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From the Los Angeles Times

After 17 years, three-strikes law is still hotly debated

Supporters of the tough sentencing rules say the law applies to a lifetime of crime, while opponents say tough punishments often are out of proportion to the underlying crimes.

by Jack Leonard, Times Staff Writer

September 5, 2011

Scott Andrew Hove tucked a spool of welding wire and work gloves inside his waistband and headed for the Home Depot store's exit without paying.

As he made his way out of the Lake Elsinore store, employees stopped Hove and found the stolen merchandise hidden under his sweat shirt.

"I was stupid," the certified welder told them.

The items were worth only $20.94. But the theft cost Hove, 45, a life prison sentence recently, when a Riverside County judge ordered him to spend 29 years to life behind bars under California's three-strikes law.

His sentence points to the legal debate that continues to rage 17 years after voters approved the law: whether its tough sentences sometimes far exceed the crimes. Unlike other three-strikes laws across the country, California treats any felony as a third strike — even a nonviolent offense such as petty theft or drug possession — as long as an offender's criminal history includes at least two violent or serious crimes, such as rape, robbery or residential burglary.

Riverside County prosecutors argued that Hove — who has a long history of drugs and thefts, including convictions for residential burglary — had proved himself "an incurable recidivist." Court records show he managed to avoid the full weight of the three-strikes law at least four times before his latest theft. Among his offenses was a 1996 crash in which he severely injured someone while driving under the influence of methamphetamine.

"He's your prototypical poster child for three strikes," said Riverside County Chief Deputy Dist. Atty. Guy Pittman. "How many times does society have to be victimized before we decide to put someone away?"

Hove's attorney, Deputy Public Defender Jeff Zimel, agreed that his client deserved some time behind bars but argued in court that a sentence of 13 years in prison would be more appropriate. He said that a life sentence was "excessive, outrageous and contrary to the spirit of the three-strikes law."

Voters overwhelmingly approved the three-strikes law in 1994 amid heightened public anxiety over crime. Supporters say three strikes punishes offenders for what is often a lifetime of crime. The law, which imposes sentences of at least 25 years to life for a third strike, has put thousands of violent criminals behind bars for long stretches.

But it has also produced cases where critics say the punishment was far out of proportion with the crime. Thousands of offenders have been sentenced under the law for third strikes that involve drugs or thefts. Among them was a drug addict whose third strike involved shoplifting nine videotapes to sell for heroin.

Today, most prosecutors are more selective about when they choose to use the law's full force, but Hove's sentence illustrates that punishments still can vary from county to county.

In L.A. County, prosecutors follow a written policy that generally seeks potential life terms only when an offender's most recent crime is violent or serious. By contrast, the Riverside County district attorney's office examines cases individually. For Hove, the office was once willing to seek reduced sentences but has since run out of patience as his rap sheet has grown longer.

"This guy has received a lot of grace," said Jennifer E. Walsh, a political science professor at Azusa Pacific University and an expert on three strikes. "We might be looking at more cases like this down the line."

Hove's case offers a look at the controversial choices that judges and prosecutors make when deciding how to the apply the law.

Hove grew up in Orange County, the youngest of four children. His father, an imposing figure who weighed more than 300 pounds, abused him physically and verbally, his family said in court records. At one point, the elder Hove choked his 16-year-old son until the boy turned blue, Hove's mother said.

At school, Hove was diagnosed with a learning disability and took medication for attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder. He showed signs of impulsivity and repeatedly ran into trouble. He was prescribed Ritalin until he was about 12. His mother said she believed her son began using drugs when he came off the medication.

School authorities suspended the young Hove several times for fighting, rule-breaking and drug possession. His first arrest occurred at 13, when he was sent to juvenile hall for shoplifting, drug use and stealing car parts and bicycles, according to a defense psychologist's report.

Hove told authorities that his addictions to drugs, including crack cocaine and methamphetamine, fueled his thefts. "I'm not a bad person," he told a probation officer earlier this year. "I have a drug problem."

In 1991, Hove broke into an office and rooms at a Santa Ana hotel where he had been living. He took VCRs, an answering machine, a radio and other items. He pleaded guilty to three counts of residential burglary and was sentenced to five years in prison.

Once the three-strikes law took effect, each of Hove's residential burglary convictions counted as a "strike." He now ran the risk of a possible life sentence if he committed another felony.

But Hove's crimes continued.

In May 1996, Hove was driving on the wrong side of the road in Chino Hills when he struck a 65-year-old man carrying his grandson, according to an appellate court opinion. The boy was thrown to safety but the crash left his grandfather in a vegetative state, the appeals court said.

Hove tested positive for methamphetamine. He pleaded guilty in San Bernardino County to driving under the influence of a controlled substance and was sentenced to four years in prison.

