~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

From Los Angeles Times

Four men found guilty in 2010 killing of 15 at Mexico teen party

President Felipe Calderon set off outrage when he referred to the victims of the Ciudad Juarez massacre as gang members. He backpedaled after it turned out they were promising students and athletes.

by Ken Ellingwood, Los Angeles Times

July 7, 2011

Reporting from Mexico City

Four men were convicted Thursday in last year's killing of 15 people at a teen party in the border city of Ciudad Juarez.

A three-judge panel delivered guilty verdicts on several counts after a two-week trial in Juarez, which in recent years has been the deadliest zone in Mexico amid spiraling drug violence.

President Felipe Calderon set off national outrage when he referred to the victims of the Jan. 30, 2010, massacre as gang members. He backpedaled after it turned out they were promising students and athletes.

The attack remains one of the most horrifying episodes since Calderon launched a government offensive against drug cartels in December 2006. About 40,000 people have been killed in drug-related violence in Mexico since then.

During the trial, the judges weighed forensic evidence and heard statements from 17 protected witnesses who testified behind closed doors and via videoconference.

Jose Dolores Arroyo Chavarria, Aldo Flavio Hernandez Lozano, Juan Alfredo Soto Arias and Heriberto Martinez were found guilty of murder, attempted murder, arms possession and criminal association. They are to be sentenced Monday, and prosecutors said they will seek terms of more than 100 years.

Arroyo told authorities after his arrest in February 2010 that he served as lookout for two dozen gunmen who had been ordered to kill everyone at the party.

He also said the main Juarez-based cartel ordered the hit because members of a rival gang were reported to be in attendance.

Chihuahua is one of the first states in Mexico to implement open court trials, in which evidence is presented in public session and defense attorneys have the right to question witnesses.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-mexico-massacre-20110708,0,1961610,print.story

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Texas executes Mexican over objections of Obama administration

Despite protests that he was denied international treaty rights, the killer is put to death after the Supreme Court votes 5 to 4 against a delay.

by David G. Savage, Washington Bureau

July 8, 2011

Reporting from Washington

A Mexican national who became the focus of an international dispute was put to death Thursday by Texas authorities after the Supreme Court, on a 5-4 vote, refused an urgent appeal from the Obama administration to stop the execution.

Humberto Leal Garcia, 38, was given a lethal injection for the 1994 rape and murder of a 16-year-old girl in San Antonio.

His case drew the attention of the Mexican and U.S. governments because Texas officials failed to notify the Mexican consulate at the time of his arrest and trial, a violation of the Vienna Convention.

Last week, in a rare move, newly confirmed U.S. Solicitor General Donald B. Verrilli Jr. urged the high court to stop the execution, saying it would have "serious repercussions" for U.S. relations with Mexico and the European Union. He said the Senate has before it a bill that, if enacted into law, would give inmates like Leal a chance to have their convictions reviewed.

The issue has been thorny for Mexican and U.S. officials for a decade. In 2004, the International Court of Justice ruled in favor of Mexico and held that the United States had failed to comply with the Vienna Convention. The treaty obliges a host nation to inform the consulate of another country when one of its citizens is arrested for a serious crime. Its decision cited 53 Mexican citizens — including Leal — who were on death row in Texas, California and other states.

President George W. Bush tried to implement the ruling, but the Supreme Court said the international court's decision had no binding effect in this country because Congress had failed to enact a law to enforce the treaty.

Last month, Sen. Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt.) introduced a bill to enforce the treaty, and the administration argued that the pending execution should be put on hold until the measure could be voted on. Administration lawyers said a failure to abide by the treaty could harm American citizens traveling abroad if they were arrested.

But the court's conservative majority rejected the request in an unsigned order. "We are doubtful it is ever appropriate to stay a lower-court judgment in light of unenacted legislation. Our task is to rule on what the law is, not what it might eventually be," the court said.

The decision spoke for Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and Justices Antonin Scalia, Anthony M. Kennedy, Clarence Thomas and Samuel A. Alito Jr.

