Archive for April, 2010

Deepwater Horizon Sinking “Disastrous”

April 30th, 2010 | Posted in BP Oil Spill by bloom | No Comments »

The explosion on the Deepwater Horizon oilrig on April 20th and its subsequent sinking two days later has left the Gulf of Mexico facing a potential disaster. The explosion has left 11 men presumed dead, and 4 others in critical conditions. However, equally as concerning is the long-term ramifications of this accident. Some fear that this could surpass the Exxon Valdez disaster in 1989, the largest oil spill in US history, where 10.8 million gallons of crude oil leaked. It is estimated that the well is currently leaking 210,000 gallons per day with no certain date for when it can be stopped in sight.

Many fear that this massive amount of crude oil will be devastating to tourism and fishing industries in the Gulf. Dr. George Crozier, the head of the Marine Biology program on a small island along Alabama’s Gulf Coast, argues, “This is the fertile crescent, a good percentage of the seafood production in the Gulf of Mexico is east of the Mississippi River. And I am not equipped to tell you it’s going to be this many dollars, but if we are looking at a decade of impact with reduced production I think that’s my long-term concern.” Another major area of concern is for some of the Gulf’s famous populations of oysters, crabs, and shrimp.

The federal government has responded to this incident by placing a moratorium on new drilling in the Gulf of Mexico until the cause of the incident is discovered. Some experts feel that it is most likely a cementing failure, as this is the most common cause of accidents on rigs from 1994-2007, accounting for 18 of the last 39 blow outs, according to the United States Minerals Management Service. BP (British Petroleum), the company that operated the rig, is liable for the clean up per the 1990 Oil Pollution Act.

New Arizona Immigration Law Spark Ire

April 28th, 2010 | Posted in National Issues by bloom | No Comments »

The Arizona Legislature has recently enacted a law, which calls for police departments to ask its residents for proof of their immigration status, including even demanding identification. While liberals and conservatives agree that illegal immigration has gotten out of control in Arizona with a suspected 460,000 illegal workers in a state of 6.6 million people, they certainly disagree on the solutions to the problem.

Conservatives argue that the state of Arizona is simply taking over the position of the federal government, the entity charged with enforcing immigration, in their own state. This is largely in response to the federal government’s lack of action on their borders, which are now believed to be the most porous on the country’s southern border with Mexico.

However, liberals see this action as problematic. First, many people fear that this law will cause a great deal of racial profiling to be done against Hispanic-Americans in the state as most illegal immigrants in Arizona are of Hispanic descent. Governor Jan Brewer hopes to avoid that becoming an issue by developing a training program for police departments to use that flushes out what is “reasonable suspicion,” the standard that must be met in order for police to question individuals on their immigration status. Many still believe though that this law is xenophobic and will cause more problems in law enforcement than it assists. Namely that, illegal immigrants will be less likely to come forward with evidence of or information on a crime if they fear being punished by police.

The penalty for those not able to produce documentation is up to six months in jail and a fine of up to $2500.

Bills in Legislature to Affect Prison Time and Parole

April 28th, 2010 | Posted in Legislation, National Issues by bloom | 4 Comments »

The Louisiana House of Representatives’ Criminal Justice Committee approved a group of bills that will help make it easier for nonviolent criminals to get out of jail earlier. The proposal of bills will now proceed to the full House, which has voted down similar proposals in the past.

House Bills 35, 64, 190, 194, 195, 918 and 947 can be found at www.state.legis.la.us.

House Bill 35, proposed by Patricia Smith (D- Baton Rouge), calls for the parole eligibility of inmates over 60 years of age who have served over 10 years in prison. They would only be considered, however, if they did not commit a crime of violence or a sexual offense. Furthermore, they would have to meet the following conditions. First, they could not have committed a disciplinary offense in the last twelve months. Second, they must have completed a mandatory minimum of one hundred hours of pre-release programming. Third, the inmate must finish a substance abuse program if applicable. Fourth, the prisoner must complete his GED or be deemed incapable of doing so. Finally, he must carry a low-risk level designation.

House Bill 64, proposed by Smith also, calls for the removal of the authority of the parole board entirely. This would mean that all terms set down by judges would be served in their entirety. Some states such as Florida practice this.

