For the third year in a row, violent crime rates dropped across the U.S., according to a new FBI report released today. Property crimes also dropped. The only increase was burglaries in the South which rose slightly. The figures are for the first half of 2009. Some stats:

• Murder (down 10.0 percent);
• Forcible rape (down 3.3 percent);
• Robbery (down 6.5 percent);
• Aggravated assault (down 3.2 percent);
• Burglary (down 2.5 percent);
• Larceny-theft (down 5.3 percent); and
• Motor vehicle theft (down 18.7 percent).

The FBI press release is here. A more detailed report is here.

In hearings this year before the Sentencing Commission around the country, federal judges have been complaining about the excessive sentencing guidelines for possession of child p*rn.

Judges, for the most part, have based their argument on a belief that some of the defendants who view child pornography have never molested a child or posed a risk to the community and may be better served by treatment rather than prison.

As federal guidelines now stand, the number of images and the way the contraband is obtained enhance prison terms. A first-time offender with no criminal history can be sentenced to 10 years in federal prison.

In one case currently pending before a Colorado federal judge who has granted non-guideline sentences of probation to two such defendants in the past, defense counsel argues: [More...]

George Washington Law Professor Paul Butler has a new book out, Let's Get Free: A Hip-Hop Theory of Justice. It's a book about why the U.S. is wrong to lock up so many people, and how we can safely reduce our incarceration rate.

He devotes a chapter to an intriguing question: "Should Good People Be Prosecutors?" I agree with his answer: [More...]

How scary is this? I got this notice from the Department of Justice today.

The Department of Justice's (DOJ) National Institute of Justice and Bureau of Justice Assistance are hosting a symposium November 18-20, 2009, to explore the potential for implementing predictive policing strategies to help make communities safer. Predictive policing integrates data analysis with law enforcement strategies and tactics. To find out how best to apply predictive policing approaches, the DOJ is supporting a number of police departments nationwide in demonstrations, or field experiments, designed to test the effectiveness of various predictive policing strategies and techniques.

[More...]

Transform, a UK think tank and drug reform organization, released a new book today, After the War on Drugs: Blueprint for Regulation. The executive summary is here(pdf.)

As to Transform:

Transform’s vision is a world in which the War on Drugs is over, and effective and humane systems of drug regulation have been established.

Its "medium term goals":

• To explore alternatives to drug prohibition, and build trust in models of regulation
• To bring together a coalition calling on governments and the UN to count the cost of current drug policy
• To reframe the drug policy debate within a wellbeing perspective that considers the impact of policy on human rights, human security and human development

Some highlights in this BBC article. [More...]

SAFER Colorado (Safer Alternative for Enjoyable Recreation) Executive Director Mason Tvert explains in this interview in the Denver Post why alcohol is more dangerous than marijuana and how medical pot issues are being overblown.

Mason says the future is vaporization rather than smoking:

The future is vaporization. You basically heat marijuana to the point where it releases the chemicals and you inhale vapors. It never combusts so there's no smoke. There's never been a documented case of a marijuana- only smoker acquiring lung cancer as a result. Never. Not one.

How legalization would help the economy: [More...]

The Newark Star Ledger joins two state senatorss and goes to bat today seeking a pardon for John Ray Wilson, a MS patient busted for growing 17 pot plants behind his house. He's facing 20 years. Prosecutors offered hin 3 to 9, which he turned down. The paper ends with:

Sens. Nicholas Scutari and Raymond Lesniak (both D-Union) have asked Gov. Jon Corzine to pardon Wilson, who declined an offer to plead guilty in return for a three- to nine-year sentence and is scheduled to go on trial Dec. 14. The senators want Corzine to throw out the first-degree charge, so Wilson can enter pretrial intervention on the lesser offenses. They have called the charges "inappropriate" and an "inhumane application" of the law.

Dude, they’re right, this is totally bogus.

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Another idiotic policy by fear-mongerers: requiring sex offenders to post "No Candy Here" signs. Others: requiring sex offenders to attend counseling sessions on Halloween evening, ordering them not to answer the door and keep the lights turned off.

A Georgia lawmakers hopes his state will join several others – including Maryland, Indiana, Illinois, and Louisiana – and dozens of cities, towns, and counties across the US that now order registered sex offenders to put out a "NO CANDY HERE" sign. It's a gambit to warn trick or treaters against possible molesters. But it also raises constitutional and societal questions over identifying America's more than 500,000 registered sex offenders by where they live.

There's no evidence sex offenders pose a threat on Halloween: [More...]

Sens. Herb Kohl (D-Wis.) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) have written to Attorney General Eric Holder protesting the DEA crackdown on pain medicine prescriptions. Pharmacies, nursing home administrators and geriatric experts agree with them. They are asking Holder to revise DEA policies on prescribing meds like percocet and morphine, and to seek a legislative change.

The DEA has sought to prevent drug theft and abuse by staff members in nursing homes, requiring signatures from doctors and an extra layer of approvals when certain pain drugs are ordered for sick patients.

The law, however, "fails to recognize how prescribing practitioners and the nurses who work for long-term care facilities and hospice programs actually order prescription medications," Kohl and Whitehouse write. They conclude that delays can lead to "adverse health outcomes and unnecessary rehospitalizations, not to mention needless suffering."

[More...]

California legislators are holding a hearing today on legalizing and taxing marijuana for personal use. Should they decide against it, voters may still get the final word: three initiatives are expected to garner the necessary amount of signatures to make it to the ballot.

Tax officials estimate the legislation could bring the struggling state about $1.4 billion a year, and though the bill’s fate in the Legislature is uncertain, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, a Republican, has indicated he would be open to a “robust debate” on the issue.

What are the chances? [More...]

The DEA issued this statement today on the DOJ revised policy on medical marijuana busts in states where it is legal:

“DEA welcomes the issuance of these clarifying guidelines pertaining to the use of federal investigative and prosecutorial resources in states that have enacted laws authorizing the use of marijuana for medical purposes.

"These guidelines do not legalize marijuana. It is not the practice or policy of DEA to target individuals with serious medical conditions who comply with state laws authorizing the use of marijuana for medical purposes. Consistent with the DOJ guidelines, we will continue to identify and investigate any criminal organization or individual who unlawfully grows, markets or distributes marijuana or other dangerous drugs. Those who unlawfully possess firearms, commit acts of violence, provide drugs to minors, or have ties to other criminal organizations may also be subject to arrest.

[More...]

Is the medical marijuana dispensary business really booming? John Suthers, the Attorney General in Colorado says it is. He's looking for ways to regulate it. Some municipalities are putting "freezes" on new applications while they try to develop standards and rules. [More...]