11/7/24 Elected officials in the “Bluest” of areas may have met their match. Progressive Los Angeles D.A. George Gascon, who was blasted by his staff for going easy on the accused and hard on cops, was ousted by former Federal prosecutor Nathan Hochman, who blamed his rival for the waves of theft and misbehavior that haunt L.A. And in California’s violence- and homelessness-beset Bay Area, voters booted two other progressives: Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao and Alameda County D.A. Pamela Price. Their preference for pulling back the throttle on policing and punishment seems no longer in favor.

10/17/24  In a case brought by four weary San Francisco residents, a Federal judge ruled that they can indeed sue the city for “actively contributing” to problems in the beset Tenderloin area by, among other things, distributing supplies that ostensibly help street people “safely” use drugs. Thus, encouraging their presence. And in nearby Oakland, crime and homelessness have led to a forthcoming recall vote of the Mayor and D.A., whose go-easy law-enforcement approach has supposedly encouraged misbehavior.

8/1/24  A mass shooting recently left fifteen residents wounded. And while murder is somewhat down, robberies are up, and businesses large and small are fleeing the city. To top it off, Mayor Sheng Thao’s home was recently raided by the FBI as it investigates influence-buying by city contractors. Voters upset over Oakland’s struggles with poverty and crime will soon decide whether to recall the D.A. and the Mayor. A “Blue” political consultant calls it a perfect storm. “For the city, I can’t think of a tougher time.”

7/29/24  Oakland city policy limits police pursuits to circumstances “when there is reasonable suspicion to believe the fleeing individual committed a violent forcible crime and/or a crime involving the use of a firearm, or probable cause that the individual is in possession of a firearm.” Calif. Gov. Gavin Newsom claims these rules encumber officers’ ability to respond to a host of crimes and encourages criminals to flee. In contrast, CHP officers assigned to help the crime-beset community frequently chase and arrest offenders, recover numerous stolen vehicles and seize many guns.

6/21/24  A large number of all-terrain vehicles and motorcycles roared into a seemingly peaceful Juneteenth gathering of several thousand at Oakland’s Lake Merritt. Their sideshow quickly morphed into a shootout that left fifteen persons ages 20-30 wounded, at least one critically. Dozens of shell casings were recovered, but no arrests have yet been made. A shootout took place at the same celebration in 2021, fatally wounding a 22-year old San Francisco man.

5/9/24  Concerns that Houston police shut down thousands of investigations because of insufficient resources apparently prompted Chief Troy Finner’s sudden retirement. In February he announced that 4,000-plus inactive sexual assault cases were being re-examined. Most were soon closed, but eighty with DNA hits remain open. It’s not a recent problem, or only with sex assaults. In 2018, before he was Chief, he had blamed “lack of personnel” for ignoring a “road rage report”. But the Mayor said that the issue had become overly distracting, and he agreed it was time for the Chief to leave.

4/1/24  California is funding the deployment of 480 specialized surveillance cameras in and around crime-beset Oakland. They can capture and store a host of information about vehicles beyond license plates, and are programmed to inform authorities, in “real time,” when a vehicle whose features resemble those of a wanted car is spotted. But civil rights advocates criticize the move as spending money that could be better used to help support needy residents.

3/15/24  Going against a seeming trend, Oakland crime “surged” in 2023. Traditionally violence-ridden areas got worse, and even privileged districts became beset with break-ins. In response, both Denny’s and In-N-Out Burger simply closed shop. Local politicians blame the “crime wave” on inadequate police funding and “reforms” such as Prop. 47 that substantially eased punishment. Memories of police misconduct haunt the search for solutions. But after having his car repeatedly broken into, even a police reform advocate wonders “what is going on?”.

