Monthly Archive: March 2023

Transgender Rage

The March 27 killings at the Christian Covenant School in Nashville were not a random event.  Enough evidence has become available to conclude that the attack that killed three children and three school employees was carefully planned by the 28-year-old woman who identified as a man.  The shooter, Audrey Hale, was being treated by a doctor for an emotional disorder, and her parents did not know she possessed several guns.  The state of Tennessee had recently passed laws to ban drag shows for children, the sexual mutilation of children (called gender transition surgery) and biological males from competing in women’s sports.  This was probably enough to trigger Hale, who left a manifesto which has yet to be shared with the public.  It seems fairly clear that the attack was in retaliation for injustices she believed she, and others like her, suffered.  The Christian school was likely targeted because it teaches children that there are two genders, as do biologists.  The attack came one week before an April 1 rally called the “Trans Day of Vengeance” is scheduled to be held on the steps of the U.S. Supreme Court according to the Daily Mail.  The violent anarchist group Antifa and the Trans Radical Activist Network have organized the rally “stop trans genocide.”

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New York’s bail reform law and recidivism

In recent years, many states throughout the nation have taken steps to reduce or eliminate the use of monetary bail. According to proponents, the purpose of bail “reform” is to reduce jail populations and decrease income disparities regarding how bail is applied. However, critics believe that such laws would negatively impact public safety due to more defendants committing crimes while on pretrial release. Further, there also concerns that reforms could increase failure-to-appear rates.

One state where bail reform has received considerable attention is New York. Statewide reforms first took effect on January 1, 2020, though it was later amended in April 2020 and May 2022. Currently, there isn’t a ton of research examining whether bail reform contributed to crime, but more research is starting to trickle out on this topic. There seems to be a lot of variaiton regarding the findings though. One of the more recent reports on this topic was published earlier this month by the Data Collaborative for Justice (DCJ), which claimed that bail reform decreased recidivism among pretrial releases in New York City. However, this is inconsistent with a previous study from last year, also conducted in New York City, which found the opposite: bail reform efforts significantly increased recidivism. Thus, it’s important to read these studies very carefully to determine which ones are the most relevant and helpful. In this post, I will review the latest report released by the DCJ and provide my thoughts regarding its validity.

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New Progressive CA District Attorney Losing Deputies

Progressive Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price who, shortly after taking office, announced that she would require deputies to seek the shortest sentences possible for offenders, is beginning to lose her most experienced prosecutors.  Bailee Hill of Fox News reports that two of the offices most experienced deputies are quitting over concerns about Price’s radical policies.  Earlier this year Price negotiated a plea bargain to reduce the sentence of a triple-murderer Delonzo Logwood from 75-years-to-life down to 15 years.  Fortunately the judge rejected the plea deal, insisting that an Oakland jury determine his sentence.   As deputies leave the office, victim’s families are stepping up to demand that Price be replaced.  Brenda Grisham, whose teen-aged son was gunned down in 2010, told reporters she had talked with Price; “We had a couple of conversations, and so I know where she stands, and she knows where I stand, and I’m not backing down.”  Progressive billionaire George Soros help bankroll Price’s election.  Alameda County covers a large part of the East Bay including the cities of Berkeley, Fremont, Hayward, Livermore, Oakland, and Piedmont.

San Quentin to be Converted Into Scandinavian Rehab Campus

Earlier this month Governor Gavin Newsom announced that the oldest prison in California, and the most expensive to maintain, will be transformed into a rehabilitation center.  Nigel Duara of Cal Matters reports that the Governor’s vision is to copy the rehabilitation campuses in Norway, where inmates can wear their own clothes and cook their own food while attending classes to get college degrees and licenses in trades like plumbing and truck driving.  A bill to allow similar programs in other, more modern prisons was vetoed by Newsom last year because it was too expensive.  According to the Governor, the price tag for this transformation will be $20 million.  In 2021 the state spent $1.6 billion just for maintenance of San Quentin.  This follows the Governor’s plan to close three other California prisons and his decision to allow the early release of over 70,000 violent and serious inmates, some after serving less than half of their sentences.   Two of those inmates were arrested for raping teen-aged girls in an El Cajon motel last week.

