May Final Friday's Webinar: A Prosecutor’s Duty to Disclose: Brady v. Maryland
4/30/13Please join us for May’s Final Friday’s webinar, A Prosecutor’s Duty to Disclose: Brady v. Maryland, to be held on Friday, May 31st from 3:00-4:00pm (EST). This month’s webinar kicks off a special two-part APA webinar series on Brady issues and will feature a presentation and discussion by Michelle Waymire of the Marion County Prosecutor’s Office, a regular ethics presenter at APA’s national training conferences, and Robert Hood, APA’s Director of the Community Prosecution & Violent Crime Division. Michelle and Robert will review and discuss Brady and its progeny, why these cases are important to prosecutors, and the issues and trends in recent cases. A follow up webinar later this summer will cover Brady lists and disclosure protocols, and the liability risks prosecutors face for failing to develop such policies. This training is open to all prosecutors, law enforcement, court personnel and other allied criminal justice partners.
APA is seeking one hour of “ethics” eligible CLE certification from the State of Virginia for each of these webinars. Please join us for this important and thought-provoking presentation. If you would like to download a flyer click here. **Please click HERE to register**
| U.S. Firearm Homicides on the Decline
4/29/13The U.S. Department of Justice Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) released encouraging data this week showing that firearm related homicides declined 39 percent from 1993 to 2011 and that non-fatal firearm crimes declined by 69 percent.
Prosecuting attorneys throughout the nation are encouraged by the report findings as they work alongside state, local and national law enforcement partners to reduce gun violence and create safer communities.
"Prosecutors are committed to reducing the level of gun violence in the communities in which we serve, and while these latest statistics are positive step in that direction, there is still a great deal of work ahead," said David LaBahn, President of the Association of Prosecuting Attorneys. "Law enforcement will continue to do our part to develop and implement innovative programs to further reduce gun violence."
Findings of the BJS report include:
• Firearm-related homicides declined 39%, from 18,253 in 1993 to 11,101 in 2011
• Nonfatal firearm crimes declined 69%, from 1.5 million victimizations in 1993 to 467,300 victimizations in 2011
• Firearm violence accounted for about 70% of all homicides and less than 10% of all nonfatal violent crime from 1993 to 2011
The Association of Prosecuting Attorneys is working with non-profit organizations and with fellow law enforcement officials to develop violence reduction and prevention policies and programs to keep our communities safe.
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Animal cruelty bill to be signed into law
5/21/13MONTGOMERY, Ala. (WALA) - Monday was a great day for the animals of Alabama. In the final day of the Alabama Legislative Session HB 27 passed and is now headed to Governor Robert Bentley’s desk. More than a year ago, FOX10 News profiled Alabama’s laws protecting animals. We have showed you case after case of those convicted of animal cruelty getting off with a slap on the wrist. Many of you spoke out and Monday, May 20 it paid off. Nearly 5,000 of you signed our online petition to strengthen laws protecting animals and with the passage of HB 27 you were heard. The bill passed with only one senator voting against it. The bill strengthens penalties for animal cruelty; not just for dogs and cats, but all animals. It was written by Baldwin County law student and founder of the U.S.[More]
| House Backs Mental Health Jail Diversion Program
5/21/13The House tentatively approved a bill Monday that would allow Harris County Jail to start a pilot program that officials hope would become a model for reducing mental illness in local lockups across Texas. Senate Bill 1185, by Sen. Joan Huffman, R-Southside Place, would create a program that connects mentally ill inmates with social, clinical, housing and welfare services during the first weeks after the person's release from jail. The bill was previously approved in the Senate, and if it passes a final procedural hurdle in the House, it will head to Gov. Rick Perry's desk. Under the bill, the program would be implemented by Harris County officials and the Texas Department of State Health Services. It’s part of a major effort this legislative session to increase spending on and treatment for those with mental illness in Texas. For the first time in at least a decade, lawmakers are spending hundreds of millions of dollars more on mental health services. “I’m hoping again to divert as many folks as we can out of the criminal justice system and into the mental health treatment system, where they can get the help that they need for their illness,” Huffman said. Houston’s Harris County Jail has become a de facto state hospital, Sheriff Adrian Garcia has said, where psychotropic medication is needed for about 2,000 inmates a day.[More]
| Legislators must toughen N.Y.'s white-collar laws: DA Vance
5/21/13NEW YORK (Reuters) - New York state's legislators must do more to strengthen the state's archaic fraud laws if prosecutors are to keep up with the evolving nature of white-collar crime, Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance said on Monday. Vance, president of the state's district attorneys association, said New York's financial crime laws were hopelessly outdated, even as their federal equivalents have been frequently revised by congressional legislation in the wake of massive scandals like the savings and loan cases, the Enron Corp collapse and the housing market crisis. "Let me say bluntly: We are fighting with 1970s-era tools," Vance said during a speech at a white-collar crime conference hosted by the New York City Bar Association. Last fall, the district attorneys association convened a task force to study ways to modernize the state's anti-fraud and anti-corruption laws. The group is expected to make several recommendations to the legislature this summer, and Vance highlighted a few of the more notable proposals on Monday: * Increasing penalties for large-scale fraud under the state's "scheme to defraud" statute. The law currently applies the same penalty no matter how much money is obtained through the fraud, whether $2,000 or $2 billion, Vance said.)
Thomson Reuters News & Insight
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