Hove avoided another potential life sentence in 2001 when he pleaded guilty to possessing marijuana for sale in Riverside County. In 2004, Riverside County prosecutors sought another reduced sentence when he was again charged with possessing drugs for sale.

But when Hove returned to court in 2008 charged with drug possession, Riverside County prosecutors decided he deserved a three-strikes sentence, said Pittman, the chief deputy district attorney. A judge, however, disagreed. Hove was sentenced to two years in prison. He was on parole for that offense when he walked into the Lake Elsinore Home Depot in November 2009.

Armed with Hove's long criminal record, prosecutors argued that Hove was a career criminal incapable of reforming.

"The defendant has already had enough 'breaks,' " Deputy Dist. Atty. Natalia Matusik wrote in court papers.

A defense psychologist recommended an intense residential drug treatment program rather than prison. He concluded that Hove's crimes were directly connected to his drug abuse and that Hove used drugs to deal with his untreated mental health problems.

On Aug. 19, Riverside County Superior Court Judge Albert J. Wojcik rejected Hove's final plea for leniency at his sentencing.

Hove's mother, Nondus Hove, said she has been dismayed by her son's frequent legal troubles but believes his sentence is a miscarriage of justice.

"To strike someone out for something like that, it's ridiculous," she said.

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-home-depot-theft-20110905,0,3441351,print.story

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It's all about jobs

A few thoughts of American leaders past and present on how to create jobs — and how not to.

September 5, 2011

Labor Day was established as a national holiday in 1894, in the midst of a violent conflict between workers and railroad owners. Ever since, federal policymakers have been trying to strike a balance between the rights of workers versus those of corporations, free trade versus protectionism, business taxation versus spending on programs to boost employment or to support those out of work, and the regulation of industry versus market freedom. With unemployment in the United States at 9.1% this Labor Day, it's clear we haven't quite figured it out yet. So here are a few thoughts of leaders past and present on how to create jobs — and how not to.

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"Today's misery is real unemployment, home foreclosures and bankruptcies. This is the Obama Misery Index, and it's at a record high. It's going to take more than rhetoric to put Americans back to work; it's going to take a new president."

— GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney, Feb. 11

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"Look, even though private sector job growth is good, we've still got a long way to go before we put everybody back to work. We need to go ahead and act right now on some proposals that are before Congress, ready to be voted on. We should extend the payroll tax cut that we passed in December, put $1,000 in the typical family's pocket — we need to extend that into next year. Because if you've got more money in your pockets, that means businesses have more customers, they're more likely to hire."

— President Obama, Aug. 17

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"Uncertainty and lack of confidence are at the center of the failure of our economy to achieve a robust recovery with job creation, job creation which would be necessary to support the continued improvement in our citizens' lives that we've come to expect as Americans. The origin of this crisis of confidence is debatable. The Great Recession and its legacy of job losses and home foreclosures is a contributing factor, and those are things we'll have to work through.... But in my opinion the seeds of this lack of confidence were first sown in well-intentioned programs of the 1930s and of the Lyndon Johnson Great Society."

— Rep. Spencer Bachus (R-Ala.), chairman, House Financial Services Committee, July 13

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"I confidently predict — what every economic sign tells us tonight — the continued flourishing of the American economy. But we must remember that fear of a recession can contribute to the fact of a recession. The knowledge that our government will, and can, move swiftly will strengthen the confidence of investors and business. Congress can reinforce this confidence by ensuring that its procedures permit rapid action on income tax cuts. And special funds for job-creating public programs should be made available for immediate use if recession threatens."

— President Lyndon B. Johnson, - 1965

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"There are those who fail to read both the signs of the times and American history. They would try to refuse the worker any effective power to bargain collectively, to earn a decent livelihood and to acquire security. It is those shortsighted ones, not labor, who threaten this country with that class dissension which in other countries has led to dictatorship and the establishment of fear and hatred as the dominant emotions in human life.

"All American workers — brain workers and manual workers alike — and all the rest of us whose well-being depends on theirs, know that our needs are one in building an orderly economic democracy in which all can profit and in which all can be secure from the kind of faulty economic direction which brought us to the brink of common ruin seven years ago."

— President Franklin D. Roosevelt, - 1936

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"And here is the prime condition of success, the great secret: Concentrate your energy, thought and capital exclusively upon the business in which you are engaged. Having begun in one line, resolve to fight it out on that line, to lead in it; adopt every improvement, have the best machinery and know the most about it."

— Andrew Carnegie, - 1885

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"At the heart of our efforts is one idea vindicated by 25 straight months of economic growth: Freedom and incentives unleash the drive and entrepreneurial genius that are at the core of human progress. We have begun to increase the rewards for work, savings and investment; reduce the increase in the cost and size of government and its interference in people's lives....

"The time has come for a new American emancipation, a great national drive to tear down economic barriers and liberate the spirit of enterprise in the most distressed areas of our country. My friends, together we can do this, and do it we must, so help me God."