House Bill 190, again proposed by Smith, mandates that parole board members meet certain qualifications to serve. These include a bachelor’s in criminal justice or a behavioral science and/or 5 or more years of experience and training in a similar field of work.

House Bill 194, proposed by Smith, offers a change in the accumulation of “good time” a prisoner can gain while in prison. What she proposes is that a nonviolent criminal receive a 30-day credit of “good time” for every 30 days that an inmate either performs his work or self-improvement activities, or both. Violent criminals would accumulate “good time” credit at a rate of 10 days of “good time” per 30 days of work or self-improvement.

House Bill 195, proposed by Fred H. Mills Jr., calls for a shift in the majority needed to receive approval from the parole board. Rather than complete unanimity, a prospective parolee could receive parole if he met all of the conditions previously listed in House Bill 35 and received a majority of the votes on the parole board.

House Bill 918, proposed by Smith, offers that non-violent criminals be given reduced sentences if they chose to attend rehabilitation programs

Finally, House Bill 947, proposed by Cederic Richmond, provides the foundation for the Board of Pardons and its relation to the Governor’s mansion.

Drug Tax Lacks Revenue From Poor Enforcement

April 26th, 2010 | Posted in Legislation, Local Issues by bloom | No Comments »

In 1990, the Louisiana legislature instituted a tax whereby drug dealers would be required to buy tax stamps and attach them to bags of drugs or face stern penalties if they were caught without them. Louisiana’s Marijuana and Dangerous Controlled Substances Tax has suffered though from a lack of enforcement and, thus, a lack of results. The idea behind this law was to allow the state to tax gains from illicit activity while avoiding drug dealers’ right to self-incrimination. Additionally, the taxes were supposed to be so overburdening that it would also make drug dealing significantly less profitable.

From 2006-2010, Louisiana has only sold 292 stamps, while assessing $48 million in fines and collecting $126,000. Furthermore, many of the stamps purchased are believed to be by collectors and not for their intended purpose.

Many states such as Alabama, Connecticut, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nebraska, Nevada, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Utah all have had similar tax programs with some being struck down as unconstitutional by their respective Supreme Courts. However, for some of these states, tax revenue is generated in the millions from such programs.

In Louisiana, drug dealers are supposed to pay $3.50 per gram of marijuana and $200 per gram of a dangerous controlled substance such as cocaine or heroin. The penalty carried for not having a stamp is a fine of up to $10,000 or up to 5 years in prison. Additionally, a monetary penalty can be assessed on the tax that was not paid. Louisiana Revenue Secretary Cynthia Bridges argues that too often these fines are settled for pennies on the dollar and urges that something be done especially in the tough financial times in which the state currently finds itself.

Utah Man Sentenced to Death by Firing Squad

April 26th, 2010 | Posted in National Issues by bloom | No Comments »

The state of Utah is scheduled to execute Ronnie Lee Gardner, a convicted murderer, by firing squad. Currently, 35 other states consider the death penalty as a means of justice. However, Utah is currently the only state that considers the firing squad a primary means of execution. Oklahoma also considers the method acceptable but would only consider its use if lethal injection was deemed unconstitutional.

Mr. Gardener, 49, was allowed to chose between lethal injection and the firing squad and opted for the latter. The practice of giving inmates a choice of their means of execution was common in Utah until 2004 when state lawmakers made lethal injection the default method. However, the state chose not to make the law retroactive to previous convictions in order to avoid unnecessary appeals from death row inmates. This change in practice largely stems from the state’s embarrassment over its use in the 1996 execution of John Albert Taylor when over 150 media outlets covered his execution. The event was portrayed as an Old-West style of justice that seemed antiquated and “allowed for killers to go out in a blaze of glory that embarrasses the state.”

Gardener’s defense attorney, Andrew Parnes, hopes to appeal to the Supreme Court on grounds that his client was denied state funds to pay for experts that could have given mitigating evidence that might have changed the decision of the jurors on their sentencing.

Gardener will be the third man since Utah reinstated the death penalty in 1976 to be executed by firing squad with the only others coming in 1977 and 1996. However, it is believed that three other men waiting on Utah’s death row have requested the firing squad.

