By Noam N. Levey, Los Angeles Times

August 11, 2010

Reporting from Washington

The top executives at the nation's five largest for-profit health insurance companies pulled in nearly $200 million in compensation last year — while their businesses prepared to hit ratepayers with double-digit premium increases, according to a new analysis conducted by healthcare activists.

The leaders of Cigna Corp., Humana Inc., UnitedHealth Group and WellPoint Inc. each in effect received raises in 2009, the report concluded, based on an analysis of company reports filed with the Security and Exchange Commission.

H. Edward Hanway, former chief executive of Philadelphia-based Cigna, topped the list of high-paid executives, thanks to a retirement package worth $110.9 million. Cigna paid Hanway and his successor, David Cordani, a total of $136.3 million last year.

Only one executive in the list actually saw his paycheck shrink last year: Ron Williams, the CEO of Hartford, Conn.-based Aetna Inc., earned nearly $18.2 million in total compensation, down from $24.4 million in 2008.

"Most families are struggling to hang on. Employers are struggling to stay in business. And these guys were giving themselves huge raises," said Ethan Rome, executive director of Health Care for America Now, a coalition of advocacy groups that prepared the report.

A spokeswoman for WellPoint said executives' compensation reflects their effort to improve care and hit corporate goals. Representatives of the other four insurers either declined to comment Tuesday on the report or did not respond to questions.

The executive packages were calculated by adding base salaries, bonuses, stock awards and other compensation reported on company financial statements. It did not include the value of exercised stock options.

Last year was highly profitable for most of the country's big publicly traded insurers. In the first two quarters of this year, profits for many insurers have continued to soar more than 20%.

Aetna's net income jumped more than 40% in the second quarter of 2010 compared with a year earlier. Indianapolis-based WellPoint recorded a 51% increase in its profit in the first quarter compared with the same period in 2009.

At the same time, the companies have sought major premium hikes. In Rhode Island, UnitedHealth of Minnetonka, Minn., this spring sought increases of up to 15.5%. In Utah, some customers of Humana of Louisville, Ky., reported increases of 29%.

In California, WellPoint subsidiary Anthem Blue Cross planned increases as high as 39% earlier this year. (The company later scaled them back, acknowledging errors in its rate-setting).

Industry officials have said the rate hikes are necessary because of rising medical costs, but insurance companies have faced added scrutiny as executive pay grows. After UnitedHealth CEO Stephen Hemsley cashed in nearly $99 million worth of stock options last year, a group of shareholders launched a bid to expand shareholder input on executive pay.

"It creates a culture of over-compensation," said Lance E. Lindblom, president of the Nathan Cummings Foundation, which led the ultimately unsuccessful effort to increase oversight at UnitedHealth. "That takes eyes off the ball of performance."

http://www.latimes.com/health/la-fi-insurance-salaries-20100811,0,7977234,print.story

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By Lisa Mascaro, Tribune Washington Bureau

August 11, 2010

Reporting from Washington

Congress on Tuesday gave final approval to a $26.1-billion aid package for cash-strapped states that will keep 161,000 teachers and thousands of police, fire and other local government workers from being laid off. The legislation was quickly signed by President Obama.

The funding will also help states maintain medical services for low-income people.

The measure was approved on a virtual party-line vote after the House was summoned back to Washington from its August recess for a rare one-day session. The House approved the bill, 247 to 161, with all but three Democrats present voting for the bill and all but two Republicans present voting against.

Democrats supported the bill as crucial to maintaining vital public services at a time when the nation's faltering economic recovery has left state and local governments in dire financial straits.

Republicans denounced it as another expensive federal bailout and accused Democrats of catering to teachers unions and other special interests.

In a sign of how heavily deficit concerns have come to weigh on this Congress, the bill is fully paid for mainly by ending some tax breaks for companies operating overseas, as well as by imposing an earlier end to a food stamp program.

Prior to the vote, Obama, joined by teachers in the Rose Garden, urged swift passage.

"We can't stand by and do nothing while pink slips are given to the men and women who educate our children or keep our communities safe," Obama said. "That's why today we're trying to pass a law that will save hundreds of thousands of additional jobs in the coming year."

The House returned for the vote after the Senate surprised Washington by quickly passing the measure last week.

"I can't think of a better reason for members to rush back to the capital than to invest in our children, our future," said Jared Polis, a freshman Democrat from Colorado. "This is not spending we are considering today. This is an investment — an investment in our children and our future."

Republicans had been under pressure not to yield on the aid package, even as governors from both major parties sought the funds. Many states had already counted the money in their budgets.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce warned lawmakers that it might rate their performance on this vote. The group opposed the measure because of the proposal to close foreign tax breaks that it said would "impose draconian tax increases on American worldwide companies that would hinder job creation."

Rep. David Dreier (R-San Dimas) noted the salary scandal in the city of Bell — where the former city manager, among other officials, had been paid exorbitantly — as an example of reckless government spending. "We need to put an end to the cycle of bailouts," Dreier said.

The legislation provides $10 billion for state education jobs that the Department of Education said Tuesday would save 161,000 educators' jobs nationwide, including 16,500 in California.

The package also provides $16 billion to extend through June 2011 a funding increase for Medicaid, the state-federal program that provides healthcare for low-income people.

