Submitted by Christine Roose Title: District 3 RepNovember 13, 2008
Meth blaze leads to charges Sisters are ECS teachers who have been placed on administrative leave
Two Elkhart Community Schools teachers face felony charges after a methamphetamine lab was found burning in their home Tuesday morning.
According to a press release from the St. Joseph County Prosecutor's Office, Michelle M. Stancati and Maria M. Stancati, both 35, each face one count of dealing methamphetamine within 1,000 feet of school property, a Class A felony.
The two were taken into custody Tuesday afternoon when firefighters contacted police after a meth lab was found in their burning home at 511 E. Woodside St., South Bend.
According to police reports, Michelle Stancati admitted to manufacturing meth just before the lab caught ablaze and later exploded. Both sisters told police they were meth users.
A large quantity of marijuana also was found in the home.
An 11-year-old boy -- the son of a subletter identified by police as Lisa Kitch -- was sleeping in the home when the fire department responded to the blaze.
Doug Thorne, director of employee-student relations for ECS, confirmed the women are employed as teachers. Michelle Stancati is employed at North Side Middle School as a special education teacher, and Maria Stancati is employed as a ninth-grade teacher at Memorial High School.
Thorne said the women were placed on administrative leave Tuesday, and an internal investigation is pending.
Bond for the two women is set at $5,000. They will be arraigned at 1 p.m. today in St. Joseph Superior Court.
Submitted by Melonie Coan Title: District 2 RepNovember 6, 2008
Last modified: Friday, October 24, 2008 10:43 AM EDT
Woman gets probation for child's tardiness
By ROBERT BRYAN, Special to The Herald-Press
MONDAY OCTOBER 27, 2008 WABASH - A Wabash woman on Monday was placed on probation, with fairly stringent terms, after being found guilty of failure to get her child to school regularly and on time.
Samantha O'Neal, 35, in a plea agreement with the state, had pleaded guilty to the Class D Felony educational neglect and was sentenced in Wabash Circuit Court to 1 1/2 years. That was suspended except for time served. (After arrest she had spent some time in jail, then later in electronic home detention.)
Among terms of her probation: Each school day, she's to call the Wabash County Probation Office and vouch that her children are in school and on time.
Failure to get them to school or failure to vouch would count as a probation violation.
Under terms of the plea agreement, if she fully complies with terms of probation, the felony conviction will be reduced to a Class A Misdemeanor.
Prosecuting Attorney William Hartley Jr. made clear this was an unusual case.
“I'm not going to file every time a kid's tardy,” he said.
This case was especially bad, he said, because every other avenue, from school administration to the prosecutor's office, had failed to to fix the problem.
Last school year through early April, one of O'Neal's children had been absent without excuse for six days and tardy 28 times. Many of the tardies were of the 60 to 90 minute variety.
Judge will resume sending girls to Indianapolis juvenile center, citing improvements
Submitted by Christine Roose Title: District 3 RepOctober 13, 2008
A Northern Indiana judge, who last year stopped placing girls at the Indianapolis Juvenile Correctional Facility because of concerns about safety and educational programming, has resumed using the state facility.
In an Oct. 3 letter to Gov. Mitch Daniels, St. Joseph Probate Judge Peter J. Nemeth said his decision was based on an audit that showed significant improvements had been made.
Nemeth stopped sending female juveniles to the facility, formerly known as the Indiana Girls School, in December after an assessment by his staff found the detention center was understaffed and lacked adequate rehabilitative and educational services. He also cited reports of sexual activity between inmates and between inmates and staff.
"A great deal of credit belongs to Commissioner Edwin G. Buss, who has taken an active and leadership role in making significant upgrades at the Girls School," Nemeth said in the letter to Daniels.
Nemeth took his complaints to Daniels after he said attempts to work out problems with former DOC Commissioner J. David Donahue were unsuccessful. Donahue resigned in August and was replaced by Buss.
At the time he stopped placing girls at the center, Nemeth said a review turned up numerous deficiencies, including:
» Inadequate staffing to maintain a safe environment.
» Classroom settings that "can only be described as nonproductive at best."
» The lack of vocational programs.
» The failure by the facility psychiatrist in many cases to adequately explain to inmates why they have been placed on psychotropic drugs, to justify their continued use and to provide a monthly follow-up.
A new evaluation conducted in September found significant improvements in educational services and program supervision, as well as a decrease in overt sexual behavior.
"It is very clear that the culture at IJCF has changed and is continuing to change for the better," evaluators wrote in a report to Nemeth.
Doug Garrison, DOC spokesman, said Buss and Nemeth had met to discuss the judge's concerns.
"One of his top priorities is to address juvenile concerns," Garrison said of Buss. "I know he has met with Judge Nemeth, and they are both interested in working to find the best ways to secure juveniles, while making sure their educational needs are met and they are being prepared for re-entry."
Juvenile probation program adding new assessment tool
Submitted by Katherine Holtzleiter Title: District 4 RepOctober 13, 2008
The Humboldt County Probation Department is introducing an assessment tool that will determine the risk factors and needs of juvenile offenders.
The department will begin using the Positive Achievement Change Tool, or PACT, to help probation officers determine what programs could prevent juveniles from becoming repeat offenders.
”It helps us target what our interventions are going to be,” division director Jody Green said, adding that the tool will help officers choose what are the most appropriate services to discourage risk factors and what positive influences can be strengthened.
Submitted by Linda Brady Title: Vice-PresidentOctober 4, 2008
HeraldTimesOnline.com
Work release a sentencing alternative that has been used locally since 1985
By Bethany Nolan 331-4373 | bnolan@heraldt.com October 4, 2008
Work release is an alternative to straight incarceration, Monroe County’s chief probation officer Linda Brady explained Friday.
Offenders sentenced to work release do just that — spend their nights in jail and are released to do their days at work (or vice versa if they work a night shift.)
Monroe County Sheriff Jim Kennedy has said he will shut the work release program down at the end of this year because he needs the 28 beds allotted to work release prisoners for inmates who must be kept in jail 24 hours a day.
The county’s community corrections program celebrates its 25th anniversary this year. The work release program was added two years later, in 1985. It’s been difficult for Brady to think about the possibility of losing part of the community corrections continuum.
“It’s obviously a sad situation, to lose a program that we’ve had so long,” Brady said. “What is it going to mean? I don’t know.”
There are state guidelines about who is eligible, but the county’s community corrections division has local criteria as well. A judge can override the local criteria to order someone to work release but cannot override the state guidelines.
There are two ways an offender can receive work release. They can be ordered to serve straight work release by a judge or they can be ordered to the first level of the county’s Community Alternative Supervision Program, also known as CASP. If they’re ordered to work release by a judge, that order can only be changed by a judge. But through CASP, an offender who’s completed half of a sentence and is behaving well can be moved to another level administratively by probation staff. Other CASP levels include home detention with day reporting. Offenders ordered to work release are typically felony or repeat offenders. That’s because judges aim for the least restrictive placement that makes sense, meaning offenders generally work their way up the continuum to the program. Most offenders are serving a sentence, but occasionally a judge will order a pretrial detainee to the program. It isn’t free. Work release or CASP Level I means a user fee of $12 per day. The same fee applies for the next two CASP levels, but the cost begins to drop after that. For example, day reporting — also known as “blow and go” since offenders show up, submit to a breath alcohol test and are allowed to leave provided they’re not intoxicated — costs only $3 per day.
In 2007, about 130 people were referred to work release. About 75 percent of those were felony offenders. About 36 percent of participants were incarcerated for substance related offenses, 33 percent for theft or property related offenses and 11 percent for violent behavior. The other 20 percent were referred for other offenses. So far in 2008, 95 people have been referred to work release. Of those, 67 were felony offenders.
Submitted by Warren Hale Title: District 8 RepOctober 3, 2008
The New York City courts that process arrested adults have long been open seven days a week. But until just recently, the courts that process arrested children were closed on weekends, making it necessary for children taken into custody to be detained for 48 hours or even longer before seeing a judge.
Pollitt cleared of charges he violated his probation GPS company admits problem
Submitted by Linda Brady Title: Vice-PresidentSeptember 30, 2008
REPUBLICAN-AMERICAN
Saturday, September 13, 2008
Pollitt cleared of charges he violated his probation GPS company admits problem
BY JONATHAN SHUGARTS REPUBLICAN-AMERICAN NEW LONDON
David Pollitt's family wants an apology, but neither state nor town officials are offering one.
Pollitt, a convicted rapist released from prison last November, appeared Friday in New London Superior Court and was cleared of charges that he violated his probation by wandering outside the site in Southbury where he was allowed to be. A GPS monitor attached to Pollitt showed he had left the site for about 15 minutes.
Authorities dropped the charges after receiving letters from the GPS provider stating that the company couldn't conclusively say that Pollitt had left the yard of his sister's Southbury home last week. They also issued an apology for the mistake.
"I just wish that they would believe me that I'm telling the truth," Pollitt said shortly after he was cleared of the charges.
Pollitt's sister, Janice Rosengren, said she wants a personal apology from probation officials, the governor and Mark A.R. Cooper, Southbury's first selectman.
"No one would accept the truth I was with him that day," she said.
Pollitt, 55, served nearly 25 years in prison for a series of rapes that occurred in the late 1970s and early 1980s in Old Lyme, Waterford, Killingworth, Rocky Hill and Wallingford. He was released 11 months months ago amid protests from neighbors and state officials.
"The only apology that is due is the one Mr. Pollitt owes to his many victims," Gov. M. Jodi Rell said in a statement issued late Friday.
The terms of Pollitt's probation prohibit him from leaving his sister's Fox Run Drive home without supervision, and forbid him to visit certain locations without permission from his probation officer.