— President Ronald Reagan, - 1985

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"The term inequality is often used rather loosely, and can be a lightning rod. Some have argued that only extreme poverty is a concern. Others have argued that the gap in income or wealth between the well-off and the poor is a concern. Yet others have argued that the rapid growth in income disparity between the richest of the rich and everyone else is an issue. I will argue that, for various reasons elaborated below, all of these forms of inequality are of concern to contemporary American society, and that America has reached a point where, on the margin, efficiently redistributing income from rich to poor is in the nation's interest.

"A theme of my contribution to this debate is that societies must strike a balance between the beneficial incentive effects of inequality and the harmful welfare-decreasing effects of inequality. The optimal balance will differ across societies and time, but too much inequality can be harmful in any society, just like too much equality can suppress innovation and drive. Evidence … suggests that expanding education and training programs for less-skilled workers could be an effective component of a strategy to restore a better balance."

— Alan B. Krueger, newly appointed chairman of the White House Council of Economic Advisers, "Inequality: Too Much of a Good Thing" - 2002

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/opinionla/la-ed-labor-20110905,0,549756,print.story

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From Google News

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Michigan

Jackson County authorities working to determine who pays for cleanup of meth labs

With federal funding to clean up methamphetamine labs exhausted, Jackson County authorities are working to determine who should pay for the pricey disposal of chemicals associated with making the drug.

Some argue the Jackson Narcotics Enforcement Team — a drug interdiction unit made up of Jackson County sheriff's deputies, Michigan State Police troopers and Jackson police officers —should bear the cost of all county cleanups.

“It's just not feasible for small communities to pick up that cost,” said Columbia Township Police Chief David Elwell.

Michigan State Police Detective Lt. Dave Cook, however, said the drug team cannot afford to always pay the tab.

“JNET would go under if we paid for every single meth cleanup in the county,” said Cook, the team's commander.

In February, the Drug Enforcement Administration announced that funding for its Community Oriented Policing Services Methamphetamine Program had been drained, and likely would not be renewed. That left local communities and states to pay the costs themselves or avoid the messes entirely.

A plan for how the county will handle the issue has not been solidified. The JNET board will discuss it at an upcoming meeting, said Jackson Police Chief Matt Heins, who sits on the board with the sheriff, a state police representative and the county prosecutor.

Still, local authorities say police will not disregard labs. Dollars will not dictate response, said state police 1st Lt. Jim Shaw.

“You don't dare risk not dealing with the problem, because these are dangerous chemicals. You can't ignore that,” Sheriff Steve Rand said.

Meth-making requires items such as drain cleaner, pseudoephedrine, lighter fluid and anhydrous ammonia. Typically, JNET calls Drug and Laboratory Disposal Inc. in Plainwell to a meth lab scene. It transports, treats, stores and disposes of hazardous waste.

The cost of cleaning up a lab varies. The company last billed JNET $979 for a small lab, Cook said.

In 2010, Jackson County had 10 labs and the company charged $24,000 to take care of the messes, Elwell and Cook confirmed.

There are about 10 to 15 labs in the county every year, Cook said. The number fluctuates, and the labs are not usually large operations. Many are mobile and made crudely of soft drink bottles and other refuse.

JNET members will follow up on tips and take care of the labs when they find them. They do not actively look for labs, but this is not because the cleanup funding is gone, Cook said.

“Jackson has a bigger problem than meth, and that's … heroin and cocaine,” Cook said.

Since the DEA cut funding, JNET has used $6,000 to $7,000 in forfeiture funds to clean up labs. That is money the team obtains when it seizes cash or property, such as vehicles, from alleged drug dealers.

“What better use of forfeiture funds than picking up drug messes?” Elwell said.

The team survives on these funds, and it is impossible to predict every year how much money the unit will obtain, Cook said.

“People think JNET is a money train because of forfeiture. There is nothing further from the truth,” he said.

Waterloo Township Police Chief Tom Cottrell said his department has no option but to hand over a lab investigation to JNET.

“We are operating on a shoestring budget anyway,” Cottrell said. “Just because we are a small department out in the sticks doesn't mean we are the rotten little stepchild that gets crapped on every time dinner is called.”

Cook said the state and county pay the wages and benefits of deputies and troopers assigned to the six-member team, but neither entity gives money directly to JNET, whose operating costs are fully paid by the forfeiture funds. Federal grant money pays for portions of the salaries of the city officer and two deputies assigned to the unit.

JNET has financial constraints just like every other law-enforcement entity, Heins said.

“To shift the burden of that, to simply say JNET or the state is going to pay for it, is not viable long-term,” Rand said.

He suggested all the county agencies work together to pay the cost.

“You give a little, we give a little, and we will all get the job done,” Rand said.

http://www.mlive.com/news/jackson/index.ssf/2011/09/jackson_county_authorities_wor.html

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