States had been counting on the federal government to continue helping them pay for the rising costs of covering the poor, as had been approved under the 2009 economic recovery act.

Many states, including California, were exposed to gaping budget holes without the aid. California will receive $1.2 billion.

The liberal-leaning Economic Policy Institute estimates the Medicaid funds will save an additional 158,000 jobs nationwide.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-state-aid-20100811,0,2994144,print.story

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By Ken Dilanian, Tribune Washington Bureau

August 11, 2010

Reporting from Washington

Immigration officials now have access to the fingerprints of every inmate booked into jail in all 25 U.S. counties along the Mexican border, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said Tuesday, touting the program as a way of identifying and deporting "criminal aliens."

Napolitano's announcement came as immigrant rights activists criticized the fingerprinting program, known as Secure Communities, after obtaining documents showing that more than a quarter of those deported under its auspices had no criminal records.

The program "essentially co-opts police into doing the job of the federal government," said Sunita Patel of the Center for Constitutional Rights, one of several groups that forced the disclosure of documents through a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit.

That charge is baseless, Homeland Security Department officials said. Secure Communities gives Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, the ability to check the fingerprints of those arrested against a database that will show whether they have ever been deported or otherwise had contact with immigration agents.

If the agency determines that the person is in the country illegally, federal agents can institute deportation proceedings. Records show that happens in some cases, but not all.

"The Secure Communities initiative reflects ICE's ongoing commitment to smart, tough enforcement strategies that help ensure the apprehension of dangerous criminal aliens," ICE director John Morton said. "Expediting removals decreases the amount of time these individuals spend in ICE custody — saving taxpayers money and strengthening public safety."

By some estimates, as many as 1 million illegal immigrants now living in the U.S. have committed crimes, Morton has said. ICE is often unaware of them, even when they are in jail or prison.

Secure Communities makes notification automatic. ICE says the program has identified more than 262,900 illegal immigrants in jails and prisons who have been charged with or convicted of criminal offenses, including more than 39,000 charged with or convicted of violent offenses or major drug crimes. 

The Homeland Security Department has expanded the initiative from 14 to 544 jurisdictions in the last 18 months. Among the jurisdictions are Los Angeles and San Diego counties, as well as the counties encompassing Houston, Dallas, Phoenix, Miami and Philadelphia. ICE plans to implement the program nationwide by 2013.

Overall, ICE expects to remove 400,000 illegal immigrants this year, a record. Although ICE says it focuses on deporting criminals, it continues to expel noncriminals, a practice that has drawn criticism from immigration rights advocates. Other critics say ICE is not tough enough.

In the first 10 months of fiscal year 2010, 142,000 illegal immigrants with criminal records were deported, ICE said — a third more than in the same period of the prior year. About 50,000 noncriminals were removed.

Noncriminals can include those who have failed to show up for deportation hearings, those who recently crossed the border illegally or those who reentered the country after deportation, ICE spokesman Richard Rocha said.

Some of the immigrants deemed to be criminals were convicted of minor crimes, such as disorderly conduct.

The documents obtained by the immigration rights groups show that a total of 47,000 people have been removed since 2008 after being flagged under the Secure Communities fingerprint matching program. Of those, about 28% were noncriminals.

There were a total of 119,000 fingerprint matches, but a match does not automatically mean a person is subject to removal.

The advocates noted that in some counties the proportion of noncriminals removed through Secure Communities was much higher — 82% in Travis County, Texas, for example.

"This indicates that police officers are picking up people on pretexts" to engineer their deportations, said Bridget Kessler of Yeshiva University's Cardozo School of Law in New York.

A spokesman for the Travis County sheriff said the agency had a policy of not inquiring about the immigration status of its inmates.

A Homeland Security official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was discussing changes not yet announced, said the department was seeking changes to ensure a focus on serious criminals and not on those who commit minor offenses.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-security-fingerprint-20100811,0,4087493,print.story

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By Raheem Salman and Liz Sly, Los Angeles Times

August 11, 2010

Reporting from Baghdad

Baghdad's traffic police have a hard enough job as it is, what with blistering summer temperatures and the generally unruly behavior of motorists in Iraq's often-gridlocked capital.

Their job has just become a lot harder.

In the last week, 11 of their number have been killed and more than two dozen injured in a sudden surge of attacks in different parts of the city, making it clear that traffic police are being deliberately targeted.

Some have been mown down in drive-by shootings. Others have been blown up as they drive to and from work by "sticky bombs" attached to the underside of their vehicles. Improvised bombs have destroyed the little work cabins in which they take shelter. Hand grenades have been tossed at their mobile patrols. And bombs have exploded at two traffic directorates.

In the latest attack Monday, a traffic policeman was badly injured when a sticky bomb blew up his car as he arrived for work.

"This is the new strategy — to target the traffic police, who represent law, order and civilization," said Dhia Subhi Rahman, a traffic policeman at one major intersection. "But people measure the civilization of any country by its traffic, so we will never stop doing our job."

Nobody knows for sure who is carrying out the attacks, although many point at Al Qaeda in Iraq, which is suspected of attempting a comeback as U.S. troops draw down and the political deadlock over the formation of a new government drags on.

