Washington, DC - May 7, 2012 Prosecutors and criminal justice experts from around the nation convened in Minneapolis, MN May 7th-8th for the Association of Prosecuting Attorneys (APA) National Community Prosecution Conference: A Framework for High Performance Prosecutorial Services at Target Headquarters. Presented by APA in partnership with the Department of Justice's (DOJ) Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) and the Center for Court Innovation (CCI), participants discussed the changing challenges faced by prosecutors and the cost-effective opportunities for improved public safety provided by innovative community-justice-based programs. Conference Day One closed with the Innovative Community Engagement (I.C.E.) Awards Ceremony, recognizing individuals and companies that have demonstrated innovative leadership and an ongoing commitment to community engagement and public safety.  Award recipients include the following: Honorable Charles J. Hynes, Kings County (Brooklyn, NY) District Attorney; Honorable Thomas J. Donovan, Chittenden County (Vermont) State's Attorney; Assistant District Attorney Christopher Ladwig, Milwaukee County District Attorney's Office; and Target Corporation. For a copy of the full press release please click here.

Texas' "Castle Doctrine" allows residents to use deadly force to protect themselves from attackers in the home, with no duty to retreat. But a top prosecutor in Bexar County opposes the doctrine and said it makes prosecution difficult. "When we take away the duty to retreat, we make it a situation that encourages violence, not discourages it," First Assistant District Attorney Cliff Herberg said Thursday night at a forum. Herberg said Gov. Rick Perry explained it best in a conversation several years ago when he called it "a solution without a problem." When such laws were passed, their proponents could not demonstrate a single case where the wrong person had been prosecuted, Herberg said. In Florida, where Trayvon Martin was recently shot to death, the Stand Your Ground law also does not include a duty to retreat. As it stands in Texas, the doctrine protects people who use force in their homes, along with vehicles, workplaces or any place where a crime could occur. But Albert Kauffman, an associate professor of law, said a Houston legislator might introduce a bill to limit the doctrine's protection to the home.

U.S. crime statistics show illegal drugs play a central role in criminal acts, providing new evidence that tackling drugs as a public health issue could offer a powerful tool for lowering national crime rates, officials said on Thursday. An annual drug monitoring report, released by the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, also showed a decline in the use of cocaine since 2003, a sign that drug-interdiction efforts and public education campaigns may be curtailing the use of the drug's powder and crack forms. The rate of overall illegal drug use in the United States has declined by roughly 30 percent since 1979. But Thursday's report, based on thousands of arrestee interviews and drug tests, showed that on average 71 percent of men arrested in 10 U.S. metropolitan areas last year tested positive for an illegal substance at the time they were taken into custody. The figures ranged from 64 percent of arrests in Atlanta to 81 percent in Sacramento, California, and were higher for nearly half of the collection sites since 2007. U.S. officials held up the data as evidence to support President Barack Obama's strategy aimed at breaking the cycle of drugs and crime by attacking substance abuse with treatment rather than jail for nonviolent offenders.