Pollitt has a GPS unit attached to his ankle that is supposed to track his movements, but inaccurately showed he was out of the yard for about 15 minutes on Sept. 3.
That device was provided by Florida-based Pro Tech Monitoring, which is a subsidiary of G4S, a global company based in the United Kingdom.
Probation officials accused Pollitt of violating his probation based on the information provided by Pro Tech.
Leo Carson, a vice president of strategic sales for G4S, sent court officials a letter on Thursday admitting there was a "miscommunication" involving Pollitt's tracking and apologizing for the mistake. Michael Garrett, technical support manager for Pro Tech, also admitted in a letter that the information provided by the GPS unit was not accurate; he said he couldn't say that Pollitt had left the yard.
Leo Carson, a vice president of strategic sales for G4S, sent court officials a letter on Thursday admitting there was a "miscommunication" involving Pollitt's tracking and apologizing for the mistake. Michael Garrett, technical support manager for Pro Tech, also admitted in a letter that the information provided by the GPS unit was not accurate; he said he couldn't say that Pollitt had left the yard.
By the time those letters were received, Pollitt had already been arrested.
State's Attorney Michael Regan withdrew charges against Pollitt after he submitted the letters as evidence before Judge Susan B. Handy.
"The GPS system was not functioning properly at the time the position was taken," Regan said. "These letters came subsequent to the warrant being submitted and being signed."
John Kaloidis, Pollitt's attorney, said the GPS tracking system has malfunctioned more than 50 times since his client was released and it continues to send out erroneous alerts.
"All along, Mr. Pollitt has maintained he has done everything asked of him," Kaloidis said. "Unfortunately, this mistake has cost my client and his family significant financial hardship and a lot of stress."
As Pollitt walked from the courtroom, the black box attached to his ankle chimed, alerting him that he needed to walk outside the building so the GPS system could verify his wherekabouts. He was standing next to court and probation officials, his family and reporters.
"Kind of embarrasing, isn't it?" Pollitt said to his probation officer, Joseph Bunnell, as the box beeped.
Pollitt posted a $100,000 bond shortly after he was arrested Wednesday and said he wants attorney's fees and the bond payment returned to him.
On Thursday, before learning of the unreliability of the GPS data, Rell and Attorney General Richard Blumenthal issued public statements demanding Pollitt's return to prison.
On Friday, Rell didn't backtrack or express regrets.
"Mr. Pollitt needs to be equipped immediately with a dependable and accurate means of tracking his movements," Rell said in a statement. "At the first violation of his probation, no matter how minor, he should be remanded to prison."
Cooper, Southbury's first selectman, initiated a "Code Red" alert on Wednesday after Pollitt was arrested — almost a week after he was accused of wandering away from the property.
"The town of Southbury has nothing to apologize for," Cooper said. "All we did is report the facts to try and keep people informed."
Blumenthal said he and Rell didn't overreact to the reports of Pollitt's arrest. Both fought Pollitt's release in court, and Blumenthal said no one should be surprised they reacted so strongly to reports that Pollitt had violated the conditions of his probation.
"On the contrary, if we remained silent we could be rightly criticized for failing to strictly adhere to our public safety obligations," he said.
Kaloidis said Rell and Blumenthal rushed to judgment and Cooper's actions were "shameful," as he believes they were politically motivated.
On Friday, Blumenthal called for investigations into the GPS tracking systems used by the Judicial Department, the Department of Correction and the Board of Pardons and Paroles. Blumenthal said his office intends to investigate whether any state contracts have been violated.
Calls and e-mails sent to Pro Tech and G4S were not returned Friday. Pro Tech has tracked more than 100,000 offenders since 1997, according to its Web site.
Rell also urged the Judicial Department and the Board of Pardons and Parole to ascertain the reliability of monitoring technology to ensure offenders are being tracked accurately.
Staff writer Paul Hughes contributed to this report.
Man charged after allegedly passing gas toward cop
Submitted by Joe Hooker Title: District 6 RepSeptember 25, 2008
Man charged after allegedly passing gas toward cop
Wed Sep 24, 9:52 PM EDT A West Virginia man who police said passed gas and fanned it toward a patrolman has been charged with battery on a police officer.
Jose A. Cruz, 34, of Clarksburg, was pulled over early Tuesday for driving without headlights, police said. According to the criminal complaint, Cruz smelled of alcohol, had slurred speech and failed three field sobriety tests before he was handcuffed and taken to a police station for a breathalyzer test.
As Patrolman T.E. Parsons prepared the machine, Cruz scooted his chair toward Parsons, lifted his leg and "passed gas loudly," the complaint said.
Cruz, according to complaint, then fanned the gas toward the officer.
"The gas was very odorous and created contact of an insulting or provoking nature with Patrolman Parsons," the complaint alleged.
He was also charged with driving under the influence, driving without headlights and two counts of obstruction.
Cruz acknowledged passing gas, but said he didn't move his chair toward the officer nor aim gas at the patrolman. He said he had an upset stomach at the time, but police denied his request to go to the bathroom when he first arrived at the station.
"I couldn't hold it no more," he said.
He also denied being drunk and uncooperative as the police complaint alleged. He added he was upset at being prepared for a breathalyzer test while having an asthma attack. The police statement said he later resisted being secured for a trip to a hospital that he requested for asthma treatment.
Cruz said the officers thought the gas incident was funny when it happened and laughed about it with him.
"This is ridiculous," he said. "I could be facing time."
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Girls in the New York Juvenile Justice System
Submitted by Christine Roose Title: District 3 RepSeptember 19, 2008
Girls in the New York Juvenile Justice System
Once you get into the system, it’s kind of hard to get out.41
Girls’ Delinquency: Systemic Failures and Pathways to Incarceration The United Nations Rules for the Protection of Juveniles Deprived of their Liberty permit the incarceration of a child only “as a last resort and for the minimum necessary period.”42 In New York, over 2,000 children are placed in OCFS custody every year. 43 The proportion of girls among these children has grown from about 14 percent in the mid-nineties to over 18 percent in 2003 and 2004.44 Of the girls in custody, about a third are confined in the high- and medium-level security facilities of Tryon and Lansing.45 Who are these children, why are they arrested and jailed, and are they truly incarcerated only as “a measure of last resort?”
The Social Welfare System Like boys, girls typically enter the system with a background of familial poverty, disruption, and disadvantage. Of children taken into OCFS custody in 2004, about 63% came from New York City, especially the poorer Bronx and Kings Counties.46 Only 23% came from two-parent households.47 In New York State, a high percentage of single-parent families with children, 33 percent, live in poverty.48 Poverty is a major risk factor for delinquency, and often is accompanied by other risk factors related to family disruption.49 Incarcerated girls in particular have frequently experienced emotional, physical, and/or sexual abuse at home.50 This history of abuse may be the most significant underlying cause of behaviors leading to girls’ delinquency.51 In New York, an informal survey of incarcerated girls conducted in the 1980s by OCFS officials found that over 70 percent had experienced physical or sexual abuse prior to their incarceration.52 This finding is consistent with national estimates.53 Histories of abuse and trauma help explain why, nationally, the majority of girls entering the juvenile justice system suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), other mental health problems, substance abuse, and physical ailments.54
Recognizing the causal link between disadvantage, unmet basic needs, and delinquency, international norms, including those concerned with delinquency prevention, stress governments’ duty to provide basic services to children such as “adequate medical and mental health care, nutrition, housing and other relevant services, including drug and alcohol abuse prevention and treatment.”55 International standards also call on governments to provide services and support to families experiencing instability and conflict,56 and to work to “prevent domestic violence against and affecting young persons and to ensure fair treatment to these victims of domestic violence.”57 Specifically, these standards urge states to provide treatment and adequate follow-up services for children and their families when abuse does occur.58 The experience of legal and social service providers in New York confirms that “[m]uch of girls’ criminal behavior could be prevented with adequate services . . . .”59
Yet in New York and elsewhere, the disadvantages of children who, in light of their background are already at high risk for delinquency, are exacerbated by multiple failures in the social systems that should provide care and services to them and their families.60 According to legal and social service providers, “the services and support that should be in place to prevent criminal behavior are lacking.”61 Crucial but failing government systems include the health, child welfare, and educational systems. As a New York delinquency defense attorney put it:
Detention and commitment institutions are just a repository for the failures of the other parts of the system. They just take whatever everyone else won’t take. Like the Office of Mental Health in this state that has failed the teenage population to a great extent, so a lot of kids are locked up because there’s no other place to live, and they claim they’ll get mental health services, but they don’t, or if they do, it’s in a lockup which isn’t a therapeutic environment. So the Office of Mental Health, and ACS,62 and school systems need to be looked at.63
New York suffers from state-wide healthcare deficiencies including poor access to services for children with mental health needs, especially for those receiving public assistance and Medicaid. This failure can result in girls being confined in juvenile prisons not only because they manifest preventable but untreated behavior problems, but also because overwhelmed parents feel they cannot control their children without state intervention, or because judges recognize that incarceration is the only way to guarantee access to health services.64 According to a study of child mental health services in New York, lack of access to adequate care sets children up for later encounters with the juvenile justice system by encouraging frustrated families to relinquish mentally ill children to state custody and ignoring health problems until the point of criminal “crisis.”65
Family instability frequently leads girls as well as boys to involvement with the child welfare system, including the foster care system, either because of parental abuse or neglect or through the filing of a petition, often by a parent, requesting the court’s help in supervising a child.66 Ironically, contact with the child welfare system is frequently not only unhelpful to families in crisis but is itself a risk factor for juvenile justice involvement. In New York, a well-traveled pathway has emerged wherein children who suffer abuse are placed in foster care where they commit a delinquent offense, initiating their involvement with OCFS.67 Foster children are overrepresented in New York City juvenile detention, and the bias is particularly strong where girls are concerned
Submitted by Kim Maus Title: District 7 RepSeptember 18, 2008
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has just published electronically its most comprehensive statistical product—the latest annual Crime in the United States report—which contains dozens of charts, tables, and documents to explore.