Disability-based Discrimination Filed Against State Police

April 23rd, 2010 | Posted in Local Issues by bloom | No Comments »

Camille Brewton, a 66 year old and Baton Rouge resident, has filed a suit claiming that her firing from her position as a data entry clerk with the State Police “amounts to ‘disability- based discrimination and harassment’ as well as ‘illegal retaliation.’” She had been an employee since 1999. The suit claims that the state of “violating Louisiana and federal law, including the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Family and Medical Leave Act.” Along with being born deaf, Brewton is also the sole caretaker of her terminally ill husband, who suffers from dementia. She has filed for an unspecified amount of damages. Jill Craft, Brewton’s attorney, said she was dismissed eight days before her retirement became vested.

Brewton cites three main discriminatory acts in her suit. First, she claims that she made numerous requests for a qualified interpreter. Once, for a job-related training the state provided an interpreter whom Brewton claims was “utterly useless” and poorly qualified to communicate with her. Second, Brewton also placed a request for a TTD, a telephone that assists the deaf in using telephone lines. In 2000, the state provided this device but refused to set up a telephone line at her desk. This meant, in order to use the TTD, she often had to retrieve it from storage and connect it to another line. Finally, in January 2009, Brewton changed supervisors and things took a turn for the worst. She was accused of faking her deafness and of being argumentative despite her lack of language skills or ability to raise her own voice.

However, Lt. Doug Cain, a State Police spokesman, stated: “This certainly is not about discrimination. This is about a substandard employee who did not meet the expectations of her job.”

The trial will be presided over by District judge Wilson Fields.

In The Cards

April 21st, 2010 | Posted in Local Issues, NOPD by bloom | No Comments »

In mid-March, the Department of Public Safety and Corrections teamed with Crime Stoppers and the Louisiana Lottery Corporation to produce 20,000 decks of cards to be distributed to the public and inmates with the faces and basic information regarding 52 currently unsolved murders in the state. The time span of the crimes ranges from one to thirty years ago.

The cards will be on sale to inmates for prices ranging from $1.30 to $1.50 per pack and will be free to indigent prisoners and the public during Nation Crime Victims’ Rights Week at various events. James Leblanc, the secretary of the state’s Public Safety and Corrections Department, believes this will be an effective means of closing unsolved cases due to prisoners’ propensity to play cards. He states, “Our offender population loves to play cards. When they’re not working, they’re playing cards. … And they’re talking during those games.” LeBlanc learned of this program at a National Sheriff’s Association meeting almost a year ago and its effectiveness in states such as Florida and Minnesota and hopes to achieve similar results.

In order to facilitate the program’s effectiveness, two more policies have been instituted: anonymity and rewards. Anonymity will be maintained through a cooperative effort with Global Tel Link, the company that provides telephone service to the dozen state prisons. Calls to Crime Stoppers will now be free of charge to inmates and will not be recorded and those who provide information will not be identified. This, they believe, will further encourage prisoners to participate in the program. In addition, Crime Stoppers will also be offering rewards of up to $2,500.00 to inmates for their information. Sid Newman, executive director of Baton Rouge’s Crime Stoppers Inc., sees this as especially effective because “it’s a lot of money to an inmate.”

In the future, there are hopes to expand the program to parish jails as they are also seen as possibly holding a wealth of information.

Technician Causing Turmoil In San Francisco

April 21st, 2010 | Posted in Drugs, National Issues by bloom | No Comments »

The justice system in San Francisco has taken a major blow as Deborah Madden, a 60-year-old woman and worker at the San Francisco crime lab for 29 years, has jeopardized hundreds of past convictions after being implicated in skimming cocaine from the lab. Jim Morris, former head of the lab, stated, “I don’t think we have a full grasp of the magnitude of this yet. A lot of (criminal justice) relies on trust that the lab results have been correct, but now people don’t think they are. So the whole system has been grinded to a halt.” The scandal has already resulted in the dismissal of hundreds of cases and implicates thousands more. Many expect this to start a push by prisoners to have their convictions overturned as police admit that they are legally required to disclose Ms. Madden’s conviction to defense lawyers.

Ms. Madden claims that she only snorted small amounts of cocaine that spilled at her workstation. However, she has had several personal issues in the past ranging from a domestic violence and vandalism conviction in 2008 to time in an alcohol rehabilitation center to being accused of intentionally sabotaging cases by calling in sick on days she was to testify in court. Additionally, after an internal audit, investigators discovered significant amounts of drug evidence missing in some of Ms. Madden’s cases. She explained this though saying that weight discrepancies occur frequently at the lab. Fred Tullener, a former California Department of Justice crime lab manager, describes the facility as, “A converted warehouse in the middle of nowhere on a toxic waste dump.” This, taken together, cast a dark cloud on the credibility of the search for justice in San Francisco.