2/7/24  Oakland’s marked increase in violent crime and theft, which seem badly out of synch with other cities, has upset the local NAACP chapter. It urges tougher measures to protect vulnerable minority communities. “If there are no consequences for committing crime in Oakland, crime will continue to soar.” To help, Calif. Governor Kevin Newsom is sending 120 CHP officers. But he resists tinkering with the much-maligned Proposition 47, which eased criminal penalties. Some now blame that for more crime.

1/26/24  In-N-Out is definitely “out” - of Oakland, that is. In seventy-five years the popular burger chain had never closed a location. But according to its COO, patrons of its Oakland restaurant have been frequently falling victim to “car break-ins, property damage, theft and armed robberies.” In one such incident drive-through customers were methodically robbed at gunpoint. Similar episodes have beset a nearby gas station. Violent crime in Oakland reportedly increased 21% in 2023. And it’s still up.

12/4/23  Citywide, Chicago homicide is down 12 percent so far this year, from 644 to 569 thru November 26. But the Chicago Tribune isn’t celebrating. According to its analysis, the gain reflects  improvements in the city’s traditionally peaceful areas. Say, Rogers Park (CPD Dist. 24), where homicides dropped 21%, from 14 to 11. But the city’s notoriously violent areas have remained so. For example, murders in Englewood (CPD Dist. 7) increased from 51 to 55. That’s 8 percent worse.

8/2/23  Armed robbers shot and critically wounded a Chicago postal carrier as he delivered mail on Chicago’s northwest side. Mail carriers have been beset for at least a year by armed robbers “stealing packages, letters and master keys that open clusters of mailboxes”, and a union official recently said that his members are frightened “and some don’t even want to return back to work.”

4/5/23  Elected by a slim margin, Brandon Johnson, Chicago’s progressive new Mayor, faces the city’s seemingly intractable problem of gun violence, with murder counts exceeding more populous Los Angeles and New York City. Johnson has “walked back” promises to cut police. But his plans to replace vacant officer slots with community workers, to increase detectives by cutting patrol, and to remove Shot Spotter gunfire detectors because they can cause dangerous encounters remain on the table.

2/17/23  Oakland’s mayor fired police chief LeRonne Armstrong after an outside report, commissioned by the city, concluded that the chief repeatedly failed to discipline his officers. In one example, a sergeant escaped punishment for a 2021 hit-and-run and, in 2022, discharging his gun inside an elevator. Ex-chief Armstrong, who has been on administrative leave for a month, has vigorously contested the findings.

1/25/23  More lethal gunplay rocked the nation. Jarid Haddock, a 21-year old Yakima man, used a pistol to “randomly” shoot and kill three strangers in and near a convenience store on Tuesday. He later committed suicide. Haddock was once arrested for stealing a car. After some difficulties with drug use, he completed a diversion program and charges were dismissed. And in Oakland, gunfire erupted during the Monday evening filming of a music video at a gas station. A hail of nineteen bullets left one person dead and four wounded. Gang rivalries are blamed, and so far no one has been arrested.

1/23/23  In Oakland, Calif., a scathing report by a law firm hired by the city to investigate two egregious episodes of officer misbehavior, one in 2021 and another last year, concluded that Police Chief LeRonne Armstrong, who was appointed in 2021, had essentially whitewashed both events. So he’s been placed on “administrative leave.” Oakland P.D. has been under a court order to tighten officer oversight since a group of cops known as the “Riders” ran roughshod in the community.

11/4/22  With “a really deadly September” marked by seventeen homicides, and 105 murders so far this year, Oakland Police Chief LeRonne Armstrong implemented an “aggressive” plan that focused “on those [individuals] that were driving gun violence.” He claims that its initial thirty days brought on substantial reductions in shootings and homicide, and the program is being extended for another month. But skepticism abounds, with one activist describing police-community relations as “horrific”.

