" issue for the country's current elections. http://www.athensnews.gr/athweb/nathens.prnt_article?e=C&f=13240&t=01&m=A02&aa=1 6/13/07 UK Home Secretary proposes extending option of chemical castration as well as compulsory lie detector tests to "persistent" pedophiles. http://www.guardian.co.uk/crime/article/0,,2101789,00.html 5/28/07 Danish police may face changes in rules for the use of deadly force after conviction of 4 officers of wrongly killing people being pursued as criminal suspects. http://www.cphpost.dk/get/101885.html 5/11/07 Traditionally, a confession from a person accused of a crime was considered in Japan as the "king of evidence," even in the absence of evidential corroboration. Now, with several high profile cases of innocent people having been convicted after police coercion and a popular movie on the subject, some are saying that this particular "king" is lacking in clothing. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/11/world/asia/11japan.html?hp 4/2/07 Legal aid for the poor in UK being threatened by dispute between Legal Aid Commission and defense lawyers about the nature and amount of compensation of their work. http://www.guardian.co.uk/law/story/0,,2048099,00.html 2/10/07 "Brutal" methods of police training in Argentina are blamed with helping to exaggerate the problem of crime control by making civilians distrustful of police. http://www.buenosairesherald.com/editorial/editorial_english.jsp?idContent=355978 1/22/07 Riot control the old fashioned way: Australian AG rejects changes in police procedures law that would allow them to access text messages on cellphones; says they must rely on more traditional solid police work. http://au.news.yahoo.com/070122/2/125mf.html 1/6/07 Police chief of Noida, India, removed from office after investigation of police handling of serial killings in the village of Nithari, directs his orderly to burn files (which he claims were from her personal quarters not the office) from police headquarters. http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=216240 12/18/06 Central Criminal Court in Iraq, established under U.S. auspices, dispenses quick and harsh judgments to defendants brought before it by the U.S. military with little concern for due process. http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/12/17/news/justice.php
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Websites Urban Institute: Courts and Policing: (abstracts of published and articles and papers): http://www.urban.org/justice/courts.cfm
Analysis & views: 12/7/08 "The judicial system in Macon County sucks." So says the mother of the 1994 victim of a brutal murder, referring to the judicial system that convicted a possibly innocent man and then kept him in an Illinois prison suffering from multiple sclerosis and medical neglect, after previous Governor George Ryan commuted death sentences for all Illinois prisoners before he left office. Having been extradited from California with a promise to execute him if found guilty, there is now pressure to return the near-comatose man to CA to face another capital charge. 11/30/08 Some less notorious convicted felons may be the beneficiaries of George Bush's very small number of presidential pardons as he leaves office. 11/13/08 Baltimore police defend delay in release public information about rape crimes, thinking they did not want to elicit undue public fear absent reliable information of connection between separate crimes. http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/baltimore_city/bal-md.ci.rapes13nov13,0,5957210.story 8/30/08 Police in a small town near Arlington Texas continue their "no refusal" policy of taking blood samples from DWI suspects whether they agree to them or not, as the issue "snakes its way" through the courts. http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/localnews/stories/083008dnmetdwiblood.41e97be.html 7/6/08 How dare they rip the Fourth Amendment? Joseph Galloway asks that question as Congress prepares this week to pass a FISA law that will legalize surveillance activities that violate the 4th amendment's prohibition of "unreasonable searches and seizures" and immunize from legal responsibility the telecommunication firms that have participated in such activities. The commenters on the Common Dreams reprint of this McClatchy article mostly display a similar outrage at the prospect of passage of this legislation. http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2008/07/05/10122/ 5/20/08 Investigation demanded of Harris County (Houston) Sheriff's office for alleged harassment of two brothers who successfully sued the county for violations of their civil rights during investigations of them. http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/5789965.html 5/15/08 Dallas man, H.I.V. positive, gets jail time for spitting at a cop http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2008-05-15-hiv-positive-suspect_N.htm 5/13/08 U.S. Supreme Court justices have too many corporate ties to allow them to consider an important case: In a case involving effort of South African survivors of that country's apartheid system to sue U.S. corporations for damages arising from that system, four of the nine Justices must recuse themselves because of their involvement with respondent companies and the case cannot be heard, since the law requires six to hear a case. This may surprise many who may have thought that Justices, like executive officers, would not be allowed to maintain conflict of interest connections. http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2008/05/12/8909/ 5/11/08 Tasers may be (very) hazardous to your health:. A San Francisco cardiologist so testifies to a board of inquiry in British Columbia, where several deaths have followed administration by police agents. He says that, shortly after he began making such statements, Taser International, Inc. contacted him asking that he retract them and offering to provide grants for his research work. http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2008/05/10/8856/ 5/8/08 Courthouse door beginning to be slammed shut against class action suits in mortgage crisis: Since the last round of suits following the Enron debacle, it has grown increasingly difficult to win judgments from investors charging company collusion that led to their losses, as recent Supreme Court decisions have "raised the bar" on what these plaintiffs must prove in order to prevail. 