Portal:Criminal justice/News/archive

[edit] June 2006

Big city police chiefs and mayors in the United States are reluctant to enforce Federal immigration laws. (USA Today)
United States National Guard is sent into New Orleans, as the city experiences a surge in violent crime, since April including five teenagers killed during the weekend. (NPR) (Times-Picayune)
National Crime Victimization Survey statistics released by the Bureau of Justice Statistics show an 85% drop in rape since the 1970s, though these results are in dispute by some criminologists. (Houston Chronicle)
U.S. Supreme Court rules that 911 calls can be admitted as evidence in domestic violence cases, however statements made during crime scene investigations cannot be admitted. (New York Times)

The Winnipeg police have made numerous arrests in the relation to the Shedden massacre, including five members from the Bandidos motorcycle club. (CBC)
U.K. Home Office is under fire, as it reveals that 53 prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment have been freed on parole since 2000, and for soft sentences allowed under the Criminal Justice Act 2003. (The Scotsman)

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito breaks tie in 5-4 in Hudson v. Michigan, allowing evidence admitted in cases where police did not knock when executing a search warrant. (CNN)
Police are on lookout for human trafficking during the 2006 FIFA World Cup, with a significant portion of the estimated 40,000 prostitutes that have entered Germany have likely been trafficked. (Belfast Telegraph)

U.S. Supreme Court, in its decision of Hill v. McDonough, allows challenge of constitutionality of lethal injection. (Chicago Tribune)
In House v. Bell, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that new DNA forensic evidence is permissible during post-conviction appeals for death row inmates. (Washington Post)
Preliminary Uniform Crime Reports statistics for 2005, released by the FBI, show a significant rise in violent crime in the United States, with murders up 4.8%. Notable increases occurred in Milwaukee, Houston, St. Louis, and Philadelphia, while other cities including Miami, Dallas, and San Diego saw a reduction in their murder rate. (New York Times)

The Vera Institute of Justice published a commission report that criticizes current U.S. policy towards incarceration as costly and ineffective, and calls on to Congress to address problems of violence, insufficient mental health treatment, and health care in prisons. (Washington Post) (Commission on Safety and Abuse in America’s Prisons)

Tim Selwyn is found guilty of sedition in Auckland, New Zealand. Selwyn is the first New Zealander in over 30 years to be charged with sedition. (TVNZ)

2006 Toronto terrorism case: Toronto police uncover an alleged subplot where Steven Vikash Chand, alias Abdul Shakur, intended to lead an invasion of the Parliament of Canada building and assassinate Prime Minister Stephen Harper. (CBC)

British police shoot a suspect in an anti-terrorism raid, although his injuries are non-life threatening. The 23 year old was shot in front of his family as police raided his home in Forest Gate, London. (BBC) (ABC)

The United States Department of Homeland Security reveals that it plans to reallocate anti-terrorism funding to cities across the nation. Funding to New York City and Washington, D.C. is cut, while funding to cities such as Omaha, Nebraska and Los Angeles, California increases. New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg's office calls the report's statement that there are no "national monuments or icons" in New York City "outrageous."(New York Times)