Michael Gelb
The Crime Report
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Past articles by Michael:
Lessons Learned From COVID Came at 'Too Great a Cost' to Ignore: Ex-AG
Former U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch joined other members of an independent commission studying the impact of the pandemic at a webinar this week to call for a justice system that balances public safety and public health. → Read More
When Forensic Evidence Convicts the Innocent
The criminal justice system’s reliance on forensic evidence to determine guilt needs to be re-examined, panelists told a webinar hosted by the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School. One asserted that forensic evidence should stay out of the courtroom until it is proven reliable. → Read More
Collective Bargaining Rights for Police Linked to Increase in Non-White Civilian Deaths
“Our results are consistent with the popular notion that law enforcement unions exacerbate police violence against civilians,," write the authors of a paper published by the IZA Institute of Labor Economics. The authors trace the link to the protections from accountabiity provided in union agreements that effectively shield police misbehavior. → Read More
‘Tough on Crime’ Laws Lag Behind Citizens’ Perceptions of Justice: Paper
Some of the hardline laws passed in previous decades—such as three-strikes statutes—now conflict with most Americans’ ideas of fair justice, and need to be adjusted accordingly, according to a forthcoming paper in the Illinois Law Review. → Read More
Defunding Police Can Help Cities Reset ‘Moral’ Priorities: John Legend
In a unique conversation, singer-songwriter John Legend and Central Park Five member Yusef Salaam asserted that there is a “better way” to approach criminal justice – one that involves defunding the police, electing progressive prosecutors and humanizing defendants. → Read More
Ex-Prosecutors on Federal Bench Reinforce Police Impunity: Report
Over the past four decades, the Supreme Court and other federal courts have been dominated by former prosecutors who incorporated a “one-sided” view of law enforcement that has expanded police power at the expense of civil liberties, according to a report by The Justice Collaborative Institute. The remedy, according to the authors, is greater professional diversity in bench appointments. → Read More
Myriad Ways to Reduce Violence Without Police: Report
Examples include creating more green space in neighborhoods, strengthening nonviolent social norms, and providing more structure for youth, according to a recent review published by the John Jay Research and Evaluation Center. These interventions have not only reduced violence; they are also cost-effective and sustainable. → Read More
Is It Time to Rethink the 911 Call System?
Less than 20 percent of the 240 million 911 calls each year report a serious or violent crime in progress, yet police officers devoted much of their time and resources on 911 callouts, examination of data from five cities by the Vera Institute of Justice shows. The authors say their findings should persuade law enforcement to "reengineer 911 response.” → Read More
‘The Doors Don’t Lock’ in DC Jail Program for Young Adults
Older prisoners serve as mentors to younger inmates in a special unit that has fostered a “culture change” in Washington, D.C.’s justice system, according to the Justice Policy Institute. → Read More
Police Execs Admit Cop Training Needs to Improve
But they also complain that budget constraints get in the way, according to a nationwide survey conducted by the National Police Foundation. The survey found that as agency size decreases, so, too, does the amount of safety training officers receive. → Read More
Courts are Back in Action, But Where’s the Jury?
As criminal proceedings resume in the COVID-19 era, the right to a trial by jury has been “crippled,” in violation of the Sixth Amendment, argues a prosecutor in Harris County, Tx. → Read More
Private Prisons Donate $1.9M in Runup to Election
Fearing a Biden-Harris victory in November, the private prison industry’s campaign donations have increased 14 percent since 2016 while it also secures new contracts with Immigration and Customs Enforcement. As a result, the future of private prisons is all but secured. → Read More
Racial Disparities Still Mar Probation, Parole Despite 14% Decline: Report
Despite the significant decline in the population of Americans under community supervision over the past decade, researchers at the Columbia Justice Lab said the number is still over three times larger than what it was in 1980, and the system remains riddled with racial disparities. → Read More
How to Tell If Your DA is ‘Progressive’
As voters prepare to go to the polls this fall, a Harvard Law & Policy Review article offers a checklist to gauge whether a prosecutor’s record matches his or her pledges to reform the justice system. Based on the checklist, some of today’s self-styled ‘progressives’ come up short. → Read More
Youth Corrections Chiefs, Prosecutors Call for Shutting ‘Inhumane’ Youth Prisons
More than 40 youth correctional administrators joined prosecutors from over 30 jurisdictions in a call for the closure of youth detention facilities across the country. A report accompanying their statement Thursday said the over-incarceration of young people increases their likelihood of recidivism, damages their health, and stunts their ability to find employment. → Read More
'Dozens of Prisons' Targeted in COVID-19 Civil Rights Lawsuits
Many of the lawsuits argue that the correctional authorities’ response to COVID-19 has been defined by inaction. With a growing caseload and death toll behind bars, advocates say more litigation is imminent. → Read More
Step Up Investigations of Prisons, Prosecutors Told
Prosecutors can play a key role in prison reform through “legal affirmative action,’ advocates told a webinar hosted by the Institute for Innovation in Prosecution. However, one added that without serious structural change, such reforms are “merely shifting deck chairs on the Titanic.” → Read More
A ‘Good Guy with a Gun’ Won’t Stop Mass Shootings: Study
Concealed carry laws are partly premised on the notion that armed citizens can deter would-be mass shooters. In reality, they are linked to higher rates of gun homicides, according to a Florida State University professor. → Read More
Recreational Pot Linked to Rise in Traffic Deaths
A recent JAMA study found that if every state were to legalize recreational marijuana use, there would be 6,800 more traffic fatalities each year. This study joins others in demonstrating that marijuana legalization may decrease road safety. → Read More
Police Surveillance Spurs Call for Youth Digital ‘Bill of Rights’
A new report warns that secret surveillance of social media channels used by young people frequently leads to abuses. One example: the gang database in New York City, based in part on information obtained from social media, can mistakenly identify individuals as gang members without their knowledge. → Read More