5/8/08 If it's very hard to win class action investor cases against Wall Street firms, it may be a little easier for government entities to sue: The AG of Massachusetts gets a $37 million settlement from UBS Financial on claims that bad investment advice led to their purchase of "auction-rate securities" (bundled bad mortage loans), acting on behalf of MA towns and cities as well as the state Turnpike Authority who lost their money on such investments. http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2008/05/08/broker_to_return_37m_to_towns/ 5/8/08 People in other polygamist compounds are "rattled" by what they are hearing of prosecutions from the Texas raid of those attempting to live the Mormon "life style." http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/08/us/08raid.html?th&emc=th 4/6/08 Philadelphia judge imposes fine on a mortgage lawyer who laced his court deposition with a spate of profanities. http://www.philly.com/inquirer/local/20080406_Deposed__not_composed_.html?imageId=7457709 3/29/08 "Who's your daddy?" determinations may now be made at home with a $29.99 kit from Rite-Aid. But wil the results hold up in court? A burgeoning DNA testing industry called "genetics for the masses" is allowing inexpensive home determinations of paternity, but courts don't generally accept them as evidentially conclusive. Not to be deterred, the industry is even beginning to market "who's your true love?" versions of DNA analysis that can supposedly match one with one's "soul mate." 2/7/08 Colorado is becoming embroiled in political conflict again on attempts to widen or remove statute of limitations on acts of sexual abuse of children. http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_8189691 1/25/08 10,000 Men Project (neighborhood patrol) instituted in Philadelphia last October, is being revitalized. 1/18/08 Texas appeals court rules that chimps and monkeys have no standing to sue in courts, regardless how horrific their conditions of confinement. http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/5465789.html 1/2/08 Following a "crime wave" in Greensboro NC, city council calls for an outside review of police operations. http://www.newsobserver.com/1565/story/855060.html 12/11/07 Supreme Court: U.S. Sentencing Commission guidelines are not holy writ: By 7-2 vote (Thomas and Alito dissenting), Court uprights right of federal judges to impose less than the sentences indicated in the guidelines, opening the way to lessening the disparity in the sentences for crack as opposed to powdered cocaine (the different drugs of choice of the poor and the rich). http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/10/washington/10cnd-scotus.html?8au&emc=au 12/10/07 A crusading county attorney in Phoenix has spearheaded a move in the state to put information about convicted drunken drivers on easily-accessible web-sites and even, in felony cases of DUI, their police mugshots on several billboards placed throughout the Phoenix area. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/10/us/10drunk.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin 12/9/07 Duelling books, movies and talk shows take up the issue of Abu-Jamil's cop-killing conviction in Philadelphia: ,As a film-making "project" does major features on irregularities of police treatment of evidence in the case, a book featuring the "anguish" of the policeman's widow is released, and the news magazines and radio talk shows expand the amount of public attention to the case. http://www.counterpunch.org/washington12082007.html 12/1/07 How is a state trooper threatened by a man walking away from him?. Utah trooper Tasers a motorist stopped for speeding who went to the back of his car, refused to sign the ticket, and started back to the drivers' seat when the trooper Tasered him and threatened to arrest his wife for her protests. Utah law enforcement "investigation" says the trooper acted "reasonably" because he was "threatened," citing the trooper's observation that the man's hand was moving toward his pocket as he walked away. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071201/ap_on_re_us/taser_motorist;_ylt=Ar5S1TrMb_UTVvn2l1XN00BG2ocA 12/1/07 Justice delayed: The Pentagon cuts a $725 check. This is the Army's award to one of only two survivors among the 27 black soldiers court-martialed and imprisoned after a riot at Ft. Lewis WA that resulted in the hanging of an Italian war prisoner. These convictions were recently overturned by courts because of defects in the judicial proceedings. The "compensated" veteran disdains the award, saying he won't cash the check. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/01/us/01lawton.html?th&emc=th 11/18/07 Boston police are inaugurating a program in "tough" neighborhoods whereby detectives in plain clothes can go to homes where teenage children are "suspected" of having guns and search their rooms with the permission of the parents, not on a court warrant. Responding to civil libertarian concerns, police say their purpose is to get rid of the guns not file criminal charges. But oh, by the way, if they find illegal drugs in the kids' rooms in more than a "modest" quantity, they will make arrests on drug charges http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2007/11/17/police_to_search_for_guns_in_homes/?page=2 11/5/07 Baltimore forensic scientist is making himself "unpopular" with local prosecutors by studies showing the falliblity of "tried and true" tests like fingerprints and ballistics tests. http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/bal-te.md.kent05nov05,0,6270803.story?coll=bal_tab01_layout 10/27/07 U.S. Army may reverse court-martial convictions in 1944 of 28 black soldiers accused of starting a riot ending in lynching of an Italian POW. Leon Jaworski (Watergate) was the young prosecutor in that case whose practices are questioned. 10/24/07 Tom Teepen: Mukasey seems to be a straight shooter: but would he, as Attorney General, use his good aim to help Bush shoot the U.S. Constitution in the foot? Senate hearings suggest, based on his record and responses to confirmation hearings, that he is likely to support the Bush drive toward an imperial presidency, ignoring laws he doesn't like through signing statements and working with tortured definitions of what is unconstitutional torture. http://www.sgvtribune.com/opinions/ci_7250860 10/23/07 Justice Department is accused of discriminatory prosecution practices, favoring the claims of Latinos over those of black Americans, in what is alleged as an effort to court Latino favor for the GOP. http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/102207E.shtml 10/23/07 Maryland officials put out bait of a "tax refund;" 40 people wanted on warranties go to Annapolis to get their "refunds" and wind up in handcuffs. http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/annearundel/bal-md.ar.sting23oct23,0,3052880.story 10/23/07 "Where you at?" This most common (if ungrammatical) opening to a cellphone conversation may soon be a thing of the past as new technology is putting tracking maps on the faces of phones that will immediately display where the person being called is "at." While parents welcome them as an aid in their unending effort to keep "track" of their children and kids can gain security in knowing the whereabouts of their peers, privacy concerns are being raised, including the likelihood of their use by law enforcement agents in tracking suspects and those under surveillance arrest. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/23/technology/23mobile.html?th&emc=th 10/21/07 Is the U.s. military's continued effort to court-martial Lt. Ehren Watada for desertion an unconstitutional violation of an accused person's protection from double jeopardy?: A U.S. federal judge thinks so, having issued a stay against the re-trial of the soldier who refused deployment to Iraq for what he asserted was an "illegal" war. The military persists in its efforts at his prosecution and the final outcome is in doubt. http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?SectionID=51&ItemID=14092 10/17/07 Dramatic shift in focus shown in FBI activities:. New FBI report shows that, under the Bush administration, if you're a mobster, perpetrator of a hate crime, embezzler or environmental polluter, you are less likely to draw Bureau attention. On the other hand, if you're a terrorist, illegal immigrant or child pornographer, the eyes of the FBI will be watching you more closely 10/13/07 Everything changed after 9/11 Maybe not everything, but one thing that did seem to change was a new level of tolerated violence of police in dealing with people's aggressive behavior in public places. The new "profiling" of victims is not necessarily Muslim and male but "white people with big mouths." Thus the Tasering of a University of Florida student at a John Kerry speech and thus a string of other comparable police actions: from the routine violence practiced against "Cheaters" on that TV show to the recent case of a "privileged" New York woman who was arrested at Phoenix Airport after she protested against her not being allowed to catch a flight, was handcuffed and was later found dead in custody with her handcuffs around her neck. (Another new Thing to Fear: Beware of contortionist terrorists.) 10/8/07 Anchorage Alaska officials to begin garnishing wages of people who owe unpaid fines to the city. http://www.adn.com/news/alaska/anchorage/story/9364450p-9278146c.html 10/6/07 "USING" A GUN DURING A DRUG DEAL CAN GET A PERSON AN EXTRA 5 YEARS OF JAIL TIME; BUT WHAT DOES "USE" MEAN? Supreme Court is considering case of a Louisiana man unable to buy a gun for self-protection because he is a convicted felon. He arranges with an "acquaintance," who is actually an undercover agent, to trade some of his prescription OxyContin pills for an unloaded pistol. He is arrested for drug dealing and faces the "gun use" additional charge if the Court approves that definition of "use." http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/1005/p03s01-usju.html?page=1 10/2/07 Two cases before US Supreme Court may clarify confusing court policies on sentencing: In one, the Court may clarify the range of leeway permitted to judges in imposing sentences when, after 2005 Court decision, guidelines are only "advisory," not "mandatory." (Those "activist judges," you know). In a second, the discrepancy in the sentencing guidelines between cocaine convictions in powder and crack cocaine cases will be addressed. The harsh guidelines having been established at a time of public hysteria about crack, the guidelines specify several times the amount of jail time for crack cocaine which, as it turns out, is an especially prominent form of drug usage among black Americans, helping to fill the nation's prisons with mostly black people. http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/1002/p01s05-usju.html?page=2 9/20/07 "In Germany they came first for the communists and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a communist." : Paul Craig Roberts sees cosmic political significance in an incident at the University of Florida in which a student who was attempting to ask questions of Senator John Kerry at a public forum was taken down and Tasered by university police while Kerry "stood idly by" attempting to answer the student's question as he was screaming in pain directly in front of him, and Roberts' claim is supported by the accompanying video. He neglects to mention, what is also shown on the video, that many students applauded when the police moved in to remove the student from the microphone. Roberts treats this incident as symbolic of the overall political situation in our country, in which the Bush administration has severely curtailed Americans' civil liberties, while Democrats have for the most part "stood idly by" or even voted for Patriot Acts. As with the uninvolved Germans who stood by because the stormtroopers were not yet coming "for them," so might the uninvolved among Americans today find themselves similarly alone when their time for suppression comes. http://www.counterpunch.org/roberts09192007.html SEE NAOMI WOLF'S SIMILAR OBSERVATIONS ON THE SAME SUBJECT: http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2007/09/19/3949/ 9/20/07 With O.J. Simpson in serious legal trouble again, can the issue of "celebrity justice" be far behind? The actions against Simpson in Las Vegas as the prosecutor "throws the book" at him for what seemed at first a relatively trivial offense (using strong arm tactics to get back his "own stuff") and a judge holds him in custody for days while bail is being adjudicated and paid, eliciting the comment by his attorney that only O.J. Simpson would be so treated. A Huffington Post blogger suggests that Simpson may already have been convicted in the "court of public opinion," both because in 2007 as in 1995, people resent the way that celebrities like Paris Hilton can seem to "get off" so easily; and because Simpson's own insensitive public behavior has not really been conducive to eliciting personal sympathy for him. In either case, a celebrity's "day in court" may be compromised by these attitudes that are supposed to play no role in a court's decisions. Justice is alleged to be blind, but she doesn't seem to be able to resist peeking where celebrities are concerned. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/earl-ofari-hutchinson/method-to-the-madness-in-_b_65007.html 9/15/07 Duke lacrosse case leads to national movement to increase state supervision over actions of local criminal prosecutors. http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0914/p03s03-usju.html 9/7/07 PBS begins today a series of broadcasts describing the 4-year-long effort of an investigative reporter for McClatchy newspapers to examine the adequacy of defense of capital offense defendants in the "penalty phase" of their trials. A 25-minute capsule of three "episodes" may be seen here. The essence of the reporters's findings is that such defendants are typically under-represented by their lawyers, largely because court systems do not allow adequate funding to do the kind of in-depth investigation of defendants' lives that would bring out their essential humanity to juries as they make their penalty decisions. http://www.pbs.org/wnet/expose/episode212/watch.html 9/6/07 In an unprecendented case, prosecutor in Mississippi plans to retry a man whose DNA was found not to match that of the semen found at the scene of a girl's rape and murder. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/06/us/06dna.html?th&emc=th 9/1/07 North Carolina judge sentences prosecutor in Duke University rape case to a "symbolic" one day in jail for his over-zealous prosecution of the case. http://www.grandforksherald.com/ap/index.cfm?page=view&id=D8RCITJ00 9/1/07 Oklahoma court overturns death sentence for man who shot state trooper during a traffic stop, finding that the prosecution made overly-aggressive use of "victim impact" statements in the penalty phase of the trial. http://newsok.com/article/3115183 8/27/07 In the last year, 110,000 in Houston have been issued citations for red-light running detected on surveillance cameras. Only 360 have gone to court, most preferring to pay the $75 fine http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/5085095.html 8/7/07 Seattle Post-Intelligencer article describes a pattern of police favoritism in instances in which police themselves are involved in violations. http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/specials/undueinfluence/326612_favors07.html 8/2/07 Outdated website in Illinois includes "most wanted" postings from 2005, including one "fugitive" who is behind bars. 7/31/07 DUI convictions in Seattle are put in doubt by suspicion that toxicology lab manager signed affidavits falsely claiming she had tested breath-alyser equipment http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/325706_dui31.html 7/27/07 Federal court in Boston, in "landmark" ruling, orders FBI to pay $101.7 million in damages to four men wrongly convicted in 1965 gangland slaying. 7/19/07 The Senate this week is debating the HabeasCorpus Restoration Act of 2007. It's designed to restore the rights of U.S. citizens abridged by the Military Commissions Act. Caroline Arnold argues that its passage is part of an essential process of reassuring fearful American citizens of some measure of protection against today's leaders engaged in the "dark arts." http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2007/07/18/2597/ 7/19/07 Dr. Jack Kevorkian, released from prison on June 1 on assisted suicide conviction, will be paid $50K by the Accent Bureau of University of Florida for an appearance on October 11, his first public speaking appearance since his release from prison. He will be accompanied to Gainesville by a film crew who will be making a documentary on his post-prison life. http://gainesville.com/article/20070718/LOCAL/707180331/-1/news 7/14/07 How should public defenders be paid...by the hour or on salary? New study shows that salaried PDs usually achieve better results for their clients, partly because they have better credentials and partly because those paid by the hour tend to drag out their client's cases to their own benefit but not to that of the client. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/14/us/14defenders.html?_r=1&th&emc=th&oref=slogin 7/7/07 U.S. appeals court dismisses suit against U.S. government for secret wiretapping of Americans' communications, saying the plaintiffs were unable to show enough "harm" from the practice to justify curtailing the program. New York Times article indicates that plaintiffs may never be able to prove such harm. After all, it's "only" your privacy at stake. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/07/washington/07nsa.html?_r=1&th&emc=th&oref=slogin 7/6/07 Chief of Los Angeles Police Department is working to alter the troubled "culture" of the LAPD, shown in Rodney King, O.J. Simpson and other high profile cases. http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0706/p01s05-usju.html 7/5/07 Undercover police in Seattle are facing investigation of the propriety of their engaging in high speed chase of a man who fired a gun at their unmarked car. http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/322428_roadrage05.html 5/24/07 Police oversight panel in Seattle experiences a contentious relationship with Seattle police. http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/321049_holmes23.html 6/15/07 Residents of a St. Louis neighborhood hope to reduce police abuse by regular video-taping of their actions. 6/10/07 Suffolk County MA is running out of jurors, raising concern that judges may have to release dangerous persons whose trials cannot be held in timely fashion. http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2007/06/10/jury_crisis_threatening_suffolk_trials/ 5/31/07 In a case involving an indigent woman in a divorce proceeding, Washington state Supreme Court to consider whether state is required to furnish legal assistance to the poor in civil cases. http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2003728887_civilattorneys31m.html 5/30/07 Nationwide survey shows huge disparity from state to state in rates of compensation for victims of wrongful imprisonment. http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0530/p01s02-usju.html 5/17/07 Connecticut legislature gives $5 million compensation and standing ovation to a man who served 18 years for a rape he didn't commit. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070517/ap_on_re_us/dna_exoneration 5/14/07 Governor of New York proposes wide expansion of state's collection of DNA in most criminal cases . Proponents cite the measure's usefulness in giving convicted innocents an opportunity to prove their innocence, while opponents are concerned about the expansion of law enforcement information about citizens. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/14/nyregion/14dna.html?th&emc=th 5/10/07 Seattle police resisting NAACP's call for the firing of two police officers accused of improper behavior in making a drug arrest. http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/315049_cops10.html 5/7/07 What did LAPD learn from their experience with the Democratic convention? Not much. The numerous lawsuits and costly settlements to victims of their aggressive crowd control actions in 04 resulted in new "protocols" to curb such actions; but in May 07 they used many of the same tactics in immigration rights rallies with same legal results. http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2007/05/06/1001/ 5/1/07 Supreme Court rules, in a case in which a police car rammed into a speeding teenage motorist, resulting in a wreck that permanently disabled the speeder, that the police action was not an "excessive use of force" in pursuit of a law violator. http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0501/p25s01-usju.html 4/29/07 Arrest business is brisk for Utah policeman who impersonates a 12-year-old girl on internet chat rooms. http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,660215739,00.html 4/11/07 Texas legislature set to pass law requiring all high school athletes in the state to submit to random steroids testing. http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/4704375.html 3/14/07 Boston has spent nearly $600,000 to fight a lawsuit of a man whom a court has ruled was wrongly imprisoned. http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2007/03/14/costs_soar_to_fight_lawsuit_by_ex_prisoner/ 2/20/07 U.S. Supreme Court is ready to re-consider the constitutionality of mandatory sentencing guidelines for judges. http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0220/p02s02-usju.html 2/20/07 Winston-Salem NC agrees to pay $1.65 million and give a formal apology to a man who served 18 years on a murder conviction as he is cleared by DNA evidence. http://dwb.newsobserver.com/news/ncwire_news/story/3022075p-9441547c.html 2/16/07 Don't bother to smile; you won;t be on NYPD's candid camera - Federal judge in New York restrains police from videotaping crowds at public gatherings (like a homeless protest at City Hall) where there is no suspicion of crime involved. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/16/nyregion/16police.html?