Posts Tagged ‘Diane Dimond’s weekly crime and justice column’
Fact: School Shootings Are Rare
If schools aren’t already back in session where you are they soon will be. As a sign of our times, many parents will worry about the safety of their child and the possibility of another deadly school shooting. The fact is: while mass shootings in the U.S. seem all too frequent, occurring between 10 and…
Read MoreHow the Media Politicizes Crime Coverage
Words matter. So does equal treatment. So, when the New York Times recently devoted a top-of-the-front-page, three column wide article equating the actions and words of the El Paso mass murderer to those of “right wing pundits”* I was curious to say the least. Was The Gray Lady saying conservatives somehow convinced someone to commit…
Read MoreThe Trend Toward Distrusting Police Could Hurt Us All
All democrats want to take your guns. All republicans are racist. So is law enforcement, and police brutality is commonplace. Of course, none of those statements is true but they highlight the groupthink that has infected the national conversation. When a police-involved death occurs it seems there are no shades of grey anymore, no need…
Read MoreWanted: Leaders to Tackle Mass Shooting Epidemic
(Photo: Vigil for Victims in Dayton, Ohio – courtesy Wiki Commons) After the recent horror of multiple mass shootings – at a garlic festival in California, at a Wal-Mart in El Paso, and, finally, at a popular nightlife neighborhood of Dayton – I went to social media and posed two questions: “What is wrong with…
Read MoreAmerica’s Drug Crisis Happened Because We Let It Happen
Here’s some good news. Last year, for the first time since 1990, deaths from drug overdoses actually dropped in the United States. The Centers for Disease Control reports it wasn’t a big drop – about 5% fewer deaths – but might this indicate a trend? Let’s hope so, because even with that decline a staggering…
Read MoreAmerica’s Mindset This Independence Day
Did you enjoy the 243rd birthday of our country over this long weekend? Wait a minute. Do I hear some grousing out there? Is that grumbling I hear about the state of the nation? Complaints that everything is not perfect in the USA? Get a grip, people. No nation can be faultless in its operation.…
Read MoreOur Modern-Day Debtor’s Prisons
See if you can find the logic in this. A local government issues traffic fines to residents for infractions like not wearing a seat belt, expired registration tags or a broken taillight. If the fine isn’t promptly paid then interest and penalties pile up and soon a $50 or $100 ticket can quickly balloon to…
Read MoreHorrible Harvey – No Way to Run a Justice System
How is it that someone accused of dozens of criminal acts can throw millions of dollars at a problem and pay his way out of trouble? That is what’s happening with Horrible Harvey Weinstein, except if all goes as planned he won’t be paying out anything. His insurance companies will handle the payoffs to the…
Read MoreThe Staggering Costs of Imprisonment in the U.S.
Guess how much our nation’s system of mass incarceration costs each year? I’m talking about the taxpayer funded budgets of prisons, jails, probation departments and the public employees who staff them. Add in the cost of running the criminal justice system; the amount spent on health care, food and incidentals for inmates and the financial…
Read MoreAllowing Prisoners to Vote – Let’s Think This Through
So democratic presidential candidate Senator Bernie Sanders wants to give all prisoners the right to vote. He said so during a recent campaign speech, much to the surprise of many. I was among them. Sanders believes “the right to vote is inherent to our democracy” and even “terrible people” like the Boston Marathon bomber should…
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