"We think it's Al Qaeda," said Army Brig. Gen. Ralph Baker, a deputy commander of U.S. forces in Baghdad. "We think they are trying to improve their freedom of movement in the city."

Though traffic police have long been more exposed than most citizens to the dangers of random roadside bombings, this is the first time they have been singled out for such a persistent assault.

"Now we have a new worry, because we don't know which car will open fire at us," said Ali Mohammed Abdul Rahman, 41, a 19-year veteran.

The government has announced plans to distribute bulletproof vests and AK-47 assault rifles to traffic police to help them defend themselves. Some traffic police were carrying the weapons Monday, using them to wave at motorists as they directed traffic flow.

The attacks are inevitably taking a toll. Though most traffic police appear to have remained on the job, one major traffic circle in western Baghdad was jammed with cars. None of the police normally on duty were in sight.

Traffic policeman Qaiser Abdul Hussein has been showing up for work on the eastern side of town, but he said he has been deeply affected by the loss of his cabin, blown up in an attack last week, leaving him with nowhere to take rests, eat snacks or keep his clothes.

"I felt so sad and sorry for it. I felt my house was destroyed. Now, without it, we feel as if we are in a desert," he said. "I started to be afraid indeed, and I don't have that enthusiasm to work like before."

Most of the traffic police interviewed, however, vowed they would not be deterred from their mission to bring at least a semblance of order to Baghdad's streets.

"We know what are the intentions of the terrorists who want our country to live in chaos," said Arkan Salim Hatim as he paused from directing traffic at another major intersection. "They want to create unrest, disorder and mayhem in the streets so that they can be in control.

"But let them do what they can. We will never stop our work," he said. "Let them kill us, and others will come instead of us."

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-iraq-traffic-cops-20100811,0,2620371,print.story

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by Robert Faturechi

Homicides are down in areas patrolled by Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies, according to preliminary data released by the department Tuesday.

Through the end of July, there were 98 homicides in patrol areas countywide, compared to 127 for the same period last year. That decrease is part of a five-year trend, and represents the lowest homicide rate since 1975, according to department statistics.

Violent crime and serious property crime in sheriff's patrol areas also decreased compared to the same period last year, each dipping by almost 4%.

"It's always heartening when there are statistics to reflect the good work being done by deputy sheriffs," said sheriff's spokesman Steve Whitmore.

The decrease in homicides was most notable, according to the department, in Compton and nearby unincorporated areas, where homicides were down from 31 through July of last year to 18 during the same period this year. The Lynwood area also saw a drop, with 24 homicides last year compared to 16 this year.

The decreases come as the department looks to shave its budget by $128 million.

Learn more about homicides in Los Angeles County, which includes areas patrolled by the sheriff, as well as other law enforcement agencies, on The Times' interactive Homicide Report. The database includes all deaths listed as homicides by the coroner, defined as deaths at the hand of another, and may in some cases be distinct from criminal homicides counted by police.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/

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EDITORIAL

August 11, 2010

The Anti-Defamation League has opposed the construction of a $100-million Islamic community center, including a prayer room, two blocks from ground zero in Manhattan. The L.A.-based Simon Wiesenthal Center has taken the position that families of the nearly 3,000 victims of the 9/11 attacks should be allowed to decide whether the center should be built near "the greatest killing grounds in American history," because they suffered most directly from the Al Qaeda strike. Understandably, this is a difficult issue for Jewish organizations committed to the memory of the Holocaust, but their positions do not serve the causes of tolerance and anti-discrimination for which both groups claim to stand.

This page has supported construction of the center, whose name, Cordoba House, is taken from the Spanish city that stood for interfaith tolerance in the Middle Ages and whose stated mission is "promoting positive interaction between the Muslim world and the West." ADL leader Abraham H. Foxman and Rabbi Marvin Hier of the Wiesenthal Center, however, argue that building an Islamic center so close to ground zero would be insensitive to the victims of violence committed in the name of Islam. "If after World War II, the German government had created a German cultural center across the street from Auschwitz, it would have been vehemently opposed by families of victims because it would be too much to bear," Wiesenthal told The Times. But the examples are not parallel. The Nazi government of Germany carried out the Holocaust. The 9/11 attacks were committed by religious fanatics with a political agenda; not all Muslims were complicit, nor should they be held responsible as a group for the atrocities.

Certainly the victims' families — Christians, Jews and Muslims alike — should be heard and their feelings considered, but theirs are not the only voices to be taken into account. America has an interest in religious freedom, in fighting bigotry of all kinds and in seeking relationships with adherents of Islam who are committed to peace and interfaith dialogue, as the group behind the center appears to be. The center, which has been denigrated as the "ground zero mosque," would include an auditorium, art exhibition space and bookstore, all of which present opportunities for interfaith discussions and activities.

Finally, the Wiesenthal Center should take care not to be seen as hypocritical for opposing an Islamic community center on grounds of insensitivity while moving forward with the construction of a deeply controversial new Museum of Tolerance in Jerusalem, located on an old Islamic burial ground. Sensitivity, like opposition to bigotry, must run both ways.

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/editorials/la-ed-mosque-20100811,0,1873167,print.story

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From the New York Times

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In the Rearview Mirror, Oklahoma and Death Row

By DAN BARRY

MONTGOMERY, Ala.