10/24/22  Could $500 a month for two years help keep employed but struggling persons housed? That’s what 3,250 residents of Cook County (Chicago) are about to find out. The program, which is open to individuals and families whose household income does not exceed 250% of the Federal poverty level, has already had 184,000 applicants. Payments will begin in December.  Cook County website

11/19/24  On Sunday, November 17, an annual New Orleans parade and celebration sponsored by the Nine Times Social Aid & Pleasure Club was marred by two episodes of gunfire. In the first incident, at about 3:30 p.m., nine persons were wounded in the St. Roch neighborhood, near the French Quarter. One-half hour later, two persons were killed and one was wounded at the Almonaster Avenue Bridge, about a half-mile away. No arrests have yet been made.

9/3/24  Elected in 2020 on a platform of correcting “the sins of the past,” Jason Williams, New Orleans’ progressive D.A., has had “more than 140” convictions thrown out and obtained sentence reductions for “at least 180” accused. His civil rights division focuses on past convictions that were supposedly marred by constitutional issues or unjust legal practices. But an advocacy group, “Bayou Mama Bears”, warns that his actions have endangered public safety and benefited violent criminals.

7/18/24  Conducted throughout June, “Operation Clean House” was a month-long effort by teams of Federal, State and local officers to reclaim New Orleans’ violence-impacted neighborhoods. In Phase I, proactive, “intelligence-driven actions” by law enforcement teams led to 74 arrests and the seizure of large quantities of drugs and firearms, including “AK-47s, AR-15s, Glock switches, and multiple types of handguns.” Phase II, which focused on apprehending fugitives charged with violent crimes, resulted in 76 arrests for offenses ranging from aggravated assault to drive-by shootings and murder.

10/23/23  Federal-local task forces used information from crime gun recoveries to target firearms and drug distribution networks in violence-beset Memphis and New Orleans. During both summer-long operations, many stolen firearms, guns with illegal “machinegun conversion” switches and weapons without serial numbers were seized. In Memphis, twenty-one defendants face Federal charges of illegal gun possession, unlicensed gun dealing, and drug trafficking. In New Orleans, forty-one have been charged with similar offenses in Federal and State Courts.

5/15/23  A New Orleans clergyman who’s “lost count of funerals” wears a bullet-resistant garment under his robe and packs a gun. With shootouts erupting near his parish, Pastor Isaiah Stewart teaches members of his flock how to shoot. “This is our reality. A lot of times, it feels like you’re on your own.”

1/9/23  New Orleans’ Mardi Gras season runs from January 6th. until “Fat Tuesday”: this year, that’s Feb. 21st. It’s a time for parties, balls and parades. But worries about the city’s skyrocketing crime rate and a police force short hundreds of cops has put a cloud over the festivities. Officials have promised to pay for outside cops to come in, and there’s hope of avoiding a repeat of last year’s toned-down event.

10/20/22  A 1994 drive-by murder at a New Orleans housing project resulted in the imprisonment of two 17-year olds and an 18-year old. Then-cops Len Davis and Sammie Williams, who were taking bribes from drug dealers, got a local man to testify, and the youths, who insisted they were innocent, were convicted. But key evidence wasn’t turned over. All that, plus the fact that former officer Davis faces a death sentence for an unrelated murder, has just led to the youth’s release and exoneration.

10/11/22  NIJ’s brand-new release, “Criminal Victimization, 2021,” reports a profound decline in the rate of violent victimization since the early nineties. However, urban areas experienced a significant uptick during 2020-2021. Persons in lower-income brackets were by far the most affected. For example, in 2021 residents at the bottom of the earnings scale suffered violent crime victimization rates of 29.6 per 1,000, while the rates for the wealthiest was a far lower 9.7.

9/29/22  Six adults were wounded - two, critically - by gunfire at an Oakland school complex. Two were reportedly carpenters who got caught up in “crossfire.” Oakland’s severe violence problem - it’s reported 93 homicides so far in 2022, with eight in the past week - led Police Chief LeRonne Armstrong to declare “we are going all-hands-on-deck to address the gun violence in the city of Oakland.” He promised more investigators and increased deployment in areas dominated by gangs. But activists insist that the violence is caused by “poverty and disinvestment,” and that more cops are not the solution.