Among the many numbers for 2007, the big picture is clear: crime is down. Nationwide, violent crime fell for the first time since 2005. Property crime declined for the fifth straight year. And each of the seven specific offense categories—from aggravated assault to murder—was down from 2006. An estimated 1.4 million violent crimes were reported last year, a drop of 0.7 percent compared to 2006. Property crimes fell 1.4 percent in 2007, to an estimated 9.8 million. Larceny/theft offenses accounted for two-thirds of all property crimes, and victims of property crimes—excluding arson—collectively lost an estimated $17.6 billion.
The report may be accessed at the following link: http://www.fbi.gov/ucr/cius2007/index.html
East Naples man no longer will be branded sex offender
Submitted by Kim Maus Title: District 7 RepSeptember 16, 2008
Christopher William Forsyth admits he had sex with a 14-year-old girl when he was 18.
But the former East Naples man served a year in jail, is on sex-offender probation and doesn’t want to be branded a sex offender for the rest of his life.
INDIANA SUPREME COURT ADOPTS 2009 JUDICIAL CODE OF CONDUCT. AN EXPECTATION FOR JUDGES TO SERVE AS FAIR AND IMPARTIAL OF
Submitted by Christine Kerl Title: TreasurerSeptember 12, 2008
The Indiana Supreme Court is adopting a new Code of Judicial Conduct. Indiana is the second state to adopt new judicial ethics rules based on the new national model of the American Bar Association.
The 2009 Code emphasizes the “three i’s” of judicial conduct - independence, integrity, and impartiality. It continues to hold judges to strict standards of conduct in all activities. Chief Justice Randall T. Shepard, Professor Charles G. Geyh of Indiana University School of Law, and Judge Marianne Vorhees of Muncie will review the Code with judges across the state.
The new Code specifies that judges may take measures to assist unrepresented litigants in gaining a fair hearing (Canon 2.2) and encourages judges to promote pro bono work by lawyers (Canon 3.7). The Code highlights the role of judges in promoting ethics and professionalism among lawyers and other judges (Canon 1.2). The Code provides more concrete guidance for avoiding “the appearance of impropriety,” a rule long criticized for its vagueness (Canon 1). The Code imposes clear requirements for public disclosure of income, reimbursements, and gifts (Canon 3). The Code includes ethical principles intended as guidance for judicial candidates (Canon 4). The Code encourages judges to reach out to the public to promote understanding of the judicial system (Canon 2.8). These rules and many others serve as the behavior requirement for the men and women interpreting and applying the law that governs our society. The Code sets out clear expectations for judicial conduct. If the rules are violated, a judge is subject to discipline by the Indiana Supreme Court.
The 2009 Judicial Code of Conduct was submitted to the Supreme Court by a committee of the Judicial Conference of Indiana chaired by Judge Vorhees. The draft was reviewed by judges, lawyers, and the public. The committee’s work is based on the 2007 American Bar Association Model Code of Judicial Conduct. Professor Geyh and Professor Emeritus W. William Hodes, I.U. School of Law - Indianapolis., were the official Reporters of the ABA’s commission, in whose work Chief Justice Shepard participated. The new Code can be found at courts.IN.gov/rules/jud_conduct/jud_conduct09.pdf. It is effective January 1, 2009.
Submitted by Linda Brady Title: Vice-PresidentSeptember 11, 2008
September 10, 2008 By H. GEORGE FREDERICKSON
Politics and administration in the penal state
Rehearsing again the grim statistics of American crime and punishment is depressing. The Pew Center on the States reminds us that one in every hundred American is behind bars, a rate of incarceration far greater than in other developed countries. Incarceration is notably skewed along racial lines — one in nine black men aged 20 to 34 is serving time, as is one in 36 adult Hispanic men. Recent reports by the Sentencing Project and Human Rights Watch show that, despite roughly equal rates of illegal drug use by race, black men are 12 times more likely than white men to be imprisoned for it. Although African-Americans make up 12 percent of the American population, they make up over 40 percent of the jail and prison populations.
Much of growth of the prison population can be traced to drug policy and the implantation of that policy. Between 1980 and 2006, drug arrests increased from 580,000 to 1.85 million, with 80 percent of those arrests for possession rather than sale. Of those arrested for possession, just under half were arrested for the possession of marijuana.
The costs of the American penal system are astonishing. In the past 20 years, state prison costs have jumped from about $12 billion to just under $50 billion. At current projections, they are slated to grow to $75 billion by 2011. On average, almost 7 percent of state budgets now goes to support their penal systems. This growth in spending has crowded out other priorities.
It is one thing to rehearse the data on incarceration in America; it is quite another to know how to think about it. In the interest of shedding light on this dark subject, I bring to your attention an important new book: Jonathan Simon's "Governing through Crime: How the War on Crime Transformed American Democracy and Created a Culture of Fear."
To be politically effective, elected officials believe they must be tough on crime. Simon writes, "Simply put, to be for the people, legislators must be for the victims and law enforcement, and thus they must never be for (or capable of being portrayed as being for) criminals or prisoners as individuals or as a class."
As part of the war on crime, according to Simon, "Americans have built a new civil and political order structured around the problem of violent crime. In this new order, values like freedom and equality have been revised in ways that would have been shocking, if obviously unimaginable, in the late 1960s, and new forms of power institutionalized and embraced — all in the name of repressing seemingly endless waves of violent crime." This new civil and political order is, following Simon, a modern era of "governing through crime," making crime, and particularly the fear of it, the rationale for laws and policies which have resulted in mass incarceration — over 2 million Americans in prison.
"Governing through crime" is a challenging description of the politics and administration of the so-called "carceral state." Unlike "governing crime" — the ordinary work of the police, the courts and the penal system, particularly as they deal with those who break the law — "governing through crime" is the politics and administration of mass incarceration.
Governing through crime has resulted in mass imprisonment noted by its scale, its categorical (racial) application, and its increasingly warehouse-like or waste management-like qualities. Simon says: "The distinctive new form and function of the prison today is a space of pure custody, a human warehouse or even a kind of social waste management facility. ... The waste management prison promises no transformation of the prisoner through penitence, discipline, intimidation, or therapy."
What has governing through crime done to government? "Whether one values American democracy for its liberty or its equality-enhancing features, governing through crime has been bad. First, the vast reorienting of fiscal and administrative resources toward the criminal justice system at both the federal and state levels has resulted in a shift aptly described as transformation from the ‘welfare state' to the ‘penal state.'"
There are glimmers of hope. After a decade of stunning growth in prison inmates, the Texas legislature decided it was time for a change. Drug treatment is being expanded, parole practices are being reformed, parole boards are adjusting to earlier release dates, and special drug courts are being established, all designed to slow the growth of incarceration. To reduce parole violation-based reincarceration, Kansas is making grants to community corrections agencies for parolee training and monitoring, and is setting guidelines to assist judges and officers in revocation decisions. Nevada is recalibrating good time served to reduce sentences. And, there are many other examples. Nevertheless, American penal practices are abysmal, an affront to democracy and to justice.
H. George Frederickson is the Edwin O. Stene Distinguished Professor of Public Administration at the University of Kansas. He is the author of numerous books including Up the Bureaucracy, a satirical take on public administration and politics serialized in its entirety on Governing.com.
Audits find probation troubles
Submitted by Linda Brady Title: Vice-PresidentAugust 26, 2008
A Hobart police officer said Tuesday surveillance photos show Brittney McCammon beating Jamie Rodriguez's "lifeless body." Meanwhile, a psychologist and juvenile probation officer told a judge McCammon would have better treatment options if she remained in the juvenile system.
Her fate is up to a juvenile court magistrate. Lake Superior Magistrate Glenn Commons said Tuesday he needs time to read 11 witness statements and view surveillance footage from a restaurant where McCammon, 15, is accused of beating Rodriguez, 16, of Hobart.
McCammon is charged with attempted murder. Commons will decide if she remains in the juvenile system or faces charges in adult court.
Hobart police officer Patrolman Paul Peters said witnesses told him on June 4 that Rodriguez stepped outside Lake George Shrimp, 435 E. Third St., and was met by McCammon. A fight started. "She didn't have a chance to throw any punches or defend herself," Peters said.
McCammon was arrested a short distance away and told officers at the station Rodriguez started the fight with a remark.
Hobart police Detective Garrett Ciszewski said he viewed the footage, including a scene where McCammon is inflicting injuries "to a lifeless body on the ground."
Monica Nagy, a juvenile probation officer, said McCammon has no prior criminal convictions but has had trouble in school with poor grades.
She has been suspended and was expelled in eighth grade for throwing a chair.
Juvenile Transfer Laws: An Effective Deterrent to Delinquency?
Submitted by Katherine Holtzleiter Title: District 4 RepAugust 18, 2008
Provides an overview of research on the deterrent effects of transferring youth from juvenile to criminal courts, focusing on large-scale comprehensive OJJDP-funded studies on the effect of transfer laws on recidivism. The Bulletin reviews all of the extant research on the general and specific deterrent effects of transferring juveniles to adult criminal court.
Justice Frank Sullivan Announces JTAC Supervision Module Plans at POPAI Board Meeting
Submitted by Linda Brady Title: Vice-PresidentAugust 17, 2008
New Features of Odyssey Case Management System to Benefit Probation, Community Corrections, and Other Court Supervision Functions
The Indiana Supreme Court has agreed to invest an additional $1.1 million to acquire a computer system to provide advanced probation, community corrections, and other court supervisions functions, Justice Frank Sullivan, Jr., told the leadership of the Probation Officers’ Professional Association of Indiana at its monthly meeting August 13, 2008. The new features will comprise the “Supervision Module” of the Supreme Court’s Odyssey Case Management System, a computer system that Indiana trial courts and court clerks use to record and manage information on pending cases, Sullivan said.