You can never come back, ever. If you plead guilty to that long-ago murder in Oklahoma City, you will be released from prison, where you have spent most of the last 27 years on death row. But once free, you will be banished from Oklahoma. O.K.?

O.K., said James Fisher, trading his black-and-white-striped prison top for a blue-and-white-striped dress shirt. Then, without shackles or escort, he stepped into the late afternoon of a state that once wanted him dead and now just wanted him gone.

First, though, Mr. Fisher's lawyers and supporters thought that the end to his Hitchcockian case, a study in the cost of appalling legal representation, warranted at least dinner. So they took him to Earl's Rib Palace for the celebratory opposite of a last meal.

With brown eyes wide behind large glasses and incarceration-gray hair cut close to the scalp, the ex-inmate dined on ribs, coleslaw, fried okra, and root beer. While he ate, a gospel singer from Georgia introduced herself, sang out a song of redemption, and handed him a $100 bill.

When dinner was over, he ordered a coffee, to go.

A trip to WalMart for the incidentals needed on the outside was aborted when word came that the district attorney expected Mr. Fisher to be already gone. His lawyers promised an early start the next day, and he went to sleep in a hotel at the city's edge.

In the morning, his latest defense lawyer, Perry Hudson, gave him a farewell gift, a portable MP3 player. Mr. Fisher had wanted a Walkman, a hot item back when he was last free, but Mr. Hudson explained that this was better.

Then Mr. Fisher got into the passenger seat of a small red rental car that soon blended into the southward flow of Interstate 35. As the radio played hip-hop, the exhausted, exhilarated man gazed through the car window at a different country from the one he remembered.

“It looked like the society outside had become cleaner, shinier,” he said.

What Mr. Fisher, 46, remembered included this: abandoned as a small child, fobbed off to relatives, returned to an abusive father and dumped at 13 on the doorstep of the New York State child-welfare system, which cut him loose at 16. In and out of the Navy in seven months, he bobbed through the drugs and street life of the South, until he found a bus ticket to Tulsa and drifted, finally, into Oklahoma City.

There, on Dec. 12, 1982, a white man named Terry Neal was stabbed to death in his apartment with the broken neck of a wine bottle. A juvenile known to solicit on the streets was charged with the murder, but that changed when he named Mr. Fisher as the assailant. He said that Mr. Neal had picked the two of them up for sex, but that things had gone wrong.

Mr. Fisher, who is African-American, was arrested in upstate New York and returned to Oklahoma, where he pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder. He faced execution if convicted, a prospect that, records show, his well-respected lawyer did little to avoid.

The lawyer, E. Melvin Porter, a civil rights advocate and the first African-American elected to the Oklahoma State Senate, later said that at the time he considered homosexuals to be “among the worst people in the world,” and Mr. Fisher to be a “very hostile client.”

Mr. Porter was shockingly ill-prepared for trial — “unwilling or unable to reveal evident holes in the state's case,” a federal appellate court later noted, yet “remarkably successful in undermining his own client's testimony.” He exhibited “actual doubt and hostility” about his client's defense, the court said, and failed to present a closing argument, even though the state's case “was hardly overwhelming.”

When the time came at sentencing to plead for mercy, the court said, Mr. Porter uttered just nine words. Four were judicial pleasantries; the remaining five formed a lame objection to the prosecution's closing argument.

With that, James Fisher, 20, was sentenced to death.

Years passed and appeals were denied. He lived in the cave-like setting of the death-row unit, spending 23 hours a day in his cell, and was frequently relegated to one of the special disciplinary isolation cells. As his various emotional problems went largely untreated, he grew increasingly self-destructive, according to a comprehensive psychological assessment.

He became a notoriously difficult inmate, often disciplined for refusing to remove his hands from the cell-door slot through which his food trays were passed. With these hand gestures, Mr. Fisher shouted his frustration.

Finally, after 19 years, the federal Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit overturned Mr. Fisher's conviction on the grounds of “ineffective assistance of counsel.” In 2005 he was tried again, only to relive his courtroom betrayal.

This time his lawyer was Johnny Albert, also well-regarded, who later admitted that at the time of the trial, he was drinking heavily, abusing cocaine and neglecting cases. The two men fought so much that Mr. Albert once physically threatened Mr. Fisher, who then refused to attend his own trial.

According to court records, Mr. Albert all but ignored the many boxes of defense material concerning Mr. Fisher's case. The various other examples of his inept counsel included the failure to sufficiently challenge in the testimony of the state's central witness, the juvenile, now a man with a violent criminal record.

Mr. Fisher was convicted and sentenced to death, again. And, again, his conviction was overturned on grounds of ineffective counsel — faster this time, and by the Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma.

His new lawyer, Mr. Hudson, succeeded in finally gaining Mr. Fisher's trust, but it was not easy. As the prospect of a third trial drew nearer, Mr. Fisher instructed his lawyer to seek a plea deal.

Last month the two sides ended the 28-year-old case. In addition to pleading guilty to first-degree murder, Mr. Fisher agreed to complete a comprehensive re-entry program in Montgomery, Ala., overseen by the Equal Justice Initiative, which helps indigent defendants and inmates who have been mistreated by the legal system. This nonprofit organization had long been familiar with Mr. Fisher's case.

