Monthly Archive: January 2022

Copycat Gascón Recall Undermines Legitimate Campaign

by · Jan 24, 2022 12:18 pm

In an apparent effort to divert money away from the legitimate campaign to recall pro-criminal LA District Attorney George Gascón, a copycat recall effort called Recall Gascón Now (RGN) has been launched.  The group does not have a recall petition and, based upon its website, apparently intends to copy the legitimate petition and circulate it as their own.  The Metropolitan News Enterprise reports that former LA District Attorney Steve Cooley, co-Chairman of the Recall DA George Gascón Committee said those behind RGN are “rogue, gadfly activists,” and that their false campaign was an attempt to “sabotage, undermine and confuse the recall.”   Last December Cooley’s Committee announced that it had raised $2.5 million and hired professional management to begin the recall effort this year.

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Police abolition significantly decreases public safety: The CHOP Zone in Seattle

by · Jan 21, 2022 9:00 am

A 2022 study published in the journal of Criminology and Public Policy showed that police abolition significantly increased crime during the 2020 Capitol Hill Occupation Protest (CHOP) in Seattle.

Following the death of George Floyd on May 25, 2020, tensions between the public and the police increased greatly and protests erupted in cities throughout the United States. Seattle was no exception, with protestors gathering nightly at the Seattle Police Department (SPD)’s East precinct. The protests often turned confrontational and dangerous as people set fires and caused property damage, while officers took to deploying riot control weapons to control the scene. On June 8, 2020, in an attempt to calm the situation, the SPD suddenly abandoned the East precinct, and officers were instructed to no longer patrol nor respond to calls for service in the area unless there was a mass casualty event.

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Wherein the New York Times Joins My Analysis of the Surge in Murder

by · Jan 18, 2022 12:58 pm

Yesterday, I wrote an entry that focused on the explosion in murder in this country over the last two years, an explosion that has grossly disproportionately harmed black people.  I thought this a particularly noteworthy subject on Martin Luther King Day.  Now, a matter of hours later, the New York Times, of all things, features a discussion of the same subject that in some ways seems like a slightly different draft of my piece.

It is, to say the least, unusual that the NYT and I see any significant issue in crime the same way, but at my age, I’ll take what I can get.  The Times’ view of the causes of the spike is largely misguided, in my view, but its description of the problem is spot-on, and belies the dismissive attitude of many in the criminal justice “reform” movement.

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“Violence interrupters” are not a panacea for violent crime

by · Jan 18, 2022 9:09 am

As city leaders look toward alternatives to traditional policing, one approach that has gained attention is the use of “violence interrupters.” Violence interrupters are people recruited from local communities, particularly those who have a history with gangs or violence, who act as outreach workers and nontraditional caseworkers in areas where crime is occurring. These outreach workers build relationships with individuals who are at-risk for gun violence and work to support healing and address conflict through nonviolent means (e.g., conflict mediation). Some programs might help individuals find housing, education, or employment opportunities. The overarching goal is to change community norms about violence and provide pathways out of violent behavior.

The concept has gathered mainstream support among policymakers, the news media, and politicians alongside the “defund the police” movement. Even the Biden administration has described the approach as an “evidence-based” model. But is it really evidence-based?

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Re-Registration Needed For Some Users

by · Jan 18, 2022 5:58 am

It has come to my attention that a software glitch may have resulted in some users not being presented with the correct form at registration. If you registered without seeing a form with real name as a required field, it will be necessary for you to re-register before commenting.

My apologies for the inconvenience.

George Gascon’s Los Angeles: Welcome to the Third World

by · Jan 17, 2022 6:19 pm

Progressive prosecutors are making a name for themselves.  In the dreamworld of legal academia, it’s all wonderful.  In the actual world normal people inhabit, it’s something different.  In Kim Foxx’s Chicago, it’s murder galore, especially of black people (whom she falsely claims to want to protect).  Much the same in Larry Krasner’s Philadelphia.  In Marilyn Mosby’s Baltimore, the bloodshed is now compounded by an almost comical (by contrast) federal indictment for rampant dishonesty.  In George Gascon’s Los Angeles, a picture is worth a thousand words.

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A Martin Luther King Day Reminder on Genuine Humanity

by · Jan 17, 2022 2:44 pm

First a question:  If Martin Luther King were alive today, would he be more likely to agree with the anthem that black lives matter, or with the view that all lives matter?

I don’t think it’s a close question.  The whole point of the civil rights movement was equality.  And in the days of Dr. King, no one thought “equality” meant “equality of outcomes”  —  which is what the gossamer word “equity” is trying to put over on us today (albeit typically in the disguise of intentionally opaque academic gibberish).  “Equality” meant equal standing before the law, and an equal chance at success and living a peaceful life.

Is that what black people are getting now, in the era of progressive prosecutors and criminal justice reform?

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Is the Ferguson Effect Real?

by · Jan 17, 2022 2:32 pm

There is hypothesis that a pullback in policing activity following high-profile arrest incidents and subsequent protests and riots causes an increase in crime. This has been dubbed the “Ferguson Effect,” after the location of one particularly high-profile incident.

But is it real? Charles Fain Lehman has this article in the City Journal reviewing two recent studies. Continue reading . . .

SCOTUS Takes Up Three Crime-Related Cases

by · Jan 17, 2022 1:45 pm

At its conference last Friday, the U.S. Supreme Court took up three cases related to crime and law enforcement. One raises the question of whether a police officer’s failure to give Miranda warnings creates a civil liability, in addition to making the confession inadmissible in a criminal case. A second involves a challenge to a state’s method of execution, offering an alternative not authorized by state law. A third involves proceedings in federal district court to develop evidence for a habeas corpus petition without regard to whether the evidence could even be considered in deciding the case. Continue reading . . .

Early Test for New Virginia Gov. on Sentencing Reform

by · Jan 17, 2022 11:17 am

Virginia’s new Governor, Glen Youngkin, was sworn in Saturday and immediately announced eleven executive orders to fulfill promises he made during his campaign last year.  One of them was to terminate the members of the criminal-coddling state Parole Board.  Youngkin also appointed former U.S. Attorney Richard Cullen as Counselor to the Governor.  Cullen was Vice-Chairman on a 1994 commission under Governor Richard Allen which recommended the elimination of parole and tougher sentencing.  Governor Youngkin’s commitment to reducing crime will face an early test from two bills introduced in Virginia’s divided legislature last week.  Hans Bader of Liberty Unyielding  reports that HB 906 and SB 378 would create the “second look” law, giving judges the authority to cut a violent criminal’s sentence by 10 to 15 years, even for life-sentenced murderers.

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