“Adding new features to Odyssey that assist courts in supervising individuals on probation, in community corrections placements, and in other court programs will be a major step toward achieving our goal of equipping all Indiana courts with a 21st-century case management system and connecting the courts' case management systems with each other and with those who use and need court information,” Sullivan said. Sullivan chairs the Supreme Court’s Judicial Technology and Automation Committee (JTAC) which works to improve the technology available to Indiana courts.
Under Indiana law, courts administer adult and juvenile probation programs and work closely with community corrections programs. Many Indiana courts also operate Drug Court, Re-entry Court, and Court Alcohol & Drug programs that require specialized supervision of the individuals placed in those programs. The Odyssey system contains basic functions that assist in such supervision; the Supervision Module will greatly increase the power and range of these functions, Sullivan said.
Sullivan also announced that JTAC has entered into agreements with two probation specialists, Mark Harvey and Mark Rodriguez, to assist with the design and installation of the Supervision Module. Harvey, a former juvenile probation officer in Pulaski and Howard Counties, has joined JTAC as a full-time employee. Rodriguez, also a former probation officer whose company, Paperless Business Solutions, specializes in probation work, will work as a contract consultant with JTAC. “We are pleased to have the assistance of these experts in probation to assure that the Supervision Module meets the needs of those who will use its features most,” Sullivan said.
The new probation and supervisions functions were the subject of a detailed analysis in February of this year. During this process, JTAC staff met with probation and community corrections personnel to identify needed features. Staff also met with personnel from Drug Courts, Court Alcohol & Drug Programs, and the Indiana Judicial Center to gather additional input. From these meetings, JTAC developed a list of more than 100 prioritized requirements and refined this list from feedback gathered from the officials statewide who had participated in the analysis and subsequent discussions.
Some of the key functions that the Supervision Module will include are:
• providing an “Officer Dashboard” with summary information such as open contacts and office visits for the day; • generating documents in Microsoft Word and automatically merging data from the case record; • requiring drug panels for screening, tracking results, and maintaining history by probationer; • producing reports, e.g. state mandated reports, reports to track recidivism, and drug test results; • tracking demographic information, including transportation and medical information; • linking a probation case to its related court case; and • assessing and collecting fees, fines, and costs for the probation case.
The work to create the Supervision Module for Odyssey has begun by JTAC’s principal contractor, Tyler Technologies, Inc. Delivery is expected by next summer.
Odyssey has been installed in the nine Circuit Courts of Monroe County and in the Marion County Washington Township Small Claims Court since December, 2007, and January, 2008. Work is underway to install Odyssey in the courts of Warren and Tipton Counties during August and September, 2008, and in the courts of Allen, Clark, DeKalb, Floyd, Hamilton, Harrison, Huntington, Madison, and additional Marion County Small Claims Courts later in 2008 and the first half of 2009.
If you have any questions related to the Odyssey CMS Project or the future Supervision Module, please contact Mary L. DePrez, Director and Counsel for Trial Court Technology, at mdeprez@jtac.in.gov.
Jana Stanfield Keynote
Submitted by Jeremy Stevens Title: WebmasterAugust 13, 2008
The Probation Officers Professional Association of Indiana (POPAI) is pleased to offer an exciting opportunity to hear and experience the “Queen of Heavy Mental”, Jana Stanfield.
Jana is an internationally known musician and motivational speaker who will be presenting a keynote concert at the 2008 POPAI Fall Conference on Wednesday, September 3rd, 2008 at the Sheraton Indianapolis City Centre Hotel in downtown Indianapolis In an effort to share this exciting event with as many people as possible, POPAI is extending a special invitation to our friends and colleagues to attend Jana’s presentation for a small fee of just $10.00 per person.
We know not everyone has time to get away from the office for 3 days to attend the full conference. Attending the keynote only provides an excellent opportunity to spend just a few hours away from the office and return refreshed and renewed. Jana’s presentation is guaranteed to make you laugh and leave you with an enthusiastic appreciation for the good you do in the world!
The presentation will begin at 1:30 p.m. and is expected to last no more than 90 minutes. The hotel is located right off the circle in downtown Indianapolis and within walking distance of many great restaurants where you could enjoy a nice lunch prior to the presentation.
This opportunity is being offered not only to probation officers, but also to child care workers, support staff, service providers, and many others with whom we deal on a daily basis. We encourage you to attend and to pass the information on to others you believe might enjoy an afternoon of laughter, entertainment, and just plain fun!
To register, please click the read on link below to access the registration form and return it to Susan Rice, CPO, Miami County Probation, 25 Court Street, Peru, IN 46970.
Freebirds Solution Center residents have new option for spending time with their children
Submitted by Warren Hale Title: District 8 RepAugust 10, 2008
Open now for about a month, the new Children’s Overnight Visit Center at Freebirds has three bedrooms and a family room, where residents can have their children come and spend the night with them, or engage in supervised visits in the family room.
Submitted by Joe Hooker Title: District 6 RepAugust 6, 2008
Sex offender may get new trial STAFF REPORTS • August 6, 2008
Print this page E-mail this article Share this article: Del.icio.us Facebook Digg Reddit Newsvine What’s this? Judge erred, but Cox may end up with longer sentence
A Lafayette man convicted of having sexual contact with a 4-year-old boy he was baby-sitting could receive a new trial -- but a more lengthy sentence.
Michael L. Cox, 36, was sentenced in November to 21 years in prison, seven years each for three counts of child molesting as a Class C felony, after a bench trial in Tippecanoe Circuit Court.
But two of those charges had been Class A felonies. And the Indiana Court of Appeals ruled this week that Judge Pro Tem Bruce Graham erred when he reduced those offenses to C felonies.
Cox filed an appeal on grounds that he was convicted for two crimes for which he had not been charged. The appeals court agreed.
Under Indiana statute, child molesting as a Class C felony is defined as sexual contact with intent to arouse. Child molesting as a Class A felony is a more severe and explicit offense and carries a more lengthy potential sentence.
In its unanimous, six-page ruling, the higher court ruled that the judge did not have authority to reduce the offenses because they are two distinct crimes.
The appeals court also found that, given evidence presented at trial, Cox could be found guilty of two Class A felonies.
Cox was arrested in October 2006 after the boy's older sister told their mother about the incident. Cox had been watching the boy briefly at a residence on North Ninth Street in late September, which is when police suspect the molestation took place.
Cox was a friend of the victim's family.
He testified during the bench trial that he touched the boy out of curiosity and not for sexual gratification
Jacques: ‘Success story’ or ‘threat?
Submitted by Kim Maus Title: District 7 RepAugust 4, 2008
Michael Jacques of Randolph swore he was a changed man when he appeared before Judge Amy Davenport on a Monday afternoon in October 2004.
“My life had been pretty much kind of a mess up until the point when I was — found myself in jail,” he told Davenport, according to a transcript of the Oct. 18, 2004, proceeding.
Jacques testified that, because of the sex offender treatment programs he took in jail and while on probation, he was no longer the person who had
Submitted by Christine Roose Title: District 3 RepJuly 30, 2008
Tony Dungy knows a thing or two about comebacks. The Indianapolis Colts head coach and new honorary chairman of the city's ex-offender re-entry efforts said his work mentoring men behind bars usually involves focusing on how the individual got into trouble in the first place.
"We start to talk about what went wrong, just like we talk to my team after a loss and realize problems," Dungy said at a news conference at the Colts' complex to announce his role.
Dungy said ex-offenders need more opportunities to make their lives better.
"We need to not only embrace this issue, we need to help (ex-offenders) have a chance," he said.
Dungy's community work has included participation in the Prison Crusade Ministry from his time as Tampa's coach. President Bush last year appointed him to the President's Council on Service and Civic Participation.
"We're going to try to recruit the support of everyone to make our city better," Dungy said. "Not only for these ex-offenders, but for all of us."
Of the 5,000 ex-offenders flowing out of prisons and into Marion County every year, 74 percent, or 3,700, will commit another crime within three years of being released, Mayor Greg Ballard said.
A reluctance to hire former convicts causes many to end up jobless, with no way to pay for obligations such as child support, probation costs and court costs. And if they don't make those payments, often they go back to jail. For some, stealing to make the payments is the only option.
"It has been an issue that seems to be taboo," Ballard said at the news conference. "As a city, we never really wrapped our hands around it."
The city announced Monday it's taking multiple measures to address the issue, and, it hopes, to reduce Indianapolis crime rates as a result.
In its multipronged approach, the city is revising its employment manuals to give department heads greater leniency in hiring ex-offenders and to be more forgiving when such employees must attend certain sessions related to their former incarceration.
Officials also will work with the courts to make legal appointments more flexible to complement employees' schedules, said Indianapolis Public Safety Director Scott Newman.
Newman also said that the city expects to have at least $1 million in grants available soon -- funded by the federal government and the county option income tax -- for ex-offender re-entry programs.
An ex-offender employment fair is set for Aug. 4-5 at Ivy Tech Community College, said Khadijah Muhammad, the city's director of re-entry.
Muhammad said about 15 companies have signed up, but there's room for 40. She's expecting 200 to 300 ex-offenders to attend.
Sidney Dixson, 45, was released about three years ago after serving time for petty larceny, fleeing and resisting police and, before that, possession of a firearm.
He's had trouble finding work in the construction business and has heard all about the city's new re-entry plans. But, he said, he won't believe it until he sees it.