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Racial Justice in New York City

In a recent story the New York Times reported that while homicides fell in New York City last year, major crimes were up by 22% compared to 2021.  The increases included burglary up 23%, robbery up 25.8%, grand larceny up 26%, auto theft up 23% (over 23,000 more cars stolen), assault up 14% and rape up 8.4%.  The city has been hemorrhaging police officers, with NYPD currently short 1,700, but arrests have increased especially in high crime boroughs.  One explanation in the drop of homicides and shootings has been the department’s emphasis on criminals with guns, with the arrests of 4,627 last year.  John Jay Criminologist John Herman told the Times that this drop has not been felt in many of the city’s minority neighborhoods.   But even with targeted policing and more officers, until the state abandons its zero bail law and short sentences for repeat offenders, crime will continue to rise.

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A commentary on CCJ’s recommendations for sentencing reform

In Spring 2022, the Council on Criminal Justice (CCJ) launched a Task Force on Long Sentences with the aim of assessing our nation’s use of long prison terms (i.e., 10+ years) and the impact on public safety and justice. Most recently, the Task Force released a report detailing their 14 recommendations about how to reduce mass incarceration without negatively impacting public safety.

The recommendations are questionable, though, as they seem overly optimistic about the state of the research. For example, they propose various alternatives to incarceration that are supposedly effective, though they make the research sound much more conclusive than it actually is. Perhaps they ought to be reminded of the old adage: “If it seems too good to be true, it probably is.” In this post, I will highlight some of the more controversial “recommendations” and provide some points for consideration. In a future post, I will critically assess each recommendation in more detail and provide additional points for consideration.

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Sex Offenders Released in CA Arrested for Raping Teenaged Girls

Two registered sex offenders staying in a San Diego Motel 6 on homeless vouchers have been arrested after sexually assaulting a teenage girl.  Teri Figueroa of the San Diego Union Tribune reports that one of the two registered sex offenders involved admitted that there are additional victims.  Lawrence Cantrell, 34, and Michael Inman, 70, had been staying in a Motel 6 in El Cajon on a voucher from People Assisting the Homeless (PATH), when they allegedly raped a teenage girl while recording the assault on their smartphones.  Cantrell had been staying in a different hotel in downtown San Diego on a PATH voucher but was kicked out after causing a disturbance.  Both men have been arrested and held without bail while police search for the victims.  PATH is a woke California program which claims to help homeless find permanent housing while focusing on “Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.”  Apparently convicted sex offenders qualify for their services, which are primarily financed with tax dollars.  California’s woke criminal justice policies allow criminals like these to gain early release to the streets so that programs like PATH can put them in motels.

Illegal Alien Smuggler Kills Four

A 22-year-old Louisiana man smuggling illegal aliens into the U.S. crashed his pickup Monday, killing four people.  Mary Ann Martinez of Fox News reports that Rassian Comer had eleven illegals in his truck when he ran a red light at high speed in the small town of Ozona, Texas and smashed into a car carrying a 71-year-old grandmother and her 7-year-old granddaughter.  Both were killed, along with two of the illegals in Comer’s pickup.   Mexican cartels use social media to recruit Americans to collect illegals at the southern border and take them into the U.S., promising thousands of dollars upon delivery.   Comer, who was running from police when he caused the crash, was hospitalized with injuries.  The President’s open border policy, enabling human and drug smuggling, is resulting in tens of thousands of Americans dying annually from fentanyl poisoning and hundreds of crimes committed by gangs and others working for the cartels.  Most of the deaths related to human smuggling are the illegals being smuggled, but Americans are also occasionally killed or injured due to this activity.   The New York Times, Washington Post, LA Times, Dallas Morning News and the three major television networks did not bother to report this tragedy.

Getting Off Scot Free for a Technical Error?

Paul Larkin and Cully Stimson have this article in the Federalist Society Review previewing the case of Smith v. United States, No. 21-1576, set for argument in the Supreme Court Tuesday, March 28.

Smith was tried in the wrong district, so the Eleventh Circuit reversed his conviction and granted him a new trial in the correct district. He claims that’s not enough; he should get off completely. Larkin and Stimson explain why that is not the law. Continue reading . . .