5/30/24  On April 20, 2020, the Supreme Court ruled that non-unanimous jury verdicts in criminal trials were unconstitutional (Ramos v. Louisiana, no. 18-5924). These had been allowed in only two States: Louisiana and Oregon. Although D.A.’s warned about a rash of hung juries, Louisiana’s voters enacted a law requiring unanimity in late 2018. Studies comparing the ratio of hung juries before and after the law’s implementation found no substantial difference. Jury deliberations, though, are lengthier, possibly because it takes time to convince holdouts to change their minds.

9/20/23  Billy Chemirmir, who was serving two life sentences in a Texas prison for murdering two elderly women he met while pretending to do maintenance work at senior living homes, was murdered by his cellmate, also a convicted murderer. Chemirmir, who may have have killed as many as two-dozen women during his years-long spree, was caught after a 91-year old woman survived an attack in 2018 and informed police.

10/10/22  Jurors took less than thirty minutes to convict Billy Chemirmir in the smothering death of Mary Brooks, one the nearly two-dozen elderly women he allegedly murdered in a years-long spree. It was his second Dallas-area conviction, and second sentence of life without parole, so local prosecutors are reportedly letting eleven other cases go. But he also faces nine murder cases in Collin County.

10/16/24  Justice Sonia Sotomayor earned $3.7 million in royalties from her children’s books between 2009, when she was appointed to the Supreme Court, and last year. Sales were supposedly stimulated by personal appearances and prodding from her staff. And now fellow Justice Neil Gorsuch is under watch over his “cozy relationship” with oil mogul Philip F. Anschultz, who would be well served if the Court decides in his favor on a pending environmental case. Alas, the Court lacks external oversight. No one is watching the watchers.

9/25/24 Marcellus Williams, 55, who was convicted in June 2001 for the 1998 murder of Felicia Gayle, was executed on Sept. 24 at 6:00 pm Central Time. It was Missouri’s third execution of the year and its 100th. since 1989, when the State’s use of the death penalty was restored. A last-ditch effort for a stay had been approved only hours earlier by the Supreme Court’s three most liberal justices, Sotomayor, Kagan and Jackson. But their colleagues disagreed, and the execution proceeded as scheduled.

8/2/24   “In recent years, extreme opinions the Supreme Court has handed down have undermined long-established civil rights principles and protections.” With those words a very “Blue” President Joe Biden proposed a Constitutional amendment that would limit Justices to eighteen-year terms. Questioning their “fairness and independence”, he also recommended that the Justices be subject to an enforceable ethics code. As one would expect, the “Reds” called his proposal “dead on arrival.”

7/1/24  In a new decision, the Supreme Court ruled that 18 USC 1512(c)(2), which prohibits obstructing official proceedings, is constrained by the language of section (c)(1), which applies only to someone who “alters, destroys, mutilates, or conceals a record, document, or other object, or attempts to do so.” Merely crashing the Capitol isn’t enough. While no Jan. 6 rioters were reportedly charged with only (c)(2), it’s a felony, and more than two dozen are serving prison time for its violation. It also accounts for two of the four Jan. 6-related charges against ex-president Trump. Split 6-3, the decision aligned with the Court’s ideological divide, with conservatives in the majority. Fischer v. U.S.