"When someone gives me a job, then I'll believe," he said.
Truants, delinquents to go to new Mahoning high school
Submitted by Katherine Holtzleiter Title: District 4 RepJuly 28, 2008
High school students in Mahoning County facing expulsion for misbehavior will get a second chance to complete their education thru a new "Education Court" when Mahoning County High School opens this fall.
Submitted by Don Travis Title: PresidentJuly 25, 2008
By Theresa D. McclellanThe Grand Rapids Press GRAND RAPIDS TOWNSHIP -- A Kent County probation officer accused of inappropriately touching a woman in his office appeared before a judge Wednesday, in the same 63rd District Court building where he has worked for the past three years.
Submitted by Joe Hooker Title: District 6 RepJuly 1, 2008
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States leads the world in rates of experimenting with marijuana and cocaine despite strict drug laws, World Health Organization researchers said on Tuesday.
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Countries with looser drug laws have lower rates of abuse, the researchers report in the Public Library of Science journal PLoS Medicine.
The survey of 54,000 people in 17 countries found that 16 percent of people in the United States had used cocaine in their lifetimes -- far higher than the next highest rate, found in New Zealand, where 4.3 percent of people reported having used cocaine.
More than 42 percent of Americans admitted to having tried cannabis, closely followed by 41 percent in New Zealand, Dr. Louisa Degenhardt of the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia and an international team of colleagues found.
Americans were also the most likely to have smoked, with 74 percent saying they used tobacco at some time in their lives, although current smoking rates are far lower at 21 percent.
The next-highest lifetime smoking rate was found in Lebanon at 67 percent, with 60 percent of Mexicans and the 61 percent of Ukrainians having ever smoked.
"Globally, drug use is not distributed evenly and is not simply related to drug policy, since countries with stringent user-level illegal drug policies did not have lower levels of use than countries with liberal ones," Degenhardt's team wrote.
Alcohol was by far the most common substance used, the researchers found in their face-to-face interviews with people.
"Alcohol use by age 15 years was far more common in European countries than in the Middle East and Africa," they wrote.
By the age of 21, up to 99 percent of Europeans, 92 percent of Japanese, 94 percent of New Zealanders and 93 percent of people in the Americas had tasted alcohol.
"Estimates were lower in the Middle East and Africa (40 percent to 63 percent)" the researchers wrote.
"In the Netherlands, Belgium, France, Germany, and New Zealand, more than 60 percent of young people had started to drink by age 15 years," they added.
"These findings add to our understanding of substance abuse world-wide, and suggest that drug use is still a major problem in this country, pointing to the need for more effective prevention interventions," U.S. National Institutes of Health director Dr. Elias Zerhouni added in a statement.
The researchers said their findings shed light on drug, alcohol and smoking policy.
"The use of drugs seems to be a feature of more affluent countries," they wrote.
"The United States, which has been driving much of the world's drug research and drug policy agenda, stands out with higher levels of use of alcohol, cocaine, and cannabis, despite punitive illegal drug policies, as well as (in many U.S. states), a higher minimum legal alcohol drinking age than many comparable developed countries," they added.
"The Netherlands, with a less criminally punitive approach to cannabis use than the U.S., has experienced lower levels of use, particularly among younger adults."
The study is available at http://medicine.plosjournals.org/perlserv/?request=get-document& doi=10.1371/journal.pmed.0050141.
(Reporting by Maggie Fox, Editing by Michael Kahn and David Wiessler
State Police warns public about meth lab trash
Submitted by Title: July 1, 2008
Fort Wayne, Ind. - With the summer months and weather upon us, people are taking advantage by walking, jogging and bike riding on our various roadways. The potential exists that some people may come across trash left behind by those who have manufactured methamphetamine.
Submitted by Christine Kerl Title: TreasurerJune 25, 2008
From the Indianapolis Star - 6/25/08 www.starnews.com
"A federal court in Indianapolis ruled Tuesday that a major portion of the revised Indiana sex offender law cannot be enforced. The ruling came one week before the new law would have gone into effect. The modified law would have required that convicted sex offenders, after they served their sentences and probation and parole time, agree to have their personal computers searched at any time and to allow their Internet access to be monitored. Tuesday, U.S. District Court in Indianapolis ruled that requirement of the new law went too far...
Submitted by Christine Roose Title: District 3 RepJune 25, 2008
ELKHART -- A dog collar and a pair of sandals were all a 31-year-old Elkhart man apparently needed to wear to mow his lawn Friday night.
But his attire, or lack thereof, landed him in jail.
He was charged with indecent exposure, a misdemeanor, after Elkhart police arrested him at 9:13 p.m. in the 2300 block of Cassopolis Street.
The man is accused of mowing his front lawn while naked. Police said he was using a riding lawnmower.
Patrolman Chris Grathen found the man walking around a fence and entering his garage to put a towel around himself, the officer said in a report. The man was arrested as he left the garage and taken to the police department for booking.
Submitted by Katherine Holtzleiter Title: District 4 RepJune 24, 2008
In a decision affecting every juvenile criminal case in Kansas, the state Supreme Court has guaranteed juvenile defendants the right to a trial before a jury. The court ruled Friday that young defendants should be afforded the protections of a jury because the distinctions between juvenile and adult justice have eroded over the past 20 years as lawmakers cracked down on juvenile crime.
Submitted by Linda Brady Title: Vice-PresidentJune 13, 2008
The Probation Officer’s Professional Association of Indiana (POPAI) is now accepting nominations for the 9th Annual POPAI “Founder’s Award.”
The “Founder’s Award” is a way of recognizing individuals who have significantly contributed to the field of probation in general, and specifically to the POPAI organization.
The recipient need not be a Probation Officer or POPAI member. The selected person, however, shall be characterized by his/her commitment of influence and promotion of professionalism to Indiana probation.
Previous award winners include Tom Frederick, George Walker, Bruce C. Embrey, Charles “Bud” Meeks, Linda Parks and Greg Werich.
POPAI WILL BE ACCEPTING NOMINATION FORMS UNTIL AUGUST 22, 2008.
Nomination forms can be downloaded from the POPAI web site. http://www.gopopai.org/awards.php
Please send nomination forms and support letters to: Christine Roose Elkhart County Juvenile Probation 315 S. Second Street Elkhart, IN 46516-3138 Fax: 574-523-2280 Email: croose@elkhartcounty.com
Any questions, contact Christine at (574) 523-2203 or your POPAI District Representative.
19-year-old and 13-year-old accused of killing victim
Submitted by Christine Roose Title: District 3 RepMay 28, 2008
ELKHART -- The two teens accused of killing Gerald Wenger appeared in court Tuesday.
The 13-year-old boy accused of the March 8 slaying had his initial hearing in juvenile court.
His next court appearance is an evidentiary hearing for a burglary charge set for 10 a.m. June 13. A waiver hearing related to the murder charge will immediately follow to determine if he will be tried in adult court.
The teen has been in detention since he was arrested on the burglary charge May 5. On May 15, he was arrested on preliminary charges of murder, carjacking and robbery in connection with the 35-year-old Wenger's death.
On March 8, police responded to the area of Middlebury and Monroe streets in Elkhart around 2 a.m. on a report of "shots fired." Wenger was found on the sidewalk in the 800 block of Monroe Street. He died of a gunshot wound.
The other person charged in Wenger's death also had his case in court Tuesday, but it wasn't the murder case.
Joshua D. Love, 19, of Elkhart, filed a petition to plead guilty in U.S. District Court in South Bend to a charge of being a felon in possession of a firearm.
He admitted that on March 24, he carried a .380 caliber handgun, even though he'd been convicted of a felony.
Under the plea deal, he faces up to 10 years in federal prison, though the U.S. Attorney's office agreed to a reduction in the level he faces under the complicated federal sentencing guidelines. No date has been scheduled for his sentencing.
Love also faces the murder charge in Elkhart Circuit Court, though he hasn't appeared on that charge.
His first hearing was scheduled for last week but was delayed until local authorities can get him from federal control.
If he's convicted in the murder case, he faces up to 65 years in an Indiana prison.
Judge Steps Down from Juvenile Court Administration
Submitted by Katherine Holtzleiter Title: District 4 RepMay 27, 2008
WILKES-BARRE – Embattled Luzerne County President Judge Mark Ciavarella has decided to step down from handling juvenile matters and has assigned Judge David Lupas to preside over the court, according to three sources. His action was presumably a response to a juvenile rights advocacy group has asking the state Supreme Court to overturn the judge’s rulings in hundreds of cases in which juveniles were not represented by an attorney.
Submitted by Linda Brady Title: Vice-PresidentMay 27, 2008
"MASSACHUSETTS is trying to save heroin users' lives with nasal spray. Since January, four pilot programs have been training heroin addicts, their family, friends, and treatment providers how to spot an overdose and spray a dose of Narcan into a victim's nose. The drug immediately reverses overdoses by blocking the brain receptors that heroin affects."
A Guide To Evidence-Based Practices (EBP) on The Web
Submitted by Kim Maus Title: District 7 RepMay 12, 2008
SAMHSA provides this Web Guide to assist the public with simple and direct connections to Web sites that contain information about interventions to prevent and/or treat mental and substance use disorders. The Web Guide provides a list of Web sites that contain information about specific evidence-based practices (EBPs) or provide comprehensive reviews of research findings.
The Web Guide can be used by stakeholders throughout the behavioral health field to promote awareness of current intervention research and to increase the implementation and availability of evidence-based practices (EBPs).