Similar events to this have happened in major cities such as Detroit and Houston, resulting in millions in damages paid to those found guilty on evidence overturned and, in Detroit’s case, the lab being shut down entirely. Ralph Keaton, the executive director of the American Society of Crime Laboratory Directors, paints a grim picture for San Francisco’s future: “It’s real hard to build a good reputation and it’s very easy to destroy it. And it takes even longer to rebuild it.”

Cannizzaro Changes Means of Marijuana Prosecution

April 20th, 2010 | Posted in Courts, Drugs, Local Issues by bloom | No Comments »

On August 6, 2009, Orleans Parish District Attorney Leon Cannizzaro Jr. proposed to the New Orleans City Council to pass an ordinance that would allow for simple possession of marijuana cases to be tried in municipal court instead of Orleans Parish Criminal District Court. The changes came into effect in late March of 2010.

Cannizzaro believes that this will allow “for our resources to be better directed to dealing with more serious charges in criminal court.” Currently simple possession of marijuana charges account for one-third of the 2100 pending charges in District Criminal Court and are punishable with a fine of up to $500 or six months in prison. Cannizzaro argues that the adjustment “saves money as far as the processing of the case, (by not) having the case continuously coming back on the docket (when in criminal court), and…we’re disposing of a large number of cases very, very quickly.” 


Cannizzaro would also like to see the enforcement of simple possession offenses change as well. In this, he advocates for the New Orleans Police Department to begin issuing municipal citations for misdemeanors instead of jailing suspects. This would result in a decrease of the swelling of prison populations, as suspects would not have to be processed through Central Booking. This would also remove Criminal Courts from the proceedings entirely. Cannizzaro claims that state law allows for him to determine the course of prosecution for crimes that don’t guarantee a trial-by-jury and thus he has the power to make these changes.

The Orleans Criminal District Court argued against the shift stating that the move would cost their budget several hundreds of thousands of dollars. However, Cannizzaro believes that efficiency in the judicial system should trump the monetary needs of one office over the other.

Toyota’s Recalled Vehicles Now Tops 8 Million

April 19th, 2010 | Posted in National Issues by bloom | No Comments »

Today, consumers must be more careful than ever when making decisions on large purchases such as vehicles. In another blow to Toyota’s previously sterling record for safety and quality, the auto giant has announced that it will recall 600,000 Sienna minivans due to a problem with rusty spare tire holders.

The latest recall included the 1998-2010 model year Siennas with two-wheel drive, which have been sold or registered in 20 states known for cold weather. These include the District of Columbia and states such as Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Maryland, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Virginia, Vermont, Wisconsin and West Virginia.

Toyota said, “Continued prolonged exposure to road salts may cause excessive corrosion of the carrier cable in some of these vehicles. In the worst case, the carrier cable may fail and the spare tire could become separated from the vehicle, a road hazard for following vehicles that increases the likelihood of a crash.” Six such complaints have been filed with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration with luckily none causing accidents or injuries. Toyota has stated that customers will receive a notice instructing them to drop off their vehicle at the dealership for inspection and that the company would be offering free inspections nationwide to those consumers not included in the recall. This problem means that the automaker has recalled a total of 8 million of their vehicles with problems varying from sticky accelerator pedals to unacceptably high rollover risk to faulty electronic systems.

These recalls are equally as assuring as they are disconcerting. They are comforting in that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration works as a safeguard to vehicle defects and protects consumers from unsafe choices made by automakers in the production of their vehicles. However, this trend of faulty parts and components in what has seemingly been the safest, most reliable automaker in the world is troubling, especially with the increasing financial problems facing automakers in the United States. These safeguards will continue to rise in importance as economic hard times persist and are made most effective by the active participation of the populace in reporting any problems they experience.

To see a full list of Toyota’s recalls, click here.

For more info on the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, click here

http://pressroom.toyota.com/pr/tms/toyota/toyota-to-begin-voluntary-safety-157049.aspx

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