One other thing: Mr. Fisher also agreed to get the hell out of Oklahoma forever.

The small red car, driven by Sophia Bernhardt, a lawyer for the Equal Justice Initiative, continued south on the interstate. Packed inside were several goodbye gifts, including a set of inexpensive luggage from Janet Davis, a lawyer with the Oklahoma Indigent Defense System, who had worked for Mr. Fisher's freedom for many years.

“He has certainly done his time,” she said later. “He deserves to be free in the world.”

Just short of the Texas border, Mr. Fisher and Ms. Bernhardt, who, at 31, was 5 when Mr. Fisher was first sentenced to death, stopped to eat at a Braum's Ice Cream store, where two men stared and talked loudly about his release. They drove on. And when they finally left Oklahoma, Mr. Fisher had this thought: “The past is over with.”

At Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, Ms. Bernhardt, who had to rush off to another case, entrusted Mr. Fisher and the car to her colleague Stanley Washington. The two men bought some takeout at a diner, spent the night at a budget hotel and, at 6:45 the next morning began the 16-hour drive to Montgomery.

Early in the ride, Mr. Washington rolled down the car windows to allow the hot Texas air to rush in. “Here's freedom blowing on you,” he said, and he knew what he was talking about.

Mr. Washington, 60, was once sentenced to life without parole for various nonviolent drug-related crimes; he served 14 years in the Alabama prison system before being released in January 2009. Now, gently, he began to suggest ways for Mr. Fisher to make the best of what was before him: small goals; a day at a time; it will be all right.

They stopped for food at gas stations along the way. Mr. Fisher savored the various brands of root beer. He talked about the pet he had on death row, a mouse called Jasper. He noticed how lush the landscape became once they hit Louisiana, and how there were so many cars on the road at night, all of them so sleek, and forming uniform lines that said America never sleeps.

Mr. Fisher vented for a while about his banishment from Oklahoma. He asked Mr. Washington why they would do that, but seemed satisfied by Mr. Washington's answer of: Who cares?

It was 10:30 at night by the time the small red car pulled up to the Montgomery apartment where Mr. Fisher would start again. Home, Mr. Washington said, to which his passenger said something along the lines of, O.K.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/11/us/11land.html?_r=1&ref=us&pagewanted=print

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OPINION

Early Detection of Alzheimer's

Scientists are making steady gains toward developing tests that can predict whether patients with mild cognitive difficulties or even no symptoms at all are likely to progress to full-blown Alzheimer's disease. The latest research, published this week in the Archives of Neurology, a journal of the American Medical Association, found that a test of spinal fluid performed exceptionally well in identifying patients with Alzheimer's or on the way to developing it.

The study, led by Belgian and American researchers, found that certain biological markers in spinal fluid provided a “signature” that was able to identify 94 percent of a group of Alzheimer's patients whose disease was confirmed by autopsies.

It also identified every single patient in a group with mild cognitive impairment who went on to develop Alzheimer's within five years.

Although there is no cure as yet, knowing who has Alzheimer's or is destined to get it would be highly useful. An accurate test could distinguish patients with advanced illness who were wrongly diagnosed with Alzheimer's and whose disease might actually be treatable.

And it might identify patients at the very earliest stages of Alzheimer's before it becomes symptomatic, allowing scientists to study how the disease progresses and perhaps find drugs to slow or halt the process.

Spinal taps, which require inserting a needle into the spinal area and withdrawing a small amount fluid, have drawbacks.

Many doctors and patients are nervous about the procedure, which they fear will be painful and cause headaches or infections. Many are expected to prefer brain scans that can show the telltale plaques that are characteristic of Alzheimer's and have shown much promise in recent studies. The long-term goal, assuming effective drugs can be developed to prevent or slow the disease, would be screening programs that can identify those likely to be helped as early as possible.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/11/opinion/11wed2.html?adxnnl=1&ref=opinion&pagewanted=print&adxnnlx=1281535200-GfPUWLtaPJGRAbTkRLlJNg

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OPINION

Justice by the Numbers

Rochester

IN communities across the country, people use statistics on hospitals, schools and other public services to decide where to live or how to vote. But while millions of Americans deal with their local criminal courts as defendants and victims each year, there is no comparable way to assess a judicial system and determine how well it provides basic legal services.

This lack of data has a corrosive effect: without public awareness of a court system's strengths and weaknesses, inefficiencies and civil liberties violations are never remedied.

That's why America needs a “justice index” to show how the essential aspects of our local courts are working. The index, compiled according to national standards, would function roughly like college rankings, evaluating county courts on factors like cost, recidivism, crime reduction and collateral consequences, including whether people lose their jobs or homes after contact with the criminal justice system.

True, hospitals and schools serve everyone, while most Americans will never directly interact with a criminal court. But many will — an estimated 47 million Americans have criminal records, and though exact statistics don't exist, it's a good bet that similar numbers have passed through the courts as victims.

Of course, those numbers count only direct contact. We all benefit from better courts, which deter crime and remove public threats from the streets.

A justice index would be relatively straightforward to create. It would start by amassing data from the country's 25 biggest counties , where the courts are most likely to collect large amounts of information.

Next, a panel of lawyers, community representatives, statisticians and law professors would establish standards for the measurements — for example, the percentage of people who plead guilty without an attorney or average bail amounts, because a high bail figure often compels defendants to plead guilty.