The court's four liberal justices dissented. Justice Stephen G. Breyer said it was a mistake to "ignore the appeal of the president in a matter related to foreign affairs." Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan agreed, saying they would have halted the execution while the Senate considered the legislation.

Leahy said he was disappointed.

"Americans detained overseas rely on their access to U.S. consulates every day. If we expect other countries to abide by the treaties they join, the United States must also honor its obligations," he said.

The Mexican government, which had vehemently opposed the execution, said Thursday evening it had filed a formal protest with the State Department for "violation of international law."

"The Mexican government condemns in the most energetic terms the execution of Mexican national Humberto Leal Garcia," the Mexican Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

The Mexican government criticized Texas authorities for failing to adhere to decisions by the International Court of Justice and for ignoring entreaties by the Obama administration, and it called on American authorities to respect the rights of Mexican detainees to be allowed access to their consulates.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-mexican-execution-20110708,0,3094115,print.story

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Managing L.A. County's Probation Department

Pulling the rug out from under chief Donald Blevins is hardly the way to fix problems at the department's youth camps.

July 8, 2011

The Board of Supervisors just can't seem to decide how to run its overburdened county. Several years ago the members reluctantly, but wisely, put a chief executive in charge so that county department directors could answer to a single person instead of being pulled in five different directions. Then, two months ago, they reasserted direct jurisdiction over the two departments most in need of unfettered, decisive and accountable leadership — the Probation Department and the Department of Children and Family Services.

And now, the ever-inventive supervisors have come up with a new twist in the art of undermining themselves, their appointees and the effective management of the county. Little more than a year after hiring Donald Blevins to finally get the Probation Department on track, they want the department's No. 2 man to bypass Blevins and report to them directly on efforts to fix problems at 19 juvenile camps under the scrutiny of the U.S. Department of Justice. Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich authored a motion to that effect, which is to be taken up by the full board on Tuesday.

It's not that the department doesn't need extra help. Quite the opposite. The Justice Department issued a stern warning last week about violence at the camps, including a particularly troubling incident on May 23 involving 18 youths and at least one serious injury. The county has insufficient staff to supervise the youth and to help them move toward what is supposed to be the whole point — rehabilitation. Compliance with federal standards by the Oct. 31 deadline is looking increasingly unlikely.

But pulling the rug out from under Blevins is hardly the way to get the job done. If county supervisors have soured on Blevins and now believe that he is not the right person to lead the department, they should admit their mistake and replace him. Or, better yet, they should re-vest their chief executive, William T Fujioka, with the management power they yanked from him in May.

The supervisors are charged with policymaking and oversight. They are not managers, as they have proved time and again after inserting themselves directly into problems in the departments of Health Services, Children and Family Services, and, now, Probation. Of course, they're not always so great at oversight either. The result is a county government unable to consistently and competently fulfill its mission, which includes caring for people like the youth in the Probation Department.

Los Angeles County would not be easy to govern under the best of circumstances, given the large population of people in need of county services and the lack of sufficient resources to meet their needs. But the supervisors continue to make a bad situation worse by operating as a committee and refusing to allow their managers to manage.

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/opinionla/la-ed-probation-20110708,0,4839554,print.story

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

From Google News

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Casey Anthony's parents receive death threats

Sheriff's spokesman Capt. Angelo Nieves said George and Cindy Anthony have received at least a half-dozen phone calls where death threats were made. Authorities are investigating the threats and checking the credibility, he said.

"We are assessing," Nieves said. "We are also making an effort to identify the callers."

Nieves said he is not aware of any one else in the case receiving death threats.

A spokeswoman for the Orange-Osceola State Attorney's Office said none of the prosecutors or State Attorney Lawson Lamar has been threatened.

Several protestors who gathered in front of the Orange County Courthouse on Thursday morning during Casey Anthony's sentencing hearing were angry with the verdict and jury.

Protestors held large signs that read "Arrest the jury," ”Juror 1-12 Guilty of Murder" and "Plenty of Evidence. No Guts Jury."