Submitted by Kim Maus Title: District 7 RepMay 8, 2008
CONGRATS goes to Sherry Porter, the 2008 Donald "Charley" Knepple scholarship winner. Sherry is a Probation Officer in Bartholomew County where she has served for 3 1/2 years. In her role as a case manager/probation officer within the Community Corrections division, she is charged with supervising higher risk offenders and has been actively involved in the efforts to implement evidence-based practices. She is pursuing her Master's degree. Good luck Sherry!!
POPAI Fall Conference Dates Announced
Submitted by Jeremy Stevens Title: WebmasterMay 8, 2008
Mark your calendars! The 2008 POPAI Fall Conference will be held September 3rd, 4th, and 5th at the Sheraton Indianapolis City Centre Hotel in downtown Indianapolis. More information will be coming soon regarding the agenda; however, information on the hotel and room reservations are accessible by clicking on "Read On" below.
Submitted by Christine Roose Title: District 3 RepApril 29, 2008
SOUTH BEND -- A former South Bend firefighter who moved to New York after his conviction here on two felony sex offense charges has remained largely unsupervised for more than two years despite a St. Joseph County judge's order for monitoring.
In 2006, Judge Jerome Frese of St. Joseph Superior Court ordered John P. Kulwicki to be placed on probation for 17 years after Kulwicki's guilty plea to one count of child exploitation and three counts of possessing child pornography. Kulwicki, then 26, had left Indiana to start a new life in New York, where he enrolled in college.
But the probation department with jurisdiction over Kulwicki in New York has declined to take his case, and although Kulwicki has reported to a probation officer here by phone, he has otherwise remained unsupervised, according to the court.
Submitted by Katherine Holtzleiter Title: District 4 RepApril 28, 2008
As the use of methamphetamine appears to be on the decline in this community, the use of prescription drugs, over-the-counter medications, and heroin (opiates) are on the rise. While attempting to put one evil nemesis to rest, we in fact woke other opportunistic creatures waiting to wreak havoc on our young people.
Two Baylor College of Medicine researchers in Houston are working on a cocaine vaccine they hope will become the first-ever medication to treat people hooked on the drug.
Submitted by Don Travis Title: PresidentApril 19, 2008
The 2008 POPAI Field Officer Training Acedemy has been scheduled for June 9-13 and June 16-20, 2008. The program will be held in Fort Wayne, IN. More details and registrations will be forthcoming.
Judge sentences lawyer for lewd gesture
Submitted by Joe Hooker Title: District 6 RepApril 17, 2008
Judge sentences lawyer for lewd gesture
Posted: April 17, 2008 09:10 AM EDT
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) - A flick of the wrist has landed an Austin lawyer in jail for contempt of court. A judge sentenced defense attorney Adam Reposa to 90 days in jail on Tuesday for making a lewd gesture and simulating masturbation while standing before a County Court-at-Law judge in March.
At a contempt hearing Monday, Judge Jan Breland said Reposa, 33, rolled his eyes and looked at her while motioning with his right hand. Reposa said the gesture came from near his hip and was aimed at a prosecutor while discussing plea negotiations in a drunken driving case.
Reposa's attorney asked for a sentence of one day in jail.
Visiting State Judge Paul Davis, however, said it was his "honor to uphold the integrity of the judicial process" and sentenced Reposa to 90 days. The attorney was led from the courtroom in handcuffs.
Davis said he teaches a course on courtroom decorum to new judges and said such cases are very rare. He also noted that Reposa had fluctuated between apologizing for offending Breland and justifying his behavior as a zealous attorney defending a client.
In a closing argument, First Assistant County Attorney Randy Leavitt said Reposa's gesture was just the latest in a string of offensive behavior, which included calling prosecutors vulgar names in court.
Abused Became Abusers In Former Probation Officer's Case
Submitted by Kim Maus Title: District 7 RepApril 14, 2008
They're the Lost Boys of Eastern Connecticut.
Each started on a bumpy path toward adulthood, finding trouble in small doses through petty crimes.
Douglas Dougherty was 16 when he stole the purse of a woman who had just bought some lottery tickets in a shopping center in Putnam. The tickets were all losers.
Marc Page was 18 when he got caught stealing a couple gallons of gas from the pump at the Hebron Public Works Department garage.
Scott Evans was 15 when he was caught drinking in the Big Y parking lot in Danielson.
As first-time offenders, they got no jail time when they appeared before a judge in Superior Court in Danielson. Each got something that would turn out to be far worse -- a probation officer named Richard Straub.
Submitted by Linda Brady Title: Vice-PresidentApril 10, 2008
On April 8, 2008, the following message was sent to Probation “Gap Analysis” participants by Mary DePrez, Director and Counsel For Trial Court Technology, Indiana Supreme Court, Division of State Court Administration, Judicial Technology and Automation Committee (JTAC).
Hello,
The CMS Project continues to move forward and everyone is keeping very busy wrapping up Phase 1 and planning for upcoming implementations in our Phase 2 counties. We wanted to take a moment to provide you with an update regarding our efforts toward accommodating the needs for Indiana Probation and Community Corrections.
Thank you for attending the meetings in mid-February to take a closer look with us at Tyler Technologies Odyssey Supervision product, and for providing your thoughts and input regarding Indiana's unique requirements in this area. We have begun to assemble and consider the information we gathered during that time and would like to enlist your help once again as we move forward.
Attached is a list of the requirements we compiled based on discussions in February. We have also used our best judgment in considering which are "must haves" for an initial implementation in the Probation and Community Corrections offices (see column "B"). Column "A" indicates the group(s) to which we consider the requirement applies. (Juvenile, Adult, Community Corrections) Column "C" contains the desired functionality and additional information is provided in Column "D". We would like for you to take some time to review this list, confirm the requirements and our "must have" designations, and offer additional comments or notes in the space provided in Column "E".
If possible, please return your feedback to Mary Kronoshek (mkronoshek@jtac.in.gov) by the end of next week, Friday April 18th. Your timely response will help us keep making forward progress. Please do not hesitate to phone or email your questions to Emily Mahurin at emahurin@crowechizek.com or 317.690.0777.
Thanks again for your help and interest!
Mary
Mary L. DePrez, Director and Counsel For Trial Court Technology Indiana Supreme Court Division of State Court Administration Judicial Technology and Automation Committee mdeprez@jtac.in.gov 317.233.9926
Submitted by Linda Brady Title: Vice-PresidentApril 9, 2008
She tried to kill self, officials say
By Harold J. Adams hjadams@courier-journal.com
A woman is in jail after authorities say she took a gun into a meeting with a probation officer in Jeffersonville yesterday and threatened a corrections officer with it before trying to shoot herself. Amanda Overstreet, 25, of Jeffersonville, arrived at the Clark County Courthouse and Government Building shortly after 2 p.m. for an appointment with Robert Clements, the probation officer for Clark Superior Court No. 3, Clements said. Clements said he had asked the Clark County sheriff's office to send two officers to the meeting because Overstreet was to be arrested on a probation violation, and she had a history of resisting arrest.
Submitted by Christine Roose Title: District 3 RepMarch 31, 2008
Tucked into the 600 pages of tax-reform legislation signed into law last week by Gov. Mitch Daniels are several provisions that will mean judges might no longer get the last word in deciding what's best for abused children in the state's care.
The coming changes have already made judges and others apprehensive, though advocates say they will deliver millions in savings to taxpayers while expanding the state's ability to collect federal reimbursements.
The new policies and procedures outlined in House Enrolled Act 1001 are part of a shift that makes the state, rather than counties, responsible for the $440 million annual cost of providing services to abused and neglected children and their families as well as to youths in the juvenile justice system.
James W. Payne, who heads the Department of Child Services, called the legislation "a unique opportunity to move forward" with child welfare reforms launched by Daniels in 2005. Most of the changes are set to take effect Jan. 1.
But Payne acknowledged there will be an adjustment period for judges, service providers, local officials and others who will see their roles changing -- in some cases, significantly.
"We'll take our lumps," he said of the anticipated fallout. "But in the end, this is about doing what's best for children and families."
In addition to removing the child welfare cost from local tax levies -- about $100 million a year in Marion County alone -- other changes specify:
DCS must sign off on plans ordered by judges for abused and neglected children and their families.
DCS and courts must use services eligible for partial federal reimbursement whenever possible.
DCS must review probation plans for delinquents when it is paying for services. As with plans for abused and neglected children, if a judge does not follow the DCS recommendation, the county could be liable for costs.
While the primary reason for the changes is to improve service, Payne said containing program costs was a major consideration when legislators agreed to assume the costs of child welfare. Program costs have increased about 7 percent on average each year for the last decade.
Payne said the state now collects about half of the federal funds it could receive for the care it delivers to abused and neglected children and slightly more than 10 percent of what it could draw in juvenile delinquency cases.
Two factors contribute to those low rates: judicial orders that do not include the appropriate language to qualify for federal reimbursement, and placement of children in programs that are not eligible for the cost-sharing. The legislation addresses both of those issues, Payne said, and the changes should "mean millions to the state" in new federal funds.
Payne said the significance of his agency's newly expanded role in dictating services should not be overblown, given that judges and child advocates typically agree with DCS recommendations in about 75 percent of more than 12,000 cases that are in progress in any year.
The focus on capturing more federal dollars, along with other changes intended to move children through the system more quickly, are keys to holding down costs, Payne said. Those two issues were DCS goals even before the Legislature began debating details of the tax plan.
Not all judges and child advocates see the new approach as ideal, but pressure to provide property tax relief helped push the more controversial changes through the Legislature.
"If we're going to take over this in order to reduce property taxes, the state's going to have to be the paymaster. The state's going to have to decide who the service provider is," Sen. Luke Kenley, R-Noblesville told advocates at a hearing on the matter in December.
Howard County Judge Lynn Murray, who heads the Indiana Juvenile and Family Court Judges Council, said Kenley told her "in no uncertain terms" that costs had to be contained and judges would have to accept that fact.
