Category Archives: Studies

What Caused the Decline In Crime?

Bellingham Defense Attorney, Department of Corrections, Jail, Studies, , ,

What's Behind The Decline In Crime?

A new report examines the dramatic drop in crime nationwide over the past two decades — and analyzes various theories for why it occurred.

In What Caused the Crime Decline? a team of economic and criminal justice researchers examined over 40 years of data, gathered from 50 states and the 50 largest cities. Their work examines one of the nation’s least understood recent phenomena – the dramatic decline in crime nationwide over the past two decades – and analyzes various theories for why it occurred.

It concludes that over-harsh criminal justice policies, particularly increased incarceration, which rose even more dramatically over the same period, were not the main drivers of the crime decline. In fact, the report finds that increased incarceration has been declining in its effectiveness as a crime control tactic for more than 30 years. Its effect on crime rates since 1990 has been limited, and has been non-existent since 2000.

More important were various social, economic, and environmental factors, such as growth in income and an aging population. The introduction of CompStat, a data-driven policing technique, also played a significant role in reducing crime in cities that introduced it.

The report concludes that considering the immense social, fiscal, and economic costs of mass incarceration, programs that improve economic opportunities, modernize policing practices, and expand treatment and rehabilitation programs, all could be a better public safety investment.

Nobel laureate Dr. Joseph E. Stiglitz called the report “groundbreaking” in a foreword.

This is interesting reading. Also, their research contained information on how/why specific states’ drop-off in crime happened.

Please contact my office if you, a friend or family member are charged with a crime. Hiring an effective and competent defense attorney is the first and best step toward justice.

 

New Study Shows Immigration Reduces Violent Crime

Immigration, Robbery, Studies, , ,

What We Know (and Don't Know) About Immigrants and Violent Crime

A new study says that cities that experienced higher influxes of foreign-born and new immigrant populations also experienced lower rates of homicides and robberies. Using data from the FBI’s Uniform Crime Report and U.S. Census Bureau, Tim Wadsworth, an Assistant Professor of Sociology at the University of Colorado, found fascinating results.

Some background: during the 1990s immigration rates reached record levels.  Consequently, this led to speculation that increased immigration brought increased crime.

Not so, argues, Wadsworth.

Specifically, Wadsworth concludes that after considering other factors, growth among immigrants was responsible for roughly 9.3 percent of the decline of Homicides and 22.2 percent of the decrease in Robbery rates. He attributes this to what is referred to as the “healthy immigrant thesis,” which points to protective cultural and neighborhood factors often found in immigrant communities and families. Immigrants tend to be healthy, well-adjusted, motivated individuals and immigrant communities often buffer against the strains of poverty, assimilation and crime.

In addition, Wadsworth draws on social disorganization theory. From this view, to the extent that immigrant communities produce protective factors in ethnically diverse neighborhoods, the effects of their presence may spill over to the native population by enhancing overall stability.

My opinion?  This study is timely in light of Arizona’s recent anti-immigration legislation.  For those who can’t remember, this anti-immigrant legislation gives local police the authority to question individuals they suspect are in the country illegally.  In short, this research debunks evidence of a connection between immigration and crime.

Please contact my office if you, a friend or family member are charged with a crime. Hiring an effective and competent defense attorney is the first and best step toward justice.

Racial Disparities In Jury Selection Still Exist

Constitutional Rights, Due Process, Jury Trial, Race & Law, Studies, , ,

How racism shapes jury selection - Vox

Racial exclusion in jury selection is still common, according to a study of practices in southern states.

In courtrooms across the United States, people of color are dramatically underrepresented on juries as a result of racially biased use of peremptory strikes,” the report by the Alabama-based Equal Justice Initiative (EJI) stated. “This phenomenon is especially prevalent in capital cases and other serious felony cases. Many communities have failed to make juries inclusive and representative of all who have a right to serve.”

The staff of the EJI looked closely at jury selection procedures in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, and Tennessee.  they uncovered shocking evidence of racial discrimination in jury selection in every state.  They identified counties where prosecutors excluded nearly 80% of African Americans qualified for jury service.  They discovered majority-black counties where  capital defendants nonetheless were tried by all-white juries.  And they found evidence that some prosecutors employed by state and local governments were actually trained to exclude people on the basis of race on how to conceal their race bias.

In many cases, people of color were not only excluded, but also denigrated and insulted with pretextual reasons intended to conceal race bias.  African Americans were excluded because they appeared to have “low intelligence”; wore eyeglasses, were single, married, or separated; or were too old for jury service at age 43 or too young at age 28.  They were barred for having relatives who attended historically black colleges; for the way they walk; for chewing gum; and frequently, for living in predominantly black neighborhoods.