The Pinellas County jurors, whose names remain under seal by the judge, are not under any type of special protection by the Sheriff's office there, a spokeswoman said.

Deputies are not aware if any death threats have been made to the jurors, Pinellas Sheriff's spokeswoman Cecilia Barreda said.

A message sent to Casey Anthony's attorney Jose Baez was not immediately returned.

It's unclear where Casey Anthony will go after she is released from the Orange County Jail on July 17. Baez said in a national television interview that he is concerned for her safety.

http://www.bostonherald.com/news/national/south/view.bg?articleid=1350408&format=text

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jaycee Lee Dugard publishing memoirs

by Tirdad Derakhshani

Inquirer Staff Writer

People mag has published select excerpts, which in turn have been excerpted by the New York Post. "How do you get through things you don't want to do?" Dugard, 31, writes. "You just do. I would do it all again. The most precious thing in the world came out of it . . . my daughters." Both girls, Angel and Starlite , were conceived by Garrido. The book is due Tuesday.

Another intelligent network move

So, what's her field? Not politics, we imagine.

She'll be the network's "Abduction Correspondent," as Gawker puts it. No joke.

Smart, 23, was kidnapped at age 14 from her Salt Lake City bedroom. She was found nine months later. The couple who took her were later convicted.

ABC rep Julie Townsend tells the Daily Beast that Smart will appear "when there are missing children or missing-person cases in the news."

Adds Townsend, "She'll help our viewers better understand missing-person stories from someone with the perspective to know."

In an even stranger note, ABC says Smart will not participate in its two-hour Diane Sawyer -led Jaycee Dugard special.

Rahm Emanuel, Garry McCarthy support earlier curfew for kids

by FRAN SPIELMAN

Chicago - City Hall Reporter

Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Police Supt. Garry McCarthy on Thursday embraced a controversial proposal to turn back the curfew clock for Chicago kids under the age of 12 — to 8:30 p.m. on weekdays and 9 p.m. on weekends.

Their formidable support — echoed by community policing chief Ron Holt — makes it likely the City Council will carve out an earlier curfew time for younger kids at the behest of three South Side aldermen who want to protect unsupervised kids and put the heat on indifferent parents.

Two years ago, then-Mayor Richard M. Daley turned back the curfew clock by 30 minutes — to 10 p.m. on weekdays and 11 p.m. on weekends for Chicago's 730,000 kids under the age of 17. The curfew is currently the same for younger kids.

“I advocated for curfew laws while serving President Clinton because I believe the safest place for a child is at home,” Emanuel said in a written response to the Chicago Sun-Times.

“I commend the aldermen for introducing this ordinance and I am fully supportive. But, while the government can do its part, we need parents to do theirs. We need parents to help make sure their children are home safe where they belong.”

McCarthy agreed that an earlier curfew for younger kids can only help protect them.

“Anything we can do to get kids off the street can assist us in reducing violence. If kids are not on the street, they can't get injured,” the superintendent said.

“Crime reduction is about [using] all the tools in the tool box. Truancy statutes are another tool. I like the concept. The details have to be fleshed out a little more. It also doesn't alleviate the responsibility of parents to ensure kids are being parented. The problem will be if the kids go right out the back door of the house.”

Likening curfew laws to anti-crime cameras, McCarthy said, “It's like chicken soup. They can't hurt, but I never saw them cure cancer. But, if you combine cameras with intelligent police work that puts cops where gun violence is most likely to happen and get kids off the street, it's going to have an effect. Tie it all together and you have success stories.”

Holt is the police officer father of Blair Holt — a 16-year-old gunned down on a CTA bus in May, 2007 by a reputed gang member who opened fire on a crowd of students on their way home from Julian High School. As shots rang out, Blair sacrificed his own life to save a friend.

On Thursday, the elder Holt argued that an earlier curfew would help protect kids going through, what he called, those treacherous “tween years.”

“We would probably decrease the kids getting into trouble or becoming victims of crime. And for parents who are not paying attention and let that child run wild in the streets, it'll make them pay more attention to how long their child is out of the house,” Holt said.