_r=1&th&emc=th&oref=slogin 1/26/07 Paul Craig Roberts notes the large increase in use by local police of military weapons and tactics. SWAT teams are often equipped like infantry units and are used largely in drug operations making midnight raids on the basis of snitch information and showing a disdain for due process described by a former Assistant Defense Secretary: when the military goes on a raid, the rule is "vaporize not Mirandize" the people found in the raid location. http://counterpunch.org/roberts01242007.html 1/22/07 McClatchy Newspaper survey of legal practices in 4 southern states shows a pervasive failure to provide competent defense for defendants in death penalty cases. http://www.realcities.com/mld/krwashington/news/special_packages/death_penalty/16491868.htm 1/13/07 President George Bush has used his constitutional power to grant pardon to convicted criminals less frequently than any other President in modern history. http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/20070111_gene_gerard_king_george_the_merciless/ 12/22/06 Texas law now being considered, and opposed by many law enforcement officials, to limit police use of laser of stun guns to the same situations in which they are allowed to use deadly force. http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/news/state/16293330.htm 12/19/06 Failure of criminal defender system in New Orleans is largely responsible for the huge backlog of criminal cases awaiting court disposition. http://newstandardnews.net/content/index.cfm/items/3992 12/14/06 Hon. Mr. Head, the friendly judge: Justice of Peace in small town in New York State holds "judges probation" sessions with young male defendants who come before his court and even has some of them live in his home. This and other breaches of judicial ethics are not uncommon in New York's chaotic system of small town justice, according to a series in the New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/14/nyregion/14courts.html?pagewanted=1&ei=homepage 12/13/06 Pedophile hunting season, as TV and internet work together: NBC's "Dateline" and a TV website called Perverted Justice are a coordinated project to use entrapment techniques; critics claim they are child pornographic by airing salacious depictions of juvenile sexuality. http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/13/technology/13justice.html?th&emc=th 11/24/06 Rodney King redux as internet videos on police arrest again stir anger about alleged undue use of police force. http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/1124/p02s01-ussc.html 11/22/06 Proposed video-taping of police interrogations of criminal suspects in Baltimore gets approval from public defenders and condemnation from police. 11/20/06 Police corruption scandals in Baltimore have resulted in 300 cases of inability of prosecutors to complete cases against defendants in criminal trials. 6/28/06 Justice Department report shows that only 8% of cases of reported police brutality result in any kind of punitive action against police officers. http://newstandardnews.net/content/index.cfm/items/3343 6/16/06 What's a door for, if not for the cops to knock down? New "High" Court, now a 5-4 anti-civil libertarian one with Alito and Roberts on board, invalidates the rule requiring police to knock before entering premises, refusing to invalidate evidence gained without knocking. http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000087&sid=aiW6pnADgUIM 4/2/06 Perry Mason moments of defense counsel confronting prosecution witnesses with surprise questions may be on the way out as Massachusetts court rules defense must disclose to prosecution the questions they will ask their witnesses: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/02/us/02disclose.html?th&emc=th 3/22/06 Courts giving critical attention to federal laws allowing people to be held without charges as material witnesses to a crime: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/22/politics/22witness.html 3/22/06 Supreme Court, in 5-3 decision, limits police ability to conduct a warrantless search on permission of a spouse, not her husband who was the suspect: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/22/politics/22cnd-scotus.html?ex=1300683600&en=b098f1b047d575a7&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss 3/21/06 Police are increasingly using military-style SWAT-team tactics in routine arrest situations: http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/0321-02.htm 3/12/06 Guantanamo on the Mississippi: thousands arrested after Katrina still waiting trial in New Orleans: http://www.commondreams.org/views06/0311-21.htm 3/1/06 Maricopa County, Arizona's special drunk driving courts for indigenous and Spanish-speaking people raises charge of racial discrimination: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/01/national/01phoenix.html?th&emc=th 2/27/06 Criminal justice system in New Orleans in chaos; people arrested pre-Katriona still awaiting trial: http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2006-02-27-katrinaprisoners_x.htm
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Analysis & views: 11/9/08 Over-worked public defenders in Miami-Dade County and elsewhere complain of the "McJustice" character of their job of managing plea bargains. With falling incomes and rising case-loads they are now refusing "less serous" cases, saying their over-load operates against their giving even minimal services to their clients. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/09/us/09defender.html?bl&ex=1226379600&en=d53c43c58015c0b6&ei=5087%0A 6/28/08 The high cost of winning a taxpayers suit in a Miami court. A $17.1 million settlement for refund of illegal firefighters fee charged by the city may get whittled down to about $50 per taxpayer, as lawyers for the plaintiffs ask court to award $7.7 million of that amount to themselves as legal fees. http://www.miamiherald.com/top_stories/story/586422.html 5/8/08 "Score card" for the 26 cases of compensation for "government injustice" considered by Florida legislature in just-completed session: 11 won compensation, 15 failed to do so. http://www.miamiherald.com/458/story/523775.html 12/13/07 Supreme Court decision on crack cocaine conviction sentences could result in about 1500 Florida inmates getting earlier prison releases. http://www.miamiherald.com/top_stories/story/342728.html 11/30/07 Another Florida man dies after a police tasering. Ambulance is summoned to Lake City home of 350 pound man who was described as a drug addict with a criminal record. He later jumped from the ambulance and ran along a highway before Columbia County Deputies Tasered him twice, and he died on the way to the hospital. Columbia and Alachua County Sheriff's offices continue to defend their use of Tasers, citing a large reduction of injuries to "police and others" since the weapon has been used. http://www.gainesvillesun.com/article/20071130/NEWS/711300322/1002/NEWS VIDEO OF SHERIFF'S PRESS CONFERENCE. http://www.gainesvillesun.com/article/20071130/MULTIMEDIA/71129029 9/25/07 Florida's online database of state teachers accused of misconduct charges to be revised to show whether listed persons have been found guilty of charges. http://www2.tbo.com/content/2007/sep/24/details-added-teacher-web-site/?news-metro 7/18/07 Court-appointed psychologist tells court John Couey is "faking" mental retardation to avoid the death penalty. http://gainesville.com/article/20070718/LOCAL/70718003/-1/news 5/17/07 Florida defense attorneys are saying that the Florida legislature's plan to create a second Public Defenders office staffed by state-employed lawyers (a plan yet to be approved by the Governor) will create a "penny wise, pound foolish" situation in which the state will have to pay the expenses for appeals of cases in which inadequate representation will be claimed. http://www.news-journalonline.com/NewsJournalOnline/News/Headlines/frtHEAD02051707.htm 5/14/07 New "paternity fraud law" will take effect in Florida in June...too late to help a Ft. Lauderdale man who four years ago was "cleared" by DNA as the father of a children but for whom courts decreed he must continue to make child support payments. 