The changes, however, will create several funding challenges in Marion County, said Judge Marilyn Moores, who oversees the county's juvenile court system.
Moores said the state is not taking responsibility for all the services and programs paid through the county fund being eliminated by the shift to state financing. Examples, she said, include the estimated $750,000 cost of providing health care to juveniles in detention and a community transition program to help children leaving juvenile detention stay out of trouble.
"I certainly understand the need for a more homogenous approach across the state, but the taxpayers in Marion County didn't get the full story of what the state was picking up," she said. "Those items will still have to be paid for."
Had the reform package not been adopted, pressure at the local level to hold down property taxes could have created even bigger problems for child welfare programs in many counties, according to Cathy Graham, executive director of IARCCA, a coalition of more than 100 residential care providers.
"I think we all knew the engine of taxpayer concern about property taxes would make something happen," Graham said, "and I believe everyone worked together to come up with something we could all live with and the children could live with."
As part of his probation, LeRoy Schad, 72, must have signs on his Hudson, Kan., home. He also has to put a sign on his car when he goes to counseling. HUDSON, Kan. — Under a judge's order, a man who has admitted molesting a boy has posted signs around his house and a decal on his car proclaiming that he is a sex offender.
The hand-painted signs reading "A Sex Offender Lives Here" are posted on all four sides of Leroy Schad's white house in this central Kansas town of only about 150 people. His vehicle has a large decal with bold yellow lettering reading "Sex Offender In This Car."
Schad, 72, was originally charged with four counts of taking indecent liberties with a 9-year-old girl and an 11-year-old boy in 2005. He was allowed to plead guilty in March 2007 to a lesser charge of aggravated indecent solicitation of a child, and the original charges were dismissed.
District Judge Ron Svaty sentenced him to five years of probation and house arrest, and ordered him to post the signs during his punishment.
Schad is appealing the sign requirement. He could have faced about three years behind bars.
"I know that I deserve something for that, but I don't think I deserve what I got," he said.
The signs went up a few months ago. Schad said the loneliness and isolation imposed by the house arrest are the toughest to deal with.
"It's been pure hell," said Schad, who has lived in the town since 1971.
Svaty declined to comment on his ruling, citing Kansas rules of judicial conduct.
Defense attorney Joel Jackson would not comment beyond saying the signs were the judge's idea.
Ron Keefover, spokesman for the Kansas Supreme Court, said he could not remember any other sex offense case with similar conditions.
"I'm sure there is nothing specifically that says a court may sentence in this manner, but I think that the court has latitude in terms of the conditions it sets," said Helen Pedigo, executive director of the Kansas Sentencing Commission.
Neighbor Pete Witt said Shad does not create any problems.
"We have a lot more troubles with drugs in this town than we ever did with Leroy Schad," Witt said.
Schad admitted that he molested the boy but denied the other allegations. He said he took the plea deal to spare the children the ordeal of testifying and to "get this over with."
LEARNING FROM FAILURE: A ROUNDTABLE ON CRIMINAL JUSTICE INNOVATION
Submitted by Linda Brady Title: Vice-PresidentMarch 24, 2008
Greg Berman
Criminal justice literature is full of “best practices”—depictions of how drug courts reduced recidivism, or how COMPSTAT2 helped lower crime rates in New York City, or how DNA testing enabled a culprit to be nabbed. And rightly so: success in any endeavor is difficult to achieve and deserves to be celebrated. This is especially true in criminal justice, where for too long practitioners labored under the widespread assumption that “nothing works” and that it was impossible to reduce crime or change the behavior of offenders. In general, it is human nature to shout about new ideas that have succeeded—while failure is discussed in hushed whispers, if at all. In truth, we know that it is impossible to have trial without error. No one is perfect. Nearly every criminal justice agency has attempted projects that have fizzled or failed to meet expectations. If we want to encourage criminal justice officials to test new ideas and challenge conventional wisdom, we need to create a climate where failure is openly discussed. We need to learn from our failures (and partial successes), examining whether an initiative works for some groups but not for others and figuring out what was wrong with the underlying assumptions that led us to try such an approach.
County praised for being test site for courts case management system
Submitted by Linda Brady Title: Vice-PresidentMarch 20, 2008
by Bethany Nolan 331-4373 | bnolan@heraldt.com March 18, 2008
Monroe County’s judicial system was praised Monday for piloting the state’s new Odyssey computer case management system.
Indiana Supreme Court Justice Frank Sullivan Jr. also announced some upgrades to the Web-based system the state hopes will eventually be used in all 92 counties, and he also unveiled a new log-in screen for Odyssey that features the Monroe County Courthouse.
Sullivan admitted there have been some bugs in the new system, which the county began using Dec. 17. “It’s not all been a bed of roses,” Sullivan said Monday during a visit to Bloomington. “The pilot is not called a pilot by accident ... Change is hard and this is complicated stuff.”
But local court reporters, employees in the clerks office and others who use the system have been gracious and worked with the state on the issues, he said. “It’s so gratifying the people in this building have been willing to take this upon themselves, and realize they’re in the process of building something of enormous importance to the state’s entire justice system,” Sullivan said.
He spoke briefly in the atrium of the Justice Building, where a screen set up in the corner displayed the new log-in screen for the program. The Monroe County Courthouse—sans fish, however — is the dominant feature of the new screen. The idea was to honor Monroe County for its participation and “pioneering spirit,” Sullivan said. Donna Edgar, with the Indiana Supreme Court’s Judicial Technology and Automation Committee, said several upgrades were added to the system Monday, including adding more information to a case’s chronological case summary and a new function to help the clerk’s office balance its books.
The county is a test site for Odyssey, the state’s new Webbased computerized case management system. Eight counties are next in line to hook onto the program: Huntington, Allen, DeKalb, Hamilton, Madison, Harrison, Floyd and Clark counties. The Judicial Technology and Automation Committee has said it hopes the program will be used in all 92 counties within five years and is footing the bill for the system, developed by Texas based Tyler Technology.
Odyssey enables courts to automate functions such as imaging, accounting, docketing and creating calendars and reports. In addition, it allows the public to check the status of a case through the Internet for free. That Web site can be accessed at http://mycase.in.gov.
DONALD "CHARLEY" KNEPPLE SCHOLARSHIP NOW AVAILABLE
Submitted by Christine Kerl Title: TreasurerMarch 14, 2008
The Probation Officers Professional Association of Indiana has provided an annual $1,000.00 scholarship in memory of Donald "Charley" Knepple to members seeking advanced education. Charley lost his life on April 28, 1997, while performing his probation officer duties in Allen County, Indiana. In an effort to honor an outstanding professional and to promote further professionalism, POPAI selected a scholarship that would encourage continued education and advanced degrees for probation in Indiana.
Please click on the above scrolling link for this year's application. All submissions are due no later than Friday, April 4 and will be announced at the Annual Probation Officer's Meeting in May.
Gary man ordered to move to Lafayette
Submitted by Joe Hooker Title: District 6 RepMarch 13, 2008
Gary man ordered to move to Lafayette in six months
March 8, 2008 Post-Tribune staff report
A Gary man facing a maximum 20-year sentence in three drug-dealing cases was sentenced to eight years of probation Friday and ordered to relocate to Lafayette within six months. Timothy Sandifer, 26, pleaded guilty in January to dealing in cocaine. His plea agreement capped his sentence at 12 years.
"He was a very small-time peddler," defense attorney Garry Weiss said of Sandifer.
Deputy Prosecutor Karen Villarruel argued for a 10-year prison sentence. She cited Sandifer's four prior misdemeanor convictions and the fact that at one time Sandifer had seven felony cases pending.
Murray said based on Sandifer's lack of prior felony convictions, the small amount of cocaine he sold in a controlled buy in September 2006 and his supportive family, he was imposing an eight-year sentence, which he suspended and ordered served on probation.
Sandifer apologized for the crime, which he said hurt his family and the community, and acknowledged he was headed down the wrong path. While the case was pending he earned his high school equivalency diploma.
Murray said moving from the area may help Sandifer stay on track
13000 Claims of Abuse in Juvenile Detention since 2004
Submitted by Christine Roose Title: District 3 RepMarch 4, 2008
The Columbia Training School — pleasant on the outside, austere on the inside — has been home to 37 of the most troubled young women in Mississippi. If some of those girls and their advocates are to be believed, it is also a cruel and frightening place.
The school has been sued twice in the past four years. One suit brought by the U.S. Justice Department, which the state settled in 2005, claimed detainees were thrown naked in to cells and forced to eat their own vomit. The second one, brought by eight girls last year, said they were subjected to "horrendous physical and sexual abuse." Several of the detainees said they were shackled for 12 hours a day.
These are harsh and disturbing charges — and, in the end, they were among the reasons why state officials announced in February that they will close Columbia. But they aren't uncommon.
Across the country, in state after state, child advocates have deplored the conditions under which young offenders are housed — conditions that include sexual and physical abuse and even deaths in restraints. The U.S. Justice Department has filed lawsuits against facilities in 11 states for supervision that is either abusive or harmfully lax and shoddy.
Submitted by Katherine Holtzleiter Title: District 4 RepMarch 3, 2008
Across the country, in state after state, child advocates have deplored the conditions under which young offenders are housed — conditions that include sexual and physical abuse and even deaths in restraints. The U.S. Justice Department has filed lawsuits against facilities in 11 states for supervision that is either abusive or harmfully lax and shoddy.