Another critical measurement would be the percentage of certain types of cases that get thrown out after a defined period of time, a possible indicator of inefficiency as well as disregard for traditionally under-prosecuted crimes. The index would also assess whether a county court has certain legal protections in place, like requiring that interrogations and confessions be taped.

The information would be analyzed by a nonprofit organization, then posted to a Web site in a ranked order and in terms clear enough for the public to understand. Users would be able to shuffle the rankings by focusing on data related to specific areas like civil liberties or crime reduction, in the same way college applicants can look at which schools are best for student life or athletics.

Once the data for those 25 counties has been assembled, smaller counties could gather their numbers using a detailed do-it-yourself kit from the coordinating organization.

Rankings for hospitals and public schools create healthy competition. To get the justice we deserve, we would do well to bring a similar approach to bear on our criminal courts.

Amy Bach is the author of “Ordinary Injustice: How America Holds Court.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/11/opinion/11bach.html?ref=opinion&pagewanted=print

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From the Department of Homeland Security

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August 10, 2010

Washington, D.C. - As part of the Obama administration's ongoing commitment to smart, effective border security, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Janet Napolitano today announced that the Secure Communities program has been deployed to all 25 U.S. counties along our Southwest border.

Secure Communities allows U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to use biometric information to identify criminal aliens in state prisons and local jails—part of the Department's focus on identifying and removing convicted criminal aliens who pose a public safety threat to American communities.

"Over the past year and a half, this administration has pursued a new border security strategy through unprecedented investments in personnel, technology and infrastructure and historic partnerships with Mexico and state and local law enforcement," said Secretary Napolitano. "Secure Communities gives ICE the ability to work with our state and local law enforcement partners to identify criminal aliens who are already in their custody, expediting their removal and keeping our communities safer."

The Secure Communities technology, made possible through collaboration between DHS, the Department of Justice, and state and local law enforcement agencies, enables digital fingerprints collected during the booking process to be checked against FBI criminal history records and DHS immigration records. By identifying any immigration record matches in our jails and prisons, ICE can quickly and responsibly begin removal proceedings—ultimately expediting the removal of criminal aliens from the United States without any additional cost or changes to their booking process.

"The Secure Communities initiative reflects ICE's ongoing commitment to smart, tough enforcement strategies that help ensure the apprehension of dangerous criminal aliens," said ICE Director John Morton. "Expediting removals decreases the amount of time these individuals spend in ICE custody—saving tax payers money and strengthening public safety."

DHS has expanded the Secure Communities initiative from 14 to 544 jurisdictions in the past 18 months, and DHS plans to expand the program to every law enforcement jurisdiction in the country by 2013. To date, the program has identified more than 262,900 aliens in jails and prisons who have been charged with or convicted of criminal offenses, including more than 39,000 charged with or convicted of major violent or drug offenses (level 1 offenses). Through Secure Communities, over 34,600 convicted criminal aliens have been removed from the United States, including more than 9,800 convicted of major violent or drug offenses (level 1 offenses). DHS continues to monitor the program's effectiveness and is committed to identifying and removing serious criminals.

Over the past 18 months, the Obama administration has dedicated unprecedented resources to the Southwest border, leading to increases in seizures of illicit narcotics, weapons, and bulk cash, as well as decreases in border crossings.

For more information, visit www.ice.gov/secure_communities .

http://www.dhs.gov/ynews/releases/pr_1281457837494.shtm

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From ICE

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LOS ANGELES - Four Chinese nationals are in custody following their arrest over the weekend on federal and state charges for their involvement in the operation of two brothels in Monterey Park, Calif., and San Gabriel, Calif., that recruited and employed female Chinese nationals to work as prostitutes.

The defendants, Jian Guo, aka "David," 42, of Arcadia, Calif., Huagui Lotto, aka "Candy," 53, of Rowland Heights, Calif., Lotto's husband, Phillip Fu, 47, of Rowland Heights and Yibin Zhang, 45, of Monterey Park were arrested Saturday evening by agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Office of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI). The arrests followed the execution of search warrants at the two brothel locations, the defendants' residences, and a private residence occupied by the brothels' female employees. Officers from the Monterey Park and San Gabriel Police Departments assisted with the enforcement action.

Lotto, the alleged manager of the Monterey Park brothel, and Zhang, who purportedly served as an enforcer and part-time manager at the business, are charged in a federal criminal complaint with conspiracy to import and harbor aliens for prostitution. Fu, the establishment's alleged overseas recruiter, is charged in a federal criminal complaint with conspiracy to commit marriage fraud. The Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office filed a felony complaint charging Guo, the alleged manager of the San Gabriel location, with pimping and pandering by procuring and keeping or residing in house of ill fame.

During the operation, one female Chinese national believed to be employed by the defendants was taken into ICE custody on immigration violations.

The enforcement actions are the result of a nine-month investigation by ICE HSI into a far-reaching prostitution enterprise that advertised primarily through word of mouth and personal referrals. Court documents allege the defendants engaged in various types of immigration fraud to recruit their female employees -- many of whom had valid student visas -- including using fake documents and setting up fraudulent marriages.