5/11/07 Florida legislature may end system for defending indigents in which private lawyers are contracted for these services, which would be provided by state salaried attorneys under the proposed system. http://www.palmbeachpost.com/state/content/local_news/epaper/2007/05/09/s5b_conflict_0509.html 4/21/07 Florida legislature delays action on proposed legislation that would allow the installation of surveillance cameras to catch red light runners. 2/26/07 Criminals' debt to society? How about society's debt to the wrongfully convicted? 21 states have laws to compensate people who have served time and then been cleared by DNA or other new evidence. Florida, where a DNA-cleared murder suspect is released with little more than a handshake (if that), is not among those states; but this may change with a proposal now before the legislature. http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/16784433.htm 2/13/07 Some federal judges support efforts in Florida legislature to allow cameras to record and broadcast trial proceedings. http://www.jacksonville.com/apnews/stories/021307/D8N8N7CG2.shtml 3/6/06 Lawyers challenging results of breathalyzer tests as DUI evidence: http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/14030253.htm
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FLORIDA LOCALITIES
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Analysis and views: Jacksonville: 11/13/08 Jacksonville Sheriff says he shares public concerns that numerous shootings in which his deputies have been involved may be eroding public trust in the police. http://jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/111308/met_355314766.shtml Jacksonville: 11/7/08 Fatal shooting of fleeing suspect is 25th shooting this year involving member of Jacksonville Sheriff's Office. http://news.jacksonville.com/justin/2008/11/07/jacksonville-police-fatally-shoot-fleeing-suspect/ Palm Beach Co.: 7/7/08 Home policing: Palm Beach County expects to make available to parents a software program that can help them monitor their children's internet use. http://www.palmbeachpost.com/localnews/content/local_news/epaper/2008/07/07/0607computercop.html Gainesville: 6/26/08 University of Florida fraternity wins a court case, loses its frat house. After the University suspended Pi Kappa Alpha in 2006 after an incident in which two girls were allegedly "drugged" at a house party, the fraternity sued and has now won a ruling that the University inappropriately applied its rules of student conduct. In the interim, the fraternity shrunk from 120 to 30 members, the diminished number is unable to the facilities, and another fraternity is moving into the house in their place. http://www.gainesville.com/article/20080625/NEWS/806250304/1002/NEWS&title=UF_frat_in_limbo Orlando: 6/24/08 Losing your boots in downtown Orlando: Controversy continues in practice of towing companies placing immobilizing devices on illegally parked cars, to be removed only with payment of $100 fines. Orlando County proposes to reduce the fine to $22, which one operator says will put him out of the boot business, as many people remove and discard the boots, each of which costs $700 and the theft occurs several times every week http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/orl-boot2408jun24,0,4558762.story Miami: 5/9/08 Miami City Commission agrees to pay $2.2 million in compensation to a mentally handicapped man who serve 22 years for crimes he didn't commit. http://www.miamiherald.com/457/story/526626.html Alachua Co.: 5/4/08 Alachua County Sheriff's department will resume a "crackdown" on drivers who fail to "move over" for emergency vehicles parked at sides of multi-lane roads. West Palm Beach: 4/6/08 West Palm Beach police using a new tactic on crime in downtown areas: a "get out and stay out" enforcement against repeat criminal violators. http://www.palmbeachpost.com/localnews/content/local_news/epaper/2008/04/06/s1c_mapping_0406.html Jacksonville; 2/6/08 State Attorney in Jacksonville says he is unlikely to prosecute public officials who violate Florida's sunshine laws requiring open public meeting, unless the dereliction involves "criminal intent." http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/020608/met_244154838.shtml Ocala: 2/2/08 Ocala justice: Not what you might have thought:. In a trial marked by actor Wesley Snipes' claim of racial discrimination in the central Florida city, the jury actually "discriminates" in its verdict, finding Snipes not guilty of the more serious felony charges of fraud and guilty of charges of failing to file income tax returns, and the actor thanks the people of Ocala for their excellent treatment of him. http://www.ocala.com/article/20080201/BREAKING_NEWS/219361786/1053/BREAKING_NEWS St. Johns Co.: 2/2/08 Deadly force used by a threatened police officer: off-duty policeman at Fruit Cove in St. John's County shoots and kills a man with a record of assaults against authorities as the man was throwing beer cans at him. http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/020208/met_242926756.shtml Boca Raton : 1/25/08 Boca Raton police are "lukewarm" to offer by Guardian Angels to patrol a mall parking lot where two people were murdered last December. http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/palmbeach/sfl-flpangels0126pnjan26,0,6651630.story Broward Co.: 1/18/08 Broward County trial of a child who killed another child is challenging the capacity of the juvenile justice system to provide differentiated treatment for convicted child criminals. http://www.miamiherald.com/top_stories/story/384070.html Tampa: 1/11/08 Tampa judge puts gag order on American Idol celebrity Jessica Sierra, but allows her to travel to California for drug rehab. ttp://www.sptimes.com/2008/01/11/Hillsborough/Former__Idol__singer_.shtml Palm Beach Co.: 12/2/07 Residents of Belle Glade (Palm Beach County) are unhappy with the aggressive patrolling tactics of local police which led to the deaths of 2 deputies in collision with a helicopter as they were all pursuing a car thief. Orlando: 11/18/07 When law enforcement officers use deadly force in Orange and Osceola Counties, they often must wait up to 2 years for results of internal investigation of these incidents. Orlando: 11/5/07 Central Floridians with drunk driving records may be facing the use of ankle devices that allow officials to monitor their alcohol intake on a continous basis. Gainesville: 10/27/07 Opinion: FDLE's report on tasering of UF student Andrew Meyer "missed the point" of the incident: The point emphasized in the Report was that Meyer may have deliberately provoked the act as a "stunt" for his self-promotion. The correct point, according to a Gainesville Sun letter writer, was that Meyer was lying under about a half-ton of police beef at the time of the Tasering, making him anything but the "threat" that the weapon is supposedly designed to control. http://www.gainesvillesun.com/article/20071027/OPINION02/71026037/-1/opinion Gainesville: 10/26/07 Gainesville Sun goes to bat on isue of taser use against University of Florida students. A day after Florida enforcement agency releases statement that the Tasering of Andrew Meyer was "within state guidelines" for Taser use, the SUN does the following. 