New York City homicide rate for 2015 tops last year’s tally, data shows
In a week punctuated by the killing of a 2-month-old boy in the Bronx, New York City’s homicide rate has passed 2014’s record low tally, with 339 killings through Sunday, according to the latest NYPD data. For all of 2014, New York City reported 333 homicides — the lowest number since the modern era of […]
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DOJ Aims to Fix Crime Lab Issues
DOJ Puts Forth Plan to Fix Problems at Crime Labs- But It’s Not Enough When prosecutors present evidence in court, the evidence should be accurate, as a defendant’s future hangs in the balance. Much of the evidence that prosecutors present comes from crime labs, which conduct testings of DNA, do hair analyses, and evaluate a […]
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Naval Base on Jeju
I am an American, but I have lived and worked in South Korea as an ESL teacher for the past ten years. America has a few military bases set up throughout Korea, which causes concern and problems throughout the peninsula. Some of the old timers claim that the American military presence is necessary due to […]
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Understanding Hate Crime Laws
It is a longstanding principle that people should not be punished for bad thoughts, but only for bad actions. A person can think about breaking the law, but should only be charged with an offense when a step is taken towards violating the law as people cannot be punished for thought crimes. There is, however, […]
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MADD Pushes for Nationwide Interlock Systems
The Associated Press notes today that Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) has kicked off a campaign to encourage all states to pass laws requiring “breath-test interlock devices” in the cars of people who have been convicted once of drunken driving. “Only New Mexico has such a law for first offenders; 45 states and the District of Columbia […]
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Sheldon Silvers Albany NY
Argentina and New York each got a wake-up call recently. In Argentina, the first anti-Peronist in 70-years has been elected as President while, in New York, a long-term, state legislator was convicted. Carlos Menem, a former Argentine President, has been convicted of embezzlement, the same charge brought against Sheldon Silver in New York. While Peronism […]
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Do police records compromise privacy of victims
Some police agencies do. Some police agencies don’t. And According to one Mid State Police chief, there is no law that mandates it gets done. We’re talking about redacting private, sensitive information on police reports that any citizen can obtain. The question is what information is necessary as part of the public document and what […]
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I Believe: 100 Words on Why Drug Policy Reform Matters
Drug policy is a complicated issue. Is there anything anybody can say in 100 words that would make you change your mind about the way we deal with drugs? Here’s my stab at it. What’s yours? I believe that America needs to change the way it deals with drugs. The war on drugs has made America […]
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Scholarship Application: Pyotr Pavlensky
Johanna Lohman My activist Pyotr Pavlensky is a thirty-one year Russian performance artist and political activist. He studied at the St. Petersburg Art and Industry Academy. He has gained worldwide attention in the last three years for his outrageous public performances, which usually involve some type of self-mutilation. The performances are intended to draw attention […]
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Illegal Gambling
Online Fantasy Sports Constitute Illegal Gambling in New York In the state of New York, Article 225 of the Penal Code addresses crimes related to gambling. Gambling is defined to include risking something of value upon the outcome of a future contingent event that is not under your control with the understanding that something of […]
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