In the wake of a November 18 Manhattan stabbing spree by a habitual criminal that left three people dead, New York Congressman Ritchie Torres has targeted New York Governor Kathy Hochul as the “New Joe Biden,” for allowing the murderer’s early release. Michael Ruiz of Fox News reports that Congressman Torres, a Democrat, was referring to 51-year-old Ramon Rivera, who had eight priors, before the state’s Department of Corrections released him early from the psych ward at Bellevue Hospital for good behavior, somehow forgetting that while there he assaulted a corrections officer.

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Matt Gaetz, the lightning-rod Florida Congressman nominated by President-elect Trump for Attorney General, has withdrawn his name from  consideration by the Senate. Melissa Quinn of CBS News reports that Gaetz issued this statement on social media this morning: “While the momentum was strong, it is clear that my confirmation was unfairly becoming a distraction to the critical work of the Trump/Vance Transition.” Gaetz resigned his House seat last week following his nomination, but questions about his qualifications and and a yet unreleased report by the House Ethics Committee on alleged sexual misconduct and drug use put his confirmation at risk. Hopefully, the President-elect will take this opportunity to nominate a strong conservative with recognized legal scholarship and a better understanding of the workings of the Department of Justice. Senator Ted Cruz comes to mind.

The illegal alien who brutally murdered 22-year-old coed Laken Riley last February has been sentenced to life-without-the-possibility-of-parole (LWOP). Steven Vago and Chris Nesi of the New York Post report that Venezuelan gang member Jose Ibarra showed no emotion as Clark County Judge Patrick Haggard announced his sentence. Ibarra ended up in the college town of Athens, Georgia six months before murdering Riley after the Biden Administration flew him there at taxpayers’ expense from JFK airport in New York City.  He was in the U.S. illegally thanks to the Biden/Harris open border policy.

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California Governor Gavin Newsom has decided to postpone a decision on clemency for the two brothers sentenced to life without parole for murdering their parents in 1989. Michael Ruiz of Fox News reports that Erik and Lyle Menendez had asked Newsom to grant their request ahead of a December 11 resentencing hearing in LA Superior Court requested by District Attorney George Gascón. Gascón took up the brothers’ petition for resentencing last month as a publicity stunt he thought would help his reelection campaign. He was mistaken. Challenger Nathan Hochman defeated Gascón by a 2 to 1 vote on November 5. In a statement to the press Newsom said that he will “defer to the DA-elect’s review and analysis of the Menendez case prior to making any clemency decisions.”

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The Council on Criminal Justice has a report by Thaddeus Johnson titled Violent Victimization is Decreasing–But Not for Everyone. The thrust of the report is based on the one-year changes in the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) between 2022 and 2023.

New federal crime data show that nonlethal violent victimization decreased by 11% in 2023 for Americans aged 12 and older. But while the rate of robberies, aggravated assaults, and rape/sexual assaults fell for White and Hispanic people, it moved in the opposite direction for Black Americans.

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Victimization rates for Black Americans increased 37% from 2022 and 2023, driven by a 79% increase in robbery, 47% increase in rape/sexual assault rates, and a 16% increase in aggravated assault.

We will put to one side, for now, the variations in measures, which the report notes warrant caution. Even with that caution in mind, the reported increases are alarming. What caused these numbers to move in opposite directions?

The report is mostly statistics and not a discussion of possible causes. What little it does say, though, is a head shaker. Continue reading . . .