Good news:
Homicides in Washington hit a 43-year low in 2009.
Police say the nation’s capital recorded 143 slayings in 2009, the fewest since 1966. Police had hoped to achieve the lowest total since 1964, when there were 132, but there were three slayings on New Year’s Eve.
The homicide total represents a 23 percent drop from 2008.
Metropolitan Police also closed 75 percent of murder cases, the second year in a row closed cases topped 70 percent.
That’s a long way from being the “murder capital” of the country and that’s an achievement everyone can applaud.
January 1st, 2010
Posted by
ricjames |
Crime & Punishment, Human Interest |
no comments
Advocates of gun control talk of the concept of crime increasing as more people have guns as if it’s a graven-in-stone axiom. Evidence has been presented in many localities that suggest otherwise and now the FBI’s nationwide crime report for the 1st half of 2009 shows definitively that this concept is untrue. From the NRA-ILA:
Last week, the FBI issued its preliminary 2009 crime report, showing that the number of murders in the first half of 2009 decreased 10 percent compared to the first half of 2008. If the trend holds for the remainder of 2009, it will be the single greatest one-year decrease in the number of murders since at least 1960, the earliest year for which national data are available through the Bureau of Justice Statistics. Also, the per capita murder rate for 2009 will be 51 percent lower than the all-time high recorded in 1991, and it will be the lowest rate since 1963—a 46-year low. Final figures for 2009 will be released by the FBI next year.
There can be reasoned debate about the natures of the causes and effects listed in the report but the numbers are clear on this: gun ownership went way up in the 1st half of 2009 and crime went way down. “More guns means more crime” is a fallacy, period.
I contend that more guns in the hands of law-abiding citizens means criminals face a much higher risk-to-reward ratio when deciding to commit crimes against their neighbors and it is that change in the calculus that’s driving criminal behavior downward. That’s an educated guess and it accounts for the effects but there’s no denying that increased guns do not equate to increased crime. I look forward to seeing the report for the remainder of 2009 when it comes out.
December 31st, 2009
Posted by
ricjames |
2nd Amendment, Crime & Punishment, Politics |
2 comments
What many of us already knew about ACORN is coming to brighter light and wider knowledge thanks to the efforts of people like Andrew Breitbart, filmmakers Hannah Giles and James O’Keefe, and, now, Derrick Roach. The latest report breaking at Breitbart’s BigGovernment.com is regarding a massive document dump committed by ACORN San Diego where they threw massive stacks of their operating documents into a public dumpster just days before CA Attorney General Jerry Brown was scheduled to visit.
Shockingly, we now learn that the ACORN office in National City (San Diego County) engaged in a massive document dump on the evening of October 9th, containing thousands upon thousands of sensitive documents, just days prior to the Attorney General’s visit.
BigGovernment.com has learned that not only did this document dump occur, but the documents in question were irresponsibly and brazenly dumped in a public dumpster, without considering laws and regulations as to how sensitive information should be treated.
I am a local licensed private investigator. I took it upon myself to keep an eye on what the local ACORN office was up to, in light of the release of the undercover videos. I retrieved these documents from the public dumpster.
Documents shared with BigGovernment.com include information exposing not only the inner workings of ACORN in California, but also personal, sensitive information belonging to employees, members and clients of ACORN. ACORN and its few remaining defenders insist that the “good” ACORN provides outweighs the transgressions exposed in the recent undercover video sting. But, ACORN’s massive dumping of these documents and the cavalier manner in which it betrayed the trust of its supporters betrays that talking point. (Unlike ACORN, we have redacted sensitive and personal information.)
The report goes on to raise the issue 1) of ACORN’s literally illegal handling of these documents, given that they include legally protected information such as Social Security numbers, immigration information, etc., and 2) that the documents show that ACORN’s publicly-stated mission of helping the poor is merely a ruse.
BigGovernment.com is calling on CA Attorney General Brown and US Attorney General Eric Holder to open up a real investigation into ACORN and its activities. Failing that, it is their intention to show the information to the American people themselves.
This is precisely the kind of story that major news media outlets used to cover. They used to consider it to be their calling, their duty. Now, given how in the tank they are to the Democratic party and to the Obama administration in particular, you can’t get them to cover it even when it’s handed to them, gift-wrapped. Fine. Citizen jouralism, it is.
I’m looking forward to hearing more from BigGovernment.com on this issue and their other investigations.
November 23rd, 2009
Posted by
ricjames |
Crime & Punishment, Human Interest, Law, Politics |
one comment
With the passage of the Pelosi version of “healthcare reform” details are starting to come out about what Congress has in mind for you. For starters, if you refuse to buy health insurance of a type and quantity Pelosi and crew think you should, you can get jailed – for up to 5 years.
That’s what a 1st-time offender convicted of rape gets.
That’s starting to become a construct, now, in pithy sayings flying around the Twittersphere. Erick Erickson had something similar to say over at RedState.
November 13th, 2009
Posted by
ricjames |
Crime & Punishment, GWOT, Law, Medicine, Politics |
4 comments
DC sniper John Muhammad’s played his last card with the courts as the US Supreme Court has refused to block tomorrow’s execution. The Court issued the refusal with no comment given as to why it refused. Of course, we all know perfectly well why they refused: the man’s as guilty as it gets, his crime warrants the punishment, and nothing has to come light to suggest either of those assertions aren’t true.
Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine still has Muhammad’s clemency request on his desk and, in spite of assurances that he won’t approve it, he could still set aside the execution. I’ll believe he won’t when he issues the denial but nothing has changed that would render his grant of clemency as anything but a severe miscarriage of justice.