1. In an article on the topic, it notes the objection of Amnesty International against the use of the weapon to secure "compliance," and the information that other universities disdain the use of the practice. 2. In a cartoon, two goon-like officers are depicting chortling over a "behave yourself or we'll Taser you, bro" attitude. 3. In an editorial, the writer suggests that Tasers may be be appropriate for NYPD but not for universities which have an "in loco parentis" relation with their students ("Don't Tase me Ma, I'll eat my spinach.") THE ARTICLE: http://www.gainesvillesun.com/article/20071026/NEWS/710260337/1002/NEWS THE CARTOON: http://www.gainesvillesun.com/section/opinion04 THE EDITORIAL: http://www.gainesvillesun.com/article/20071026/OPINION01/710260301/-1/opinion01 Orlando: 10/26/07 Police have instituted crackdown on "drugs and thugs" in Parramore section of Orlando. Gainesville: 10/25/07 University of Florida police cleared of wrongdoing in tasering of a UF student: Report of Florida Department of Law Enforcement says officers were "well within guidelines" of state in the incident at a John Kerry speech on Sep 17, and they are restored to duty. The Tasered student, Andrew Meyer, is accused of staging the incident for a "show," and criminal prosecution against him is still being considered. Link includes Miami Herald file of video footage on the incident. http://www.miamiherald.com/top_stories/story/283492.html For 17-page "executive summary" of FDLE report, see: http://www.orlandosentinel.com/media/acrobat/2007-10/33443675.pdf Orlando: 10/20/07 Orlando Weekly accused of selling more than newspapers: Three executives of the entertainment-oriented paper are arrested by agents of the Metropolitan Bureau of Investigation (MBI) on charges of "aiding" prostitution, based on publishing of advertisements from "adult-oriented" escort services that are said to be tantamount to pimping. Weekly claims violation of free speech rights and asserts that MBI action is in retaliation for paper's editorial criticisms of MBI which it calls the "morality police." Broward Co.: 10/7/07 Broward County Sheriff's Office defends its use of DUI checkpoints on holiday weekends, despite motorists' complaints of inconvenience. Gainesville: 10/7/07 "He was a perfect gentleman." says the owner of a towing service in Gainesville in explaining his failure to pursue charges against UF football star Tony Joiner, who removed his car from the towing facility without having paid the requisite fee. He also decries, though he denies its effect on his decision, the fact that he received some 200 threatening phone calls, presumably from Gator fans; saying he's glad the offending player wasn't Tim Tebow, else he would have been "six feet under" by now. http://www.gainesvillesun.com/article/20071007/NEWS/71007007/1002/NEWS Gainesville: 10/4/07 Gainesville police are responding to criticism for having arrested a University of Florida football player who was trying to retrieve his girl friend's car from a roam towing garage; the garage owner says it was a "misunderstanding" and that the player's action did not warrant the arrest. http://www.gainesvillesun.com/article/20071004/NEWS/710040330/1002/NEWS Gainesville: 9/20/07 Gainesville Sun continues its extended coverage of the incident at UF of the Tasering of a student at a John Kerry town hall forum. http://www.gainesvillesun.com/section/news07 Green Cove Springs: 9/20/07 Relatives of wheel-chair bound and mentally ill woman who died after Green Cove Springs (Clay County) police allegedly Tasered her 10 times in a "disturbance" call at her home sue the police. http://news.yahoo.com/s/wkmg/20070919/lo_wkmg/14147512 Gainesville: 9/19/07 Officer who tasered Andrew Meyer at Universiy of florida says Meyer behaved differently on and off camera: In her written "incident report," she says Meyer was calm and forgiving for the police treatment of him in the squad car after his arrest. This story is part of continuing extended coverage of the event by the Gainesville Sun. http://www.gainesvillesun.com/article/20070919/NEWS/709190335/1002/NEWS Gainesville: 9/18/07 At a town hall forum at the University of Florida, a journalism student attempts to ask Kerry about his stances on the 2004 election and the impeachment of Bush. Apparently deemed to be out of order, he insists on asking his question and is ultimately shot with a taser gun. Gainesville SUN captures the 2.3-minute episode in a graphic video. http://www.gainesvillesun.com/article/20070918/NEWS/709180325/1007/NEWS Miami: 9/16/07 Arms race escalates in Miami as Miami police are to be armed with assault rffles: With AK-47s and other semi-automatic assault weapons readily available to criminals in the area, Miami-Dade police will be able to "level the playing field" by the use of such weapons themselves. http://www.miamiherald.com/457/story/239248.html Tampa: 9/13/07 One of two USF students being held on explosives charges in South Carolina is being denied privileges because of his refusal to wear a jail ID badge. http://www.jacksonville.com/apnews/stories/091307/D8RKCDMO2.shtml Orlando: 9/6/07 CopWatch in Orlando charges "intimidation" by police as its agents have tried to make videos of citizens being arrested by the police. Daytona Beach: 8/28/07 Playing with toy cars in Daytona Beach traffic court helps sort out the facts of disputes in accident and traffic violation cases. http://www.news-journalonline.com/NewsJournalOnline/News/Headlines/frtHEAD04082807.htm Palm Beach co.: 8/23/07 Lacking state funding, Palm Beach County still plans to install surveillance cameras to catch red light runners. West Palm Beach: 8/22/07 Police obtain confession from one of teenagers allegedly involved in a gang rape of residents of a West Park Beach public housing project, telling him his DNA had been found on a condon found at the scene. Orlando: 8/21/07 Federal judge tosses out, for the second time, an Orlando man's suit against a police officer's use of a taser gun to help apprehend him for a traffic violation. Deland: 8/16/07 Deland's efforts to prosecute registered sex offenders for violations of residency rules are stymied by legal system's inability to find ways of providing legal assistance for those requiring it. http://www.news-journalonline.com/NewsJournalOnline/News/Headlines/frtHEAD03081607.htm Flagler