6/14/24  Two years after the 2017 Las Vegas massacre, in which bump stock-equipped rifles were used to murder sixty, ATF ruled that the devices, which it previously permitted, were illegal machinegun conversion parts. But Federal law defines machineguns as firing repeatedly with a single trigger pull. Bump stocks use recoil to repeatedly pull the trigger while it’s depressed. That difference led the 5th. Circuit to strike down ATF’s ruling as inconsistent with the law. And in a 6-3 decision that aligns with its ideological split, the Supreme Court just agreed. To outlaw bump stocks, the law itself must change. States, though, appear free to outlaw bump stocks if they wish. Garland v. Cargill

5/23/24  Neighbor accounts and photos reveal that last summer an “Appeal to Heaven” flag graced the Long Beach Island, NY summer home of Supreme Court Justice Samuel A. Alito and his wife. Carried by the January 6 rioters who stormed the Capitol, it symbolizes “a theological vision of what the United States should be and how it should be governed.” It’s also been prominently displayed by a “Stop the Steal” leader and by Rep. Mike Johnson, the (Red) Speaker of the House of Representatives.

5/17/24  Supreme Court Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. insists that he had nothing to do with the upside-down flag that was displayed in front of his house for several days preceding President Biden’s inauguration. Instead, the so-called “Stop the Steal” flag was placed there by his wife, who objected to a neighbor’s sign that referred to Donald Trump with an expletive. But “judicial experts” interviewed by the New York Times insist that the flag violated ethics rules. Justice Alito is regarded as the Court’s second-most conservative member (Justice Clarence Thomas comes in first.)

11/15/23  Ordinary Federal judges are subject to ethics laws that provide for penalties, including censure and reprimand. But none of that applies to Supreme Court Justices. To fill the gap, the Supreme Court just unveiled its first-ever “Code of Conduct”. It asks that Justices act impartially and disqualify themselves should any potential conflicts of interest arise. Justices may engage in civic activities, including fund-raising for charitable causes, as long as they gain no personal benefit. But it’s up to each Justice to follow the rules. No enforcement mechanism is included.

8/28/23  On August 1st., after a campaign in which she vigorously endorsed ”Blue” causes, including abortion rights and redrawing election precincts that favored the “Reds”, Wisconsin swore in newly-elected Supreme Court justice Janet Protasiewicz. Her partisan appeals worried observers who feared they made judges “look like politicians instead of evenhanded referees.” But that’s true across the U.S. In North Carolina, a newly “Red” court promptly reversed “Blue” decisions on voter I.D. and redistricting.

8/11/23  An investigation by ProPublica revealed that since his appointment to the Supreme Court in 1991 Justice Clarence Thomas has been the beneficiary of “at least 38 destination vacations” featuring yacht voyages, private aircraft flights, paid stays at expensive resorts, and passes to sporting events. According to ethics experts, his lifestyle, which is “far beyond what his income could provide”, violated gift disclosure requirements and flaunted “accepted judicial norms”. (See 4/7/23 update)

7/12/23  Unlike other branches of Government, the Supreme Court lacks an official code of ethics. Instead, its Chief Justice says it follows a guiding set of principles. But his colleagues’ acceptance of expensive, all-expense paid trips and frequent interaction with wealthy donors has moved “Blue” Senators to introduce a measure that requires the Justices to adopt a code. It’s opposed by the “Reds,” though, and unlikely to pass.

5/6/23  According to the Los Angeles Times, Supreme Court justices attend major gatherings of groups with which they are ideologically attuned. Conservative jurists appear at the yearly banquet of the conservative/libertarian Federalist Society, while the Court’s liberals attend meetings of the progressive American Constitution Society. According to the SCOTUS blog, conservative Justice Alito complained at the 2020 Federalist convention that religious liberty and gun ownership “are under attack.” Meanwhile the ACS website notes that liberal Justice Sotomayor appeared at its 2022 convention.

5/1/23  On April 25, an Illinois Federal judge appointed by President Biden refused to enjoin Illinois’ new assault-weapons ban, ruling that “the overwhelming interest in public safety” outweighed the law’s possible harms (Herrera v. Raoul). Three days later, in Harrel v. Raoul, an Illinois Federal judge appointed by President Trump enjoined the law, ruling that it improperly interfered with citizens’ ability to “exercise their right to self-defense in the manner they choose.”