According to a case affidavit, Fu told U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers at Los Angeles International Airport in May that he was returning from a six-week trip to China to set up his business -- a cultural exchange that recruits underprivileged Chinese students to study in the United States. When officers searched Fu's effects, they discovered identification documents, money transfer receipts and bank statements that did not belong to him.

"Illegal ventures like this degrade the quality of life in our neighborhoods as well as the women involved," said Claude Arnold, special agent in charge of ICE's office of Homeland Security Investigations in Los Angeles. "ICE will continue to work closely with its law enforcement partners to attack and dismantle these kinds of enterprises that prey on the vulnerable and often bring other criminal activity into the area."

In addition to the arrests, Saturday night's enforcement action led to the seizure of two vehicles -- a Lexus GX 470 and a Mercedes Benz ML 500, valued separately at $21,000 each; $9,419 in cash, five government stamps from the Republic of China and an unregistered pistol.

The charge of importing and harboring an alien for purposes of prostitution carries a maximum penalty of ten years in prison. Conspiracy to commit marriage fraud is punishable by up to five years in prison. The state charges - both of which call for mandatory state prison commitment upon conviction -- carry a maximum sentence of seven years and four months.

http://www.ice.gov/pi/nr/1008/100809losangeles.htm

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INDIANAPOLIS - A previously deported criminal alien from Mexico was indicted on Monday in federal court for illegally re-entering the United States. The indictment resulted from an investigation conducted by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Office of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

Joel Armando Varela-Sanchez, 27, was indicted Aug. 9 in the Southern District of Indiana on charges of illegally re-entering the United States after having been previously deported as an aggravated felon.

The indictment alleges that Varela-Sanchez was convicted of transporting marijuana in December 2005. He was subsequently deported to Mexico in June 2006 as an aggravated felon. ICE agents encountered Varela-Sanchez in Hendricks County on June 16. He did not have the consent of the U.S. Attorney General or the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security to re-enter into the United States.

If convicted, Varela-Sanchez faces up to 20 years' imprisonment and a $250,000 fine. After serving any prison sentence imposed by the court, he will be turned over to ICE for deportation.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Gayle L. Helart, Southern District of Indiana, is prosecuting the case. An indictment is an accusation only, and that person is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.

http://www.ice.gov/pi/nr/1008/100810indianapolis2.htm

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From the DEA

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Operation Trident results in Seizure of Thousands of Marijuana Plants worth more than $1.7 Billion

AUG 11 -- FRESNO, Calif. – Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) Director Gil Kerlikowske, Fresno County Sheriff Margaret Mims, Madera County Sheriff John P. Anderson, Tulare County Sheriff Bill Wittman, and United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner, announced today Operation Trident, a large-scale marijuana enforcement operation in Fresno, Madera, and Tulare counties. This ongoing marijuana eradication effort has led to the arrest of several individuals believed to be affiliated with drug trafficking organizations involved in these operations. Operation Trident consists of approximately 450 personnel from 21 local, state, and federal agencies.

“Today's difficult economic environment requires close collaboration among federal, state, and local law enforcement. Operation Trident demonstrates the value of that collaboration, and of coordinated enforcement and demand reduction efforts,” said ONDCP Director Gil Kerlikowske. “Operation Trident supports the National Drug Control Strategy's goal of reducing drug abuse and its consequences. Reclaiming illegal marijuana grow sites, prosecuting offenders, and also providing comprehensive prevention programs to youth and parents will help prevent drug abuse before it starts.”

To date, Operation Trident has resulted in the seizure of 432,271 marijuana plants, 499 pounds of processed marijuana, 74 ounces of cocaine, 49 ounces of methamphetamine, $1,450 U.S. Currency, 33 weapons, 2 vehicles, and the arrest of 97 individuals. Subjects were booked on various federal and state violations, including cultivation of marijuana, possession of marijuana for sale, possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony, unlawful presence in the U.S., unlawful re-entry after deportation, alien in possession of a firearm, and conspiracy. Additionally, 15.5 tons of trash, 29 miles of irrigation line and 4,580 pounds of fertilizer were removed from grow sites. Approximately 270 acres of land have been destroyed by illegal marijuana cultivation to date in Operation Trident.

In January 2010, law enforcement from local, state, and federal agencies initiated investigations into drug trafficking organizations involved in large-scale marijuana operations. During the course of these investigations, officers identified 126 illegal marijuana grow locations in Fresno, Madera, and Tulare counties. A large number of grow sites have been identified in Northern and Central California's foothill and mountain areas controlled by drug trafficking organizations. As a result, law enforcement has dedicated resources to the investigation, eradication, and reclamation to control this illegal activity.

During Operation Trident thousands of pounds of toxic fertilizers, trash, and miles of makeshift irrigation systems were removed from grow locations. These foreign materials contaminate California's watersheds and destroy wildlife. Eradication and reclamation teams, along with volunteer crews, strive to remove irrigation lines, contaminates, and trash from the land, streams, and rivers. Taking away this material will help restore the land to its natural state and will eliminate the infrastructure, which is imperative to deter drug trafficking organizations from re-establishing their operations. The removal of non-native material is the first stage of the restoration process and can cost up to $11,000 per acre.