My opinion?  Batson v. Kentucky was supposed to eliminate race-based jury selection.  However, it appears the specter still exists.  It’s unbelievable to me ho today’s “race-neutral” explanations and the tolerance of racial bias by court officials has made jury selection for people of color a hazardous venture, where the sting of exclusion is accompanied by painful insults and injurious commentary.

Please contact my office if you, a friend or family member are charged with a crime. Hiring an effective and competent defense attorney is the first and best step toward justice.

Domestic Violence Brutality Increasing in Whatcom County

Assault, Bellingham, Bellingham Defense Attorney, Domestic Violence, felony, Jail, law enforcement, misdemeanor, police, Studies, , ,

Domestic violence is now out in the open but the figures show just how endemic it is

It appears DV cases are increasing in Whatcom County. An unprecedented series of domestic-violence slayings in the last 15 months has set off alarms across the county and left community leaders scrambling to gauge the problem’s extent and root causes.
The Bellingham Police Department and the Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office handle the majority of domestic-violence assaults in the county.  Although both agencies had an overall decrease in the number of such assaults per capita reported to them since 2004,
Sheriff Bill Elfo says the severity of the crimes have, in fact, increased.
Some other interesting facts:
* Whatcom County law enforcement agencies have investigated eight deaths believed to be related to or caused by domestic violence since March 2009.
* Workers in victim-care agencies confirmed the trend of increasing violence.
* The number of women and children who stayed at least one night in the shelter’s 18 beds increased by 17 percent from 2008 to 2009, according to agency statistics.
* Calls to Womencare’s helpline increased 28 percent last year.
Why has the problem increased?  The article cites the poor economy adding to the problem and hampering criminal-justice and victim-care agencies’ ability to prevent more violence.  The economy also hampers efforts to confine abusers as the justice system, from police to jails to courts, struggles under budget cuts.  For victims trying to leave abusive relationships, which is when they’re at the highest risk, emergency shelter and long-term transitional housing are getting scarcer as demand for them increases.

Please contact my office if you, a friend or family member are charged with DV or and other crime. Hiring an effective and competent defense attorney is the first and best step toward justice.

Yes, Crime Is Down . . . But For How Long?

Assault, Domestic Violence, felony, Homicide & Manslaughter, Rape, Studies, Violent Crime, Whatcom County Criminal Defense, , ,

NRA-ILA | Stemming the Tide: Violent Crime Decreased in First Six Months of 2017

My opinion?  That’s good news.  It debunks any theories that economic recessions leads to increased crime rates.  I, for one, haven’t seen a dramatic increase in crime – except for maybe low-level street drugs like heroin – since the recession hit.  Still despite the successful efforts of law enforcement’s endeavors, we should not be too quick to pat ourselves on the back.

Please contact my office if you, a friend or family member are charged with a crime. Hiring an effective and competent defense attorney is the first and best step toward justice.

Break The Law And Your New “Friend” Might Be The FBI

Constitutional Rights, Privacy, Search and Seizure, Search Warrant, Social Media, Studies, , ,

Feds Accused of Withholding Social Media Surveillance Files – Courthouse News Service

Law enforcement is invading social networking websites. The Feds are on Facebook.  And Myspace, LinkedIn and Twitter, too.

Let’s be frank: it was only a matter a time before the Feds started conducting investigations using social networking sites.  Indeed, I’ve had former clients busted for prostitution because they sell their services on Craigslist, and the police acted as “Johns” to set up a sting.

Please contact my office if you, a friend or family member are charged with a crime. Hiring an effective and competent defense attorney is the first and best step toward justice.

American Law Institute Abandons the Death Penalty

Death Penalty, Studies, , ,

Oregon's Death Penalty Is Almost Nonexistent—So Why Can't We Get Rid of It? - News - Portland Mercury

Last fall, the American Law Institute (ALI), which created the intellectual framework for the modern capital justice system almost 50 years ago, pronounced the Death Penalty a failure and walked away from it.

The ALI is made up of about 4,000 judges, lawyers and law professors across the country. It synthesizes and shapes the law in restatements and model codes.  Consequently, the ALI provides structure and coherence in a federal legal system that might otherwise consist of 50 different approaches to everything.

Here, the ALI’s decision to abandon the death penalty is INCREDIBLY important because they were the only intellectually respectable organization which supported the death penalty system in the United States.  In 1962, as part of the Model Penal Code, the institute created the modern framework for the death penalty, one the Supreme Court largely adopted when it reinstituted capital punishment in Gregg v. Georgia in 1976. Several justices cited the standards the institute had developed as a model to be emulated by the states.

Their reasons for abandoning?  A study commissioned by the institute said that decades of experience had proved that the system could not reconcile the twin goals of individualized decisions about who should be executed and systemic fairness. It added that capital punishment was plagued by racial disparities; was enormously expensive even as many defense lawyers were underpaid and some were incompetent; risked executing innocent people; and was undermined by the politics that come with judicial elections.

Please contact my office if you, a friend or family member are charged with a crime. Hiring an effective and competent defense attorney is the first and best step toward justice.