“If I had a child under 12, I would want that child to be inside the house, in the backyard where I can see them or with another responsible adult who I've given permission to be with [after dark]. If not, you have kids who may be filled with a lot of energy and curiosity and they can wonder off.”

The Chicago Sun-Times reported this week that Aldermen Michelle Harris (8th), Toni Foulkes (15th) and Lona Lane (18th) want Chicago kids under 12 to be in the house by 8:30 p.m. on weekdays and 9 p.m. on weekends.

That's even though the sun sets after 8:30 p.m. for several weeks during the summer, luring kids outside.

Chicago's curfew law has gotten progressively tougher over the years.

Frustrated aldermen have empowered police officers to seize vehicles driven by kids caught cruising after curfew and put the financial squeeze on parents — by imposing fines of up to $500 after a third curfew violation within a year and by imposing fines after one violation when kids commit crimes after curfew.

http://www.suntimes.com/news/politics/6393551-418/rahm-emanuel-garry-mccarthy-support-earlier-curfew-for-kids.html?print=true

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Axe Falls on Criminal Justice Spending

House GOP leaders propose $1 billion in cuts to Justice Department budget that could end funding for community policing, and sharply reduce juvenile justice programs across the country.

With a massive federal deficit looming, it was only a matter of time before conservatives targeted federal spending for anticrime programs. Yesterday, the Republicans now running the House of Representatives took their first thorough swipe at Justice Department accounts that have mostly weathered major cuts so far.

The plan by Rep. Frank Wolf (R-VA) and his appropriations subcommittee colleagues for the year starting October 1 is dramatic: an end to the Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) program that has helped states and localities hire community police officers since 1994; no more funding for states to help pay the costs of imprisoning illegal immigrants; and big reductions in juvenile justice funding.

It's part of an overall reduction of more than $1 billion in the Justice Department budget of $27 billion-plus.

The FBI, under pressure to maintain its post-9/11 antiterror mission, would get a slight increase. So would the U.S. Bureau of Prisons?the other big Justice Department agency.

Unlike many state prison systems, the federal prison population keeps growing as the wars on drugs and white-collar crime continue. Another $3 billion-plus is spent on "legal activities"?all of those federal lawyers who prosecute and defend cases. No one is talking about attorney layoffs.

The largest remaining category is what the appropriations committee calls "state and local law enforcement activities."

A major lobbying effort by the National Criminal Justice Association, which represents state governments, helped keep the proposed reduction of the Byrne Justice Assistance Grant program to about 17 percent, to $357 million annually. States use that money for a variety of programs, such as regional anti-drug task forces.

Other categories did well in the committee proposal, meaning a fairly level budget.

Congress has long supported the campaign to fight violence against women, which should continue to get more than $400 million. Another popular project is advocacy for missing and exploited children, which gets about $70 million.

The COPS program is backed by mayors and police chiefs, but Republicans have never been enthusiastic about an idea invented by a Democratic president, Bill Clinton.

The alien detention aid, called SCAAP (State Criminal Alien Assistance Program), has not enjoyed lots of GOP support either. Its allocation has been eroding and now stands at $274 million.

Juvenile justice is another apparent loser. The House appropriators would cut "formula" grants to states on juvenile issues from $62 to $40 million and retain youth mentoring programs, but eliminate a host of other projects, mostly in the crime prevention field.

Because the House proposal is the beginning of a process that will take three months or longer, the game isn't over yet.

The spending plan still must proceed through the House and Senate. Already, law enforcement groups are mobilizing to save COPS. The largest organization, the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP), is "very concerned about the elimination of COPS funding and will be working with members of Congress to reinstate this critical program," says IACP's Meredith Ward.

Could what happened earlier this year be a precursor?

The appropriations bill funding the Justice Department also includes NASA, and any increases have to be offset somewhere under congressional rules. When the last appropriations bill was considered in February, the House voted 228-203 to move $298 million from NASA to COPS.

