Crime & Consequences

Monthly Archive: June 2023

Cal. DA Takes a Dive in Bogus Discrimination Case

by · Jun 30, 2023 4:39 pm

Did Contra Costa County* District Attorney Diana Becton “take a dive” when her office was accused of discriminatory charging practices? Ron Matthias, retired Senior Asst. AG, has this op-ed in the San Jose Mercury News.

Thanks to the Contra Costa district attorney’s puzzling refusal to adequately defend her office against bogus allegations of racially discriminatory charging practices, the county’s most dangerous gang-banging murderers will avoid the punishment they deserve.

Diana Becton’s anemic response to both the charge of bias and a subsequent court ruling sustaining it will leave informed observers with the nagging suspicion that she’s happy with the result. She could use the ruling as a convenient excuse for never again seeking appropriate charges against hardcore gang members and for dropping charges against some who already have been convicted.

Under California law, a gang-inspired murderer can see his sentence “enhanced” by 10 additional years, and in the case of an especially egregious murder, the gang connection could support a “special circumstance” subjecting him to a no-parole life sentence or even the death penalty. In either instance, the connection must be charged and proved.

Continue reading . . .

Accountability for Crime in California?

by · Jun 30, 2023 11:17 am

The Right Message, Wrong Messenger Award for today goes to the owner of several San Francisco retail businesses, who said this:

My biggest gripe right now in San Francisco has been, frankly, we’re not enforcing existing laws … we’re not prosecuting the law breakers. Judges, DAs, the whole panoply — I want to see people held accountable for breaking the law.

Notice that the California Governor is missing from the list. So why is this person the wrong messenger? Continue reading . . .

Supreme Court’s ruling on online harassment outrages victims, advocates

by · Jun 29, 2023 3:34 pm

On Tuesday, I noted the danger that the Supreme Court’s opinion in Counterman v. Colorado might be interpreted to require that speech must be classifiable as  a “true threat” in all stalking cases before a prosecution can go forward. Taylor Lorenz has this article in the WaPo with the above title reporting that the effects are being felt already. See below.

I can understand how the Court went forward with the threats analysis in light of the fact that that was how the decision being reviewed justified the prosecution, and that was how both parties presented it. The Court does not normally rule on issues raised only by amici curiae, although it does occasionally.

But there is no excuse for not stating explicitly that the Court was not holding or implying that all stalking cases based solely on communications must pass muster as “true threats” rather than the “time, place, or manner” doctrine. That question should have been expressly left for another day. Continue reading . . .

SCOTUS Bans Discrimination

by · Jun 29, 2023 11:12 am

This is off-topic for those who consider racial discrimination in college admissions a good thing, but for me and many others it qualifies as a crime resulting in real victims.    In one of the most thoughtful and concise opinions I have  ever read,  Justice Clarence Thomas’ concurrence in Students For Fair Admissions, Inc. v. President and Fellows of Harvard College, demolishes the outright racism promoted by today’s progressives, the roots of which reach back to Jim Crow.   It should be required reading for every high school American history student and every college Constitutional Law class.

The Pillowcase Rapist and the Folly of Current Cal. Policies

by · Jun 28, 2023 3:01 pm

A post earlier today described the case of the “pillowcase rapist” and his arrest for a new violent crime at the age of 71, following release after only half his sentence. Further research has determined that this appalling result comes from an old, misguided law that has since been fixed, not the current misguided policy. Even so, the case illustrates the folly of the current policies. It is yet one more example of the maxim that those who cannot remember history are condemned to repeat it. Continue reading . . .

Serial Rapist Released Early Attacks a New Victim

by · Jun 28, 2023 11:20 am

The notorious “pillowcase rapist” who terrorized Sacramento women in the 1980s, has been arrested in Bakersfield for attempting to abduct another victim.  The Bakersfield Californian reports  that 71-year-old Ronald Feldmeier was arrested in Kern County on Monday for kidnapping, after a woman he offered a lift jumped from his moving car to escape.  Feldmeier was convicted in 1986 by a Sacramento jury of nine counts of rape, five counts of oral copulation, sodomy, burglary and robbery, according to the Kern County District Attorney’s office.  He was sentenced to 67 years in prison for these crimes, but was released in 2019 after serving less than half of that sentence.  This was allowed by state law in 1986.

Continue reading . . .

A Mixed Bag in the Stalking/Threats Case

by · Jun 27, 2023 4:05 pm

This morning the U.S. Supreme Court decided the stalking/threats case of Counterman v. Colorado, No. 22-138. The decision is a mixed bag for the ability of government to protect people from threats and for its ability to protect people from stalking. To punish speech on the basis that it is a threat, the Court held that, at a minimum, “The State must show that the defendant consciously disregarded a substantial risk that his communications would be viewed as threatening violence. The State need not prove any more demanding form of subjective intent to threaten another.”

As to stalking by speech (or other communication) the need to invoke the “true threats” doctrine under the First Amendment at all is unclear. Continue reading . . .

Exploring early 2023 homicide trends in U.S. cities

by · Jun 26, 2023 12:17 pm

Since 2015, American cities have faced a troubling surge in homicides and shootings, leading to the loss of numerous lives across the nation. Official crime statistics for the first quarter of 2023 have yet to be released, but preliminary data from some U.S. cities is starting to be released. Some cities suggest a glimmer of hope with a reduction in homicides during the early months of 2023, which is encouraging. But, it seems to be driven by a few major cities, while some cities have actually seen upticks in crime.

Continue reading . . .

Retail Theft Increasing Amid Reduced Consequences

by · Jun 26, 2023 10:40 am

A recently released survey  by the National Retail Federation indicates that shoplifting and organized retail theft cost nearly $95 billion last year, doubling the losses over the past eight years.  Mike Keenan of Security Info Watch reports that while retailers are trying to address the problem by locking merchandise in cabinets and checking customer receipts at exits, state laws reducing the consequences for thieves are driving the increases.

Continue reading . . .