Beach: 8/7/07 Flagler County Sheriff's Office using dogs to help in their apprehension of criminal suspects. http://www.news-journalonline.com/NewsJournalOnline/News/Headlines/frtHEAD03080707.htm Orlando: 7/23/07 Internet sex offender sting nets 22 arrests of men who arrived at an address to meet young girls whom they "met" on the net. Daytona Beach: 7/19/07 Police in Dayotna Beach conduct sting operations to try to stop the rash of "beach blanket thefts" that have hit the beach. http://www.floridatoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070719/BREAKINGNEWS/70719002/1086 Gainesville: 7/19/07 Brother of Terri Schiavo is leading a petition drive against UF's invitation for speaking engagement of Jack Kevorkian. http://www.gainesville.com/article/20070719/SUNFRONT/707190330 Palm Beach Co.: 7/19/07 3 teenagers in Palm Beach County to be charged as adults, with possible life imprisonment, for a gang rape involving a mother and her 12 year old son. http://www.sun-sentinel.com/sfl-0719dunbarrape,0,4359618.story?coll=sofla_tab01_layout Hollywood: 7/5/07 Hollywood school teacher experiences up close and personal what it's like to have your identity stolen and be treated as a criminal by police: A pattern of police suspicion of victims as suspects is enacted by Broward County Sheriff's Office as the woman is taken brusquely from her home and taken to "third degree" facilities before she is released and "cleared" of suspicion. http://www.miamiherald.com/548/story/160643.html Orlando: 6/23/07 Orlando police and Orange County sheriff's deputies make numerous arrests for minor offenses in high crime neighborhoods like Parramore as a reporter for Orlando Sentinel rides along and takes notes. Gainesville: 6/9/07 State Attorney said Paris Hilton's prison release after 3 days incarceration for probation violation on a traffic charge would not be likely to occur in Alachua County. http://gainesville.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070609/LOCAL/706090328/-1/news Daytona Beach: 6/6/07 Police in Daytona Beach are using "bait cars" to catch auto thieves: leaving cars in places they are likely to be stolen and rigging them so they will be disabled as thieves drive off. http://www.news-journalonline.com/NewsJournalOnline/News/Headlines/frtHEAD01060607.htm Seminole Co.: 5/11/07 Convictions on the basis of fingerprint evidence are under intense scrutiny in Seminole County FL where one fingerprint expert is said to have made a number of wrong "calls" that sent innocent people to prison. Tampa: 5/11/07 Three "strikes" (felony convictions) put 55 people in Tampa out of the program for indigent health needs. http://www.tbo.com/news/metro/MGBTLQ70K1F.html Palm Beach Co.: 5/4/07 Judge in Palm Beach FL County, in dismissing a marijuana possession charge against a black airport skycap, questions whether police use a "driving while black" approach to arrests and also the "collateral consequence" of a failed national war on drugs. http://www.palmbeachpost.com/localnews/content/local_news/epaper/2007/05/04/m1a_DRUG_WAR_0504.html Jacksonville: 4/14/07 Investigation by State Attorney's Office criticizes tactics used by Jacksonville police in two instances of their use of "deadly force." http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/041407/met_9234839.shtml Panama City: 4/11/07 Girls Gone Wild video-maker has gone to jail in Panama City over alleged abusive treatment of his video subjects. Jacksonville: 2/15/07 Jacksonville jury acquits a man accused on threatening judges by e-mail in a case involving charges against his son; the jury ruling that man's statements were "rants," not threats. http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/021507/met_8000467.shtml Key West: 2/15/07 Defense attorneys for former City Attorney struggle to discredit the prosecution's star witness, a former associate of the defendant who is described as having made a career of welshing on his associates and is now suspected of testimony to avoid his own prosecution. http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/16701183.htm Tampa: 2/15/07 Fairgoers at Tampa's ongoing State Fair are whooping it up at night and the county Sheriff is putting on additional deputies to control the fights and other festivities that go on in the evening. http://www.tbo.com/news/metro/MGBGCKFL6YE.html Kissimmee: 1/21/07 Kissimmee FL police plan to use video cameras to film use of Taser guns to defend themselves against charges of improper use. Miami: 1/6/07 Autistic Miami teenager who went into a coma after being restrained in his home by Miami PD dies in hospital. Police investigation says there was nothing improper about use of force in the incident. http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/16395775.htm Orlando: 12/16/06 Guardian Angels to the rescue: Curtis Sliwa's New York City based outfit makes 4-day visit to Orlando's "tough" Parramore area to promote establishment of a local GA chapter. West Palm Beach: 12/15/06 ACLU attention is attracted by an extended search of students at a middle school in West Palm Beach after a teacher's MP3 player goes missing. http://www.palmbeachpost.com/localnews/content/local_news/epaper/2006/12/15/s1c_search_1115.html Flagler Beach: 12/13/06 Florida gets with the program of sting operations against sex predators as 21 are arrested in Flagler Beach. http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/121306/met_6784359.shtml Orlando: 11/30/06 Strippers at Orlando clubs accuse two undercover police officers of sexual harassment behaviors, and police investigation focussed attention on the character of the strippers rather than that of the officers. http://www.orlandoweekly.com/features/story.asp?id=11112 Jacksonville: 11/20/06 Arrested woman supposedly shoots herself in the lower back in back seat of a police cruiser in Nassau County after having been patted down and belted in the seat; no explanation of how she obtained the weapon. http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/111806/nen_6262156.shtml Tampa: 8/5/06 The "stand your ground" justification for lethal violence in a recently enacted Florida law gets a test in which a Tampa man was accused of manslaughter for pursuing and running over a man who had robbed him. The verdict? Not guilty! http://www.sptimes.com/2006/08/05/Tampabay/Thai_cafe_owner_refle.shtml Lake County: 7/18/06 Released transcripts of juror questioning in case against John Couey accused of raping and murdering Jessica Lunsford shows, from comments of prospective jurors, why it was impossible to seat a jury in Lake County. http://www.ocala.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060718/NEWS/207180354/1025 Lake County: 7/18/06 Problem of finding an "unbiased" jury in high profile cases is highlighted by the difficulties in seating a jury for John E. Couey's trial for rape and murder of Jessica Lunsford. http://www.ocala.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060716/NEWS/207160380/1025 Ft. Lauderdale: 3/27/06 Watchdog surveillance of police harassment and intimidation in Broward County is met by police harassment and intimidation: http://www.newtimesbpb.com/Issues/2006-03-23/news/news3.html
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