The Federalist Society has this white paper by Robert Alt surveying changes in criminal law in 2019. The most encouraging development comes from Alaska. That state’s legislature and governor realized that prior “reform” (i.e., soft on crime) legislation went too far and rolled it back substantially. California has an initiative on the November ballot that, if approved by the voters, would make modest roll-backs of the state’s ill-conceived Propositions 47 and 57 of earlier years. Continue reading . . .

As more cities become afflicted with the forcible disruptions staged by BLM, the question before us is whether a peaceable society is justified in fighting back and, if so, at what point and by what means.  I’m not talking here about violent assaults on police (like the one over the weekend in Compton, CA) or about riots, arson and looting.  Almost every normal person  —  and certainly any person open to reason  —  agrees that these are intolerable.  I’m talking about raucous demonstrations brought to the target’s home, or disrupting rush hour traffic, or forcing drivers out of their cars, or menacing ordinary people as they shop or dine or just walk down the street.

Most people understand that we need to accommodate free speech and perhaps, to a point, some of its excesses.  They also understand that racial discrimination  —  opposition to which is the asserted reason for BLM protests  —  is morally indefensible and has to an end.  The question is how far tolerance for forcible and quasi-forcible disruptions to the ordinary life of blameless people should go and thus, necessarily, when the correct response becomes, not tolerance, but intolerance, if necessary by force.

Continue reading . . .

New York City survived the 9-11 attack and came back to flourish under Giuliani and Bloomberg.  But now, under the “progressive” and anti-police regime of Bill de Blasio, crime is surging.  Businesses are plenty worried about the City’s future and are letting de Blasio know it’s time to get a grip.

Continue reading . . .

The WSJ documents the surge in murder across the country.  The question is:  Why is this happening?  Let me ask that question another way:  When the police are hobbled by relentless and viciously slanted attacks on their basic decency, by movements to defund and disband them, and by other movements to have them do bake sales instead of street patrols, what did you think was going to happen?

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In my last post, I noted that, when the sentencing reform crowd runs out of room to distort language, they just flat-out lie.  The example I gave was New York Mayor Bill de Blasio, who claims, in the face of an astonishing surge in NYC murders, that the City is “safer.”

The ink was barely dry on that post when I saw, courtesy of Sentencing Law and Policy, an entry about an ACLU report out today, July 27.  The ACLU makes the following assertion (emphasis added):

Nearly every county jail that we examined [in 29 big cities, not including New York] reduced their population, if only slightly, between the end of February and the end of April. Over this time period, we found that the reduction in jail population was functionally unrelated to crime trends in the following months….We found no evidence of any spikes in crime in any of the 29 locations, even when comparing monthly trends over the past two years. The release of incarcerated people from jails has saved lives both in jails and in the community, all while monthly crime trends were within or below average ranges in every city.

Did I mention something about a flat-out lie?

Continue reading . . .

In my last post, I noted how anti-police arson, rock throwing and assault have become, in the magical language of criminal justice reformers and their allies in the press, “‘intensified’ peacefulness.”  There are times, though, when even a seemingly infinite willingness to mangle the meaning of language won’t get the job done.  When this happens, there’s a ready solution:  Lie.

Enter noted criminal justice reformer, Mayor Bill de Blasio.

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I’m going to leave this New York Post story right here:  Oregon man driving stolen car crashes into woman driving another stolen car.

My friend Daniel Horowitz of the Conservative Review is an incredibly diligent and resourceful investigator of crime data.  He has given me permission to repeat here his story today about the gruesome toll our present murder spree is taking on those least able to protect themselves  — black children.  As Daniel observes:

[F]ireworks were not the only munitions shot over the July 4 weekend. Statues weren’t the only things felled by anarchists and criminals roaming…the streets. This weekend was a bloody one across the country, with [dozens of] shootings in America’s cities, including New York, [once] considered the safest American city for a generation. Once again, African-American victims, including a number of young children, paid the price while the anarchy was excused and even legitimized by the media and politicians.

Continue reading . . .

The answer to that question is multifaceted, but I thought the essence of the problem was beautifully captured in this headline:

Ex-Baltimore mayor, once convicted of embezzlement, now favorite to fill seat of mayor convicted of fraud

The story, for those with the stomach for it, is here.