But that was a razor-thin vote, and the measure was introduced by Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-NY), who since was forced to resign in a scandal over texting lewd photos.

It's possible that policing, juvenile justice, and other programs that the Republicans want to cut can retain some of their funding.

But it will take a major lobbying effort in a economic and political climate that is very unfavorable toward boosts in federal spending.

Ted Gest is Contributing Editor of The Crime Report and president of Criminal Justice Journalists. He welcomes comments from readers.

http://www.thecrimereport.org/archive/2011-07-the-axe-falls-on-criminal-justice-spending

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Santa Cruz's New Cops Do Intensive Crime Studies

In a new progressive policing policy, Santa Cruz officers must write research papers on neighborhood problems.

by Brad Kava

It sounds like the setup of a joke, but the extended study that Santa Cruz Police Officer Forrest Crowell did of a donut shop on Ocean Street is a serious new approach for the local police department in handling crime and training officers.

Crowell did what is called a Neighborhood Portfolio Exercise, which requires recently-hired officers not just to get out and meet people in the community, but to find a problem and write a full report on ways to solve it.

Then the beat cop gives a presentation, complete with powerpoint slides, to the police administration, city councilmembers and business or community people who were affected by the study.

"This is a way for officers to focus on one small neighborhood and take those skills to a larger beat when they go out on their own," said Roger Buhlis, a training officer with the Richmond Police Department who is on the board of the national Police Society for Problem Based Learning.

It is a part of a new way of community policing, said Buhlis, that reflects the way policing used to be done.

"This is what we were doing 80 or 100 years ago when we had officers walking the streets talking to people in the neighborhood from store owners to kids. They knew everyone. In the sixties or seventies when we got into police cars and drove through neighborhoods, we weren't doing that anymore."

The Neighborhood Portfolios have an added element, however. Officers don't just meet people, but they study a problem and give a sophisticated presentation, something that for a time was reserved for administrators or specialized researchers in the department.

"Much of law enforcement these days involves speaking to people," said Buhlis. "They need to speak to community groups, families, residents, chamber of commerce members. It is a critical skill they need and why not learn it in the training process?"

Santa Cruz Police have gotten some new directions from the reports, which may change things for the entire city. A report by officer Travis Ahlers suggested that stores can handle the process of citing shoplifters and presenting evidence online, without an actual policeman taking hours to respond to a call. The program, used in some other cities, could save 600 hours a year in police time.

"The Neighborhood Portfolio Exercise gets them to look at the deepest levels of crime," said Santa Cruz Police Chief Kevin Vogel. "They don't just respond to crime. They get to the bottom of why the problem exists and what they can do to take away the cause."

Officer Steve Pendleton studied the reviews of hotels and motels on travel websites and corellated negative ratings to the liklihood of crimes. It concluded that enforcement of code violations could help raise the quality of the hotel clients and lessen chances of crime.

Officer Crowell's donut shop study took two Ocean Street businesses with the most calls for police service and made recommendations on how they could improve conditions. They were the 7-Eleven at Ocean and Laurel and the Ferrell's near the entrance to Highway 1.

He developed a plan to help managers cut down on crime by upgrading their sites, training employees in how to deal with problems and he made up a guide book to help them deal with police and trouble makers.

"You'd be surprised at the big differences they can make," said Crowell, touring the two parking lots at midnight. "Good lighting, clear striping, no trespassing signs can show people that this isn't a place to hang out."

He told the business owners to have their employees call police if someone is loitering, not to deal with it themselves. He also witnessed the positive effects of neighborhood groups doing what is called "positive loitering," which is hanging out by a group of people who might discourage others who hang out to deal drugs or solicit prostitution.

"It's worked for us," said 7-Eleven manager Ronald Rabdeau, who met repeatedly with Crowell. "I've tried to stop letting people hang out here and tried to get my employees to stop problems before they begin. I can't stop everyone who is going to shoplift, but we can do things to make this place safer."

http://santacruz.patch.com/articles/santa-cruzs-new-cops-do-intensive-crime-studies

.