“Operation Trident is focused on armed drug smugglers who bring with them the dangers and violence associated with drug trafficking,” said Fresno County Sheriff Margaret Mims. “We must work with our state and federal partners because these organized crime organizations don't just grow marijuana on our public lands. They continue their criminal conduct during the off season with other illegal drug and violent activities in our local communities.”

“This mission is a collective fight against organized crime,” said Madera County Sheriff John Anderson, who has spent more than a decade working with multi-agencies dedicated to drug interdiction in Madera County. He says Operation Trident highlights this effort. “There is no way one county can tackle this mountainous task alone. That is why I am grateful, as is Madera County, for the collaborative efforts exercised by a multitude of agencies, working together with the common goal -- to eradicate organized crime from our Valley and our State.”

“We are extremely fortunate to be able to call upon these resources that share this common goal. With this three pronged approach we are able to gather intelligence, eradicate illegal marijuana grow sites and reclaim our public lands. This collaboration has made it possible to identify drug trafficking organizations that have brought illegal drugs and violence to our neighborhoods. We will continue to work together in the enforcement of these goals as well as provide the education and prevention programs that help protect our communities,” said Tulare County Sheriff Bill Wittman.

U.S. Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner said, “Drug traffickers who operate large marijuana grows on public lands in the Sierra foothills despoil the environment and pose a safety threat to hikers, campers, and other persons who use our parks and national forests. Operation Trident is the latest example of excellent cooperation among federal, state, and local, agencies in combating this menace.”

Operation Trident has dedicated resources to prevention and community coalition building. The California National Guard plays a vital role as a support element alongside law enforcement agencies in the ongoing fight against drugs. A primary focus of the CNG's Joint Task Force Domestic Support-Counterdrug is the prevention of illicit drug use. The program complements ONDCP's prevention strategy by providing youth-based educational activities designed to reduce "first time use" of illicit drug use by providing education to parents, teachers, and community leaders.

http://www.justice.gov/dea/pubs/states/newsrel/2010/sanfran081110.html

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From the ATF

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BRUNSWICK, GA — 34 federal indictments, today unsealed in federal court, have charged 57 defendants with federal firearm, drug trafficking or other federal offenses. 32 additional defendants were charged by Glynn County authorities on related state firearm and drug charges. The federal and state charges follow a 9-month undercover investigation dubbed Operation Thunderbolt.

The United States Attorney's Office, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives ( ATF ), the Glynn County Police Department and the Glynn County-Brunswick Narcotics Enforcement Team ( GBNET ) initiated Operation Thunderbolt in the fall of 2009. Undercover ATF agents posed as members of the Brunswick community interested in purchasing guns and drugs from the criminal element. During the operation, undercover agents purchased 245 firearms, including handguns, rifles, assault rifles and sawed-off shotguns; and, approximately $200,000 worth of illegal drugs, including more than 3 pounds of cocaine, over 1,500 ecstasy pills, over 800 oxycodone pills and a quantity of methadone. Many of the individuals who sold firearms and drugs to the undercover agents are allegedly convicted felons. In addition, a number of the guns purchased by undercover agents were allegedly stolen.

United States Attorney Edward J. Tarver stated, Protecting the public safety is the number one priority of the Department of Justice. Operation Thunderbolt was a bold effort to protect public safety by removing violent criminals who sell guns and drugs within our communities. This undercover operation serves as notice to the criminal element that if you traffic in firearms or drugs in this district, you will be found and you will be prosecuted.

Mr. Tarver praised the exemplary partnership between the ATF and the Glynn County Police Department, and noted that additional investigative support was provided by United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement ( ICE ) and the United States Secret Service.

Citizens deserve to feel safe in their homes and communities, whether they live in small towns or big cities. We have proven that we don't just react to proliferating violent crime, we attack it, said Special Agent in Charge Gregory Gant of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives' Atlanta Field Division. The message is clear; if you choose to pollute our society with drugs or inflict violence on the innocent people of this or any other community in America, you will be dealt with. Today, these predators have become the prey of law enforcement.

Glynn County Police Chief Matthew Doering stated, The operation is a model example of how well the ATF and the U.S. Attorney's Office works with a local agency to improve the safety of a community. The work of the investigators and U.S. Attorney's Office was exemplary for which I am grateful and most proud. We will continue in our commitment in working with the community, our elected officials, staff and other agencies to provide the best possible law enforcement and quality of life services.

Following numerous arrests today, initial appearances for several of the federally indicted defendants will be held in United States District Court, Brunswick, Georgia, on August 12, 2010. A listing of the 55 federal defendants indicted is attached. Two additional subjects who have yet to be identified were also charged federally. A listing of 29 adult defendants arrested or being sought on state charges is also attached. The names of three additional juvenile defendants are being withheld.

Mr. Tarver stressed that an indictment is only an accusation and is not evidence of guilt. All defendants are entitled to a fair trial, during which it will be the Government's burden to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. Assistant United States Attorneys Cameron H. Ippolito, Carlton R. Bourne, Jr., Gregory J. Hurchalla, Lamont A. Belk and James C. Stuchell are prosecuting the federal cases for the United States.

For additional information, please contact First Assistant United States Attorney James D. Durham at (912) 201-2547.

http://www.atf.gov/press/releases/2010/08/081010-atl-eighty-nine-charged-on-firearms-drug-trafficking.html

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