It’s time. He’s had his days in court. Get it done, Virginia.
Update: Gov. Kaine has reportedly denied the clemency request, making good on his previous word that he’d do so. Good for you, Gov. Kaine. The execution is scheduled for 21:00 this evening. Enjoy hell, slimewad.
November 9th, 2009
Posted by
ricjames |
Crime & Punishment, Human Interest |
no comments
After all of the disaster-level coverage of the “boy in the balloon” incident in Colorado, we now find out that the police have evidence that it was hoax. The parents apparently thought it would make a helluva good addition to their resume to be “reality show” subjects.
A Colorado sheriff said Sunday it was a hoax when parents reported that their 6-year-old son was in a flying saucer-like helium balloon hurtling away from their home.
Sheriff Jim Alderden said Richard and Mayumi Heene “put on a very good show for us, and we bought it.”
“We believe that we have evidence at this point to indicate that it was a publicity stunt done with the hopes of marketing themselves or better marketing themselves for a reality television show at some point in the future,” Alderden said.
The sheriff said no charges had been filed yet, and the parents weren’t under arrest. He said he expected to recommend charges of conspiracy, contributing to the delinquency of a minor, making a false report to authorities and attempting to influence a public servant.
When this story was unfolding, I didn’t waste time blogging about it. I was busy praying for the boy and his family. To see that it was just some jerk and his wife using their kid as a publicity prop doesn’t exactly engender sympathy from me. However, the best thing we can all do is express our disgust and then let he and his family fade away from the public eye. They don’t warrant so much as the time of day from any of us. Enjoy the fame, you clown. From this point on, I say let the Fort Collins police handle it and have the jackass serve some time in jail for leading the emergency crews on a wild-goose chase. Don’t even bother telling me about it, though. He’s gotten all the attention from me he’s going to get.
October 18th, 2009
Posted by
ricjames |
Crime & Punishment, Human Interest |
no comments
Right on cue, convicted DC sniper John Muhammad’s lawyer has announced that he’s going to ask Governor Tim Kaine for clemency in order to avoid the death sentence handed down on his conviction.
The attorney for convicted sniper John Allen Muhammad says he plans to ask for clemency for Muhammad who set to be executed next month.
Jonathan Sheldon, Muhammad’s attorney, will file the request Oct. 22, according to an announcement on his law firm’s Web site.
Muhammad, who received the death penalty for the October 2002 murder of Dean Harold Meyers at a Manassas gas station, faces execution Nov. 10.
I said when the date was scheduled that they’d try this so I’m unsurprised. To his credit, Kaine has already said that he sees no reason to offer clemency in this case so I don’t believe he’ll do it. That said, Kaine’s done things he’s said he wouldn’t do in the past so I’ll believe he’ll deny it when he denies it. Muhammad has had his fair trail and his appeals. It’s done. Get on with it.
October 15th, 2009
Posted by
ricjames |
Crime & Punishment, Human Interest |
no comments
That the defenders of Roman Polanski are dismissing the fact that the man raped and sodomized a 13-year-old girl – after drugging her, I might add – says a lot about them. What it says isn’t good. The staggering double-standard was described perfectly today by Father Tom Reese, Society of Jesus. A “Father Polanski”, guilty of exactly the same thing, would be in jail.
“Imagine if the Knights of Columbus decided to give an award to a pedophile priest who had fled the country to avoid prison,” Father Tom Reese, S.J., points out. “The outcry would be universal.”
Writing for the Newsweek/Washington Post website, he adds that “Victim groups would demand the award be withdrawn and that the organization apologize. Religion reporters would be on the case with the encouragement of their editors. Editorial writers and columnist would denounce the knights as another example of the insensitivity of the Catholic Church to sexual abuse.” And then he adds: “And they would all be correct. And I would join them.”
So would I. And I’m a Knight myself. In fact, I’d be willing to go out on a limb and say most of my fellow Knights here in my council would call, write, or march to New Haven, CT personally to make sure the Supreme Knight got the message loud and clear.
But Hollywood sees it differently. Even though this isn’t an “alleged” anything, even though the crime definitely occurred and was admitted to in court, they just can’t see their way clear to hold one of their own accountable for his sexual assault on a little girl. Like Ed Morrissey, I am adamant that he should be held accountable not only for the original crime but for fleeing justice and enjoying his freedom for the 32 years he was a fugitive. I couldn’t care less that he’s 76 years old. As has been mentioned by others, Hollywood would be calling for the man’s head if he were a plumber or a conservative talk-show host. I hope they’ll remember this when the day comes that it’s one of their daughters recovering from rape and sodomy.
September 29th, 2009
Posted by
ricjames |
Crime & Punishment, Entertainment, Politics, The Media |
one comment
Finally.
A judge has set a Nov. 10 execution date for John Allen Muhammad, mastermind of the 2002 sniper attacks in the Washington, D.C., area.
The attorney general’s office had requested a Nov. 9 execution. But Muhammad’s attorney Jonathan Sheldon says Prince William County Circuit Judge Mary Grace O’Brien delayed it one day.
That’s because Nov. 9 is a Monday and they want government offices to be open the day before in case of last-minute court action.
Oh, I’m sure there’ll be some attempt to game the system by Muhammad and/or his lawyers. He’s had his run. It’s time to be done with this, and him.
September 16th, 2009
Posted by
ricjames |
Crime & Punishment, GWOT, Human Interest, Politics, Virginia Politics |
one comment
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