Prisons Are Still Growing and Racial Disparities Persist, Despite Availability of Cost-Effective Alternatives

Jail, Race & Law, Studies, , ,

Report identifying nonviolent offenders eligible for release sits on shelf during pandemic - New Mexico In Depth

Last week, the Department of Justice released its annual survey of prisons.

Reports showed that over 1.6 million people are incarcerated in federal or state penitentiaries.  The report shows that although the growth of imprisonment is down, the number of people in prison is still increasing, up more than 12,000 people from last year.  The number continues to grow even as crime goes down, despite lack of evidence that incarcerating people is an effective public safety strategy.

As states continue to grapple with budget crises, its time for policymakers to consider cost-effective alternatives to incarceration.

Highlights from the report:

  • Twenty states reported a reduction in their prison populations since 2007.
  • Fewer people were admitted to prison in 2008 than previous years.
  • The number of people released is still less than the number of people admitted.
  • Decreases in the number of blacks and increases in the number of Hispanics in prison have little effect on the disproportionate impact of the criminal justice system on communities of color.
  • Black men are 6.5 times more likely to be in prison than white men.
  • Prisons continue to grow even as crime continues to fall.
  • More needs to be done to address disproportionate minority contact with the criminal justice system.
  • Correctional agencies must address re-entry needs long before returning prisoners to the community.
  • Investing in effective public safety strategies can provide long-term, cost-effective solutions.

My opinion?  The findings speak for themselves, and galvanize the age-old issue in criminal jurisprudence: whether rehabilitation or punishment more effective deals with criminal defendants.  Some background: in the 60’s -70’s, our governments were more open to rehabilitating defendants away from their criminal lifestyles.

In the 80’s and 90’s, however, the rehabilitative approach was slowly abandoned.  This happened for many reasons.  First, it was difficult to quantify recidivism rates for “rehabilitated” defendants.  Additionally, states found ways to make money from the criminal justice system. 

In short, more prisons brought increased employment and government funds to states which badly needed the economic injection.  Third, it became popular to beat up on criminals.  Finally, the “War on Drugs” catapulted an outcry for more police, stricter drug laws, and a “lock ’em up & throw away the key” mentality.

These days are different.  We’re seeing the “War on Drugs” failed.  We’re noticing that incarcerating people is an expensive luxury.  We’re realizing that budget crises in the criminal justice system force us to be more creative.

Please contact my office if you, a friend or family member are charged with a crime. Hiring an effective and competent defense attorney is the first and best step toward justice.

Despite More Jobless, Crime Rates Fall

Jail, Studies, , ,

Latest Crime Statistics: Volumes Continue to Fall — FBI

Despite more people being jobless, crime rates continue to fall.

Experts are scratching their heads over why crime has ebbed during this recession, making it different from other economic downturns of the past half-century. Early guesses include jobless folks at home keeping closer watch for thieves, or extra benefits keeping people from resorting to crime.

My opinion?  The experts are probably correct.  People commit crimes when their present situation seems hopeless.  They lose hope when their opportunities become limited, and/or there’s no way out of a bad predicament.

Here, the government’s extension of unemployment benefits gives hope to many jobless Americans.  They may think, “I’ll get a job when the country’s economic situation improves,” and take shelter with unemployment extensions.  These same Americans might otherwise commit crimes if the government didn’t step in and assist.

Please contact my office if you, a friend or family member are charged with a crime. Hiring an effective and competent defense attorney is the first and best step toward justice.

New Statistics From the Bureau of Justice Shows Overall Decrease In Prison Populations

Race & Law, Studies, , ,

U.S. Prison Population Trends: Massive Buildup and Modest Decline | The Sentencing Project

The Bureau of Justice just released two bulletins last week which examine the numbers of defendants under probation or parole supervision for 2008.  The report discusses related trends, including an overall increase in the number of individuals being released from federal and state prisons.

Highlights include the following:

  • The U.S. prison population grew at the slowest rate (0.8%) since 2000, reaching 1,610,446 sentenced prisoners at year end 2008.
  • Growth of the prison population since 2000 (1.8% per year on average) was less than a third of the average annual rate during the 1990s (6.5% per year on average).
  • Between 2000 and 2008 the number of blacks in prison declined by 18,400, lowering the imprisonment rate to 3,161 men and 149 women per 100,000 persons in the U.S. resident black population.

My opinion?  Politicians are finally acknowledging that (1) incarcerating people is an expensive luxury, and (2) the “War on Drugs” is not working.  Although I don’t know for sure, I’m confident the majority of these “early release” defendants were convicted of low-level drug crimes.  Similarly, I’m confident the courts are sending fewer people to prison if they’ve been convicted of drug crimes.

Please contact my office if you, a friend or family member are charged with a crime. Hiring an effective and competent defense attorney is the first and best step toward justice.