Submitted by Katherine Holtzleiter Title: District 4 RepMarch 3, 2008
Advocates for children in the custody of the Department of Youth Services say recent incidents of alleged staff misconduct highlight the need for an ombudsman to provide better oversight of the system charged with caring for some of the state's most troubled youth. (BOSTON GLOBE)
Submitted by Joe Hooker Title: District 6 RepFebruary 28, 2008
Record-high ratio of Americans in prison By DAVID CRARY, AP National Writer 45 minutes ago
NEW YORK - For the first time in history, more than one in every 100 American adults is in jail or prison, according to a new report tracking the surge in inmate population and urging states to rein in corrections costs with alternative sentencing programs.
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The report, released Thursday by the Pew Center on the States, said the 50 states spent more than $49 billion on corrections last year, up from less than $11 billion 20 years earlier. The rate of increase for prison costs was six times greater than for higher education spending, the report said.
Using updated state-by-state data, the report said 2,319,258 adults were held in U.S. prisons or jails at the start of 2008 — one out of every 99.1 adults, and more than any other country in the world.
The steadily growing inmate population "is saddling cash-strapped states with soaring costs they can ill afford and failing to have a clear impact either on recidivism or overall crime," said the report.
Susan Urahn, managing director of the Pew Center on the States, said budget woes are prompting officials in many states to consider new, cost-saving corrections policies that might have been shunned in the recent past for fear of appearing soft in crime.
"We're seeing more and more states being creative because of tight budgets," she said in an interview. "They want to be tough on crime, they want to be a law-and-order state — but they also want to save money, and they want to be effective."
The report cited Kansas and Texas as states which have acted decisively to slow the growth of their inmate population. Their actions include greater use of community supervision for low-risk offenders and employing sanctions other than reimprisonment for ex-offenders who commit technical violations of parole and probation rules.
"The new approach, born of bipartisan leadership, is allowing the two states to ensure they have enough prison beds for violent offenders while helping less dangerous lawbreakers become productive, taxpaying citizens," the report said.
While many state governments have shown bipartisan interest in curbing prison growth, there also are persistent calls to proceed cautiously.
"We need to be smarter," said David Muhlhausen, a criminal justice expert with the conservative Heritage Foundation. "We're not incarcerating all the people who commit serious crimes — but we're also probably incarcerating people who don't need to be."
According to the report, the inmate population increased last year in 36 states and the federal prison system.
The largest percentage increase — 12 percent — was in Kentucky, where Gov. Steve Beshear highlighted the cost of corrections in his budget speech last month. He noted that the state's crime rate had increased only about 3 percent in the past 30 years, while the state's inmate population has increased by 600 percent.
The Pew report was compiled by the Center on the State's Public Safety Performance Project, which is working directly with 13 states on developing programs to divert offenders from prison without jeopardizing public safety.
"For all the money spent on corrections today, there hasn't been a clear and convincing return for public safety," said the project's director, Adam Gelb. "More and more states are beginning to rethink their reliance on prisons for lower-level offenders and finding strategies that are tough on crime without being so tough on taxpayers."
The report said prison growth and higher incarceration rates do not reflect a parallel increase in crime or in the nation's overall population. Instead, it said, more people are behind bars mainly because of tough sentencing measures, such as "three-strikes" laws, that result in longer prison stays.
"For some groups, the incarceration numbers are especially startling," the report said. "While one in 30 men between the ages of 20 and 34 is behind bars, for black males in that age group the figure is one in nine."
The nationwide figures, as of Jan. 1, include 1,596,127 people in state and federal prisons and 723,131 in local jails — a total 2,319,258 out of almost 230 million American adults.
The report said the United States is the world's incarceration leader, far ahead of more populous China with 1.5 million people behind bars. It said the U.S. also is the leader in inmates per capita (750 per 100,000 people), ahead of Russia (628 per 100,000) and other former Soviet bloc nations which make up the rest of the Top 10.
.F. probation officers bike to clients
Submitted by Warren Hale Title: District 8 RepFebruary 26, 2008
In a city where the local government gets the most attention for big, brash moves like same-sex marriage and universal health care, Darrin Dill is doing cutting-edge work in San Francisco's adult probation department with little more than a bike, a helmet and mirrored sunglasses.
Submitted by Linda Brady Title: Vice-PresidentFebruary 19, 2008
By Bethany Nolan 331-4373 | bnolan@heraldt.com February 9, 2008
Monroe County is still working out a few bugs in its new computerized court case management program. The Odyssey system, launched a few months ago, is planned to eventually be used statewide.
“The magnitude of the project is difficult to adequately describe,” Monroe Circuit Judge Kenneth Todd said. “We didn’t totally realize fully how complicated and how large a challenge this was.”
He continued: “But all in all ... when you take into consideration the magnitude of the project and what needed to be done to make it work, things have gone as well as could really be expected. We anticipated these kinds of things and, sure enough, here they are.”
The issues
Here’s a look at a few of the issues:
• Initially, the system didn’t properly convert all the data from about 600,000 old cases to the new system. Essentially, the two computer programs didn’t match exactly, so some of the old data didn’t fit into the right spots in the new program. “Ninety percent of it converted great, but there were some issues,” Todd said.
• Court calendars didn’t convert initially, which made for some interesting days for court personnel as people appeared for nonexistent hearings or others failed to appear for a hearing they didn’t know were scheduled.
• Third, there were some hardware and software issues with the system. Since it’s Web-based, if the Internet goes down, it does too. The county and Texas-based program creator Tyler Technology are working on the issue, county technology director Larry Smith said. The strategy has included upping the county’s bandwidth by nearly 10 times its former strength, and there’s a plan to do a traffic study to better understand usage and other details about the network connection.
“I’m highly confident those little glitches we’re seeing will be resolved, and we’ll have a system everybody will find acceptable and that will meet their expectations,” Smith said.
• Fourth, the public access component has generated some grumbling from local attorneys and others who use it regularly.
Bloomington attorney Geoff Grodner said some are concerned about the access, including that a criminal case search for a person by name can turn up dozens of both current and disposed cases in no particular order. Members of the bar are planning a meeting with the board of judges to discuss concerns.
“They’re clearly doing what they can and I understand they’re working hard to get it up and running,” he said. “It’s like any major software change ... There are pluses and minuses to being the beta site.”
The kudos
Monroe County got a shout out from Indiana Supreme Court Chief Justice Randall T. Shepard recently during his annual State of the Judiciary speech, where the county was lauded for being the first to try the new system.
“It was nice of him to mention us and note the work of the people here,” Todd said. “It’s a large undertaking with a lot of challenges.”
The county began using the new Odyssey computer system in December. The state is footing the bill for the Web-based system, which enables courts to automate functions such as imaging, accounting, docketing and creating calendars and reports.
Eight counties are next in line to hook onto the program: Huntington, Allen, DeKalb, Hamilton, Madison, Harrison, Floyd and Clark counties, the first perhaps as early as June. The state Supreme Court’s Judicial Technology and Automation Committee has said it hopes the program will be used in all 92 counties within five years.
The next step
An Odyssey upgrade for Monroe County is planned March 17, which will include streamlining how entries are made so court reporters don’t have to type some things twice, implementing a better system to notify attorneys of upcoming hearings and creating a financial calculator for the clerk’s office so people can obtain a payoff amount for monetary judgments, said Donna Edgar, project manager with the Judicial Technology and Automation Committee.
“Things have gone surprisingly well,” she said, adding county personnel have adapted well. “We turned their world upside down by using the new system. This is how they do their job.”
Overall, the end result will be better data that will allow officials to better track local criminal justice trends, Todd said.
“I’m satisfied this will eventually be a significant advancement from where we were,” he said. “We’ll be able to get data to help us analyze the work that we’re doing.”
Submitted by Linda Brady Title: Vice-PresidentFebruary 19, 2008
The Clark County Council agreed yesterday to pay $850,000 to the county's courts to settle a long-running dispute over who has authority to decide how fees paid to the courts by probationers can be spent.
The council also must pay an estimated $250,000 in legal fees for both sides in the dispute. The money will come from the county's Rainy Day Fund
Submitted by Kim Maus Title: District 7 RepFebruary 18, 2008
Talking to Kenneth Tucker is kind of like listening to your grandpa and his friends sitting around telling stories.
“In college, you always had those professors that had everyone in the class introduce themselves,” Tucker said. “I would always say, ‘My name is Kenneth Tucker. I’ve been in jail seven years, spent three months at reform school and been on probation ever since.’ You would hear people whispering in the hall afterwards, ‘What did that guy do?’”
Submitted by Katherine Holtzleiter Title: District 4 RepFebruary 4, 2008
Young criminals coming out of Wisconsin's prisons are more likely to reoffend and end up back behind bars than their adult counterparts, according to a report released Friday.
Submitted by Christine Roose Title: District 3 RepFebruary 4, 2008
Noblesville -- The Hamilton County Community Corrections and Probation departments have teamed with the jail to create Work Crew, a program that will start in the spring as a way to fulfill weekend jail sentences and provide punishment more strict than traditional probation.
Ralph Watson, director of Community Corrections, said construction at the jail complex forced the weekend-sentencing program -- intermittent incarceration -- to be discontinued in August. That program allowed nonviolent probation violators to serve sentences over weekends at Community Corrections. Watson said 60 beds were available, and 35 to 40 people, on average, used them. When the jail and Community Corrections expansion work began, those beds were needed to house jail inmates.
Probation officer Paul McGriff said the crews will work 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Saturday and Sunday for nonprofit organizations or public agencies.
Flynn Tearfully Apologizes For Killing Gregory Smart
Submitted by Warren Hale Title: District 8 RepJanuary 25, 2008
The man convicted of shooting and killing Gregory Smart in 1990 tearfully asked for forgiveness Friday as he attempted to have his sentence reduced. William Flynn was 16 and having an affair with Pamela Smart when he shot and killed her husband in Derry, N.H. He was sentenced to 28 years to life in prison and isn't eligible for parole for