4/28/23  Ethical concerns raised over Justice Clarence Thomas’ unreported relationship with Texas billionaire and major conservative donor Harlan Crow, including his acceptance of luxury vacations and over $100,000 from the sale of three properties, led the Senate Judiciary Committee to schedule a hearing. But Chief Justice John Roberts declined to appear. Instead, he submitted the Court’s “Statement on Ethics Principles and Practices.”

4/7/23  An investigation by a major non-profit news source reveals that during the past two decades Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas and his wife have accepted free luxury travel and spent yearly vacations on a yacht owned by billionaire Dallas businessman Harlan Crow. The trips, which have spanned the globe and involved extended stays at ritzy resorts, were fully paid for by the famed “Red” “megadonor”. None were disclosed by Justice Thomas as a potential conflict of interest. (See 8/11/23 update)

3/20/23  “Judge-shopping” is the practice of filing suit in a small court presided by a lone judge whose inclinations the plaintiff considers favorable. That’s likely why a lawsuit challenging a program to admit 360,000 parolees a year from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela was filed in Corpus Christi, Texas, where Federal Judge Drew B. Tipton presides. Judge Tipton, who struck down an earlier immigration proposal, turned down the Government’s request to transfer the case elsewhere.

12/9/22  Virginia’s Supreme Court set aside a Northern Virginia judge’s order removing a progressive prosecutor off a case and ordered a hearing instead. Liberally-minded Loudoun County State’s Attorney Buta Biberaj had drawn Circuit Court Judge James Plowman’s scorn for allegedly “hiding details” of a youth’s criminal record to “sell a plea deal” calling for only a brief term for several robberies. Judge Plowman was himself the chief prosecutor in Loudoun County before ascending to the bench.

10/12/22  On October 11, the Supreme Court declined 6-3 to hear a challenge to a Fifth Circuit decision upholding the conviction of Andre Thomas, a Black man, for murdering his White wife, their biracial son, and her daughter from a previous marriage. At his trial, all the jurors were White and three expressed religious objections to interracial marriage in their questionnaires. The Court’s three liberals (Justices Sotomayor, Kagan and Jackson, Breyer’s replacement) issued a detailed written dissent. (Thomas v. Lumpkin, No. 21-444.)

In the same release of opinions, the Court summarily refused, without comment, to revisit the doctrine of qualified immunity, which shields police officers from lawsuits unless a persons’s “clearly established” rights had been violated. (Gordon, Nita v. Bierenga, Keith, no. 21-1540.) Reuters article

9/30/22  “The court shouldn’t be wandering around just inserting itself into every hot-button issue in America, and especially it shouldn’t be doing that in a way that reflects one ideology or one set of political views over another.” No, that wasn’t a columnist editorializing about the Supreme Court. They’re the recent words of Associate Justice Elena Kagan, one of the the Court’s three “liberals,” while delivering an address at a Roman Catholic university in Rhode Island. Justice Kagan seemed especially concerned that “stare decisis,” the doctrine of going by past decisions, was not getting proper respect.

9/15/22  In yet another decision that highlights the Supreme Court’s ideological split, the Justices ruled 5-4, with the deepest conservatives (Thomas, Alito, Gorsuch, Barrett) in the minority, that a New-York based parochial university must recognize and afford the same privileges to an otherwise qualifying student group whose gender values clash with the school’s religious doctrine.

7/22/22  Ruling 5-4, the Supreme Court refused to grant a stay to a Texas federal judge’s decision, applicable nationwide, prohibiting Immigration officials from using their discretion to defer deporting selected aliens who are illegally in the U.S. and have serious felony convictions. That, claimed the State of Texas, violates Immigration law. A full hearing is set for December. Liberal Justices Sotomayor, Kagan and Jackson were joined in dissent by Justice Barrett, a moderate Conservative. Order

6/29/22  Does ideology drive the Supreme Court, just as it seems to affect nearly everything else? Our views are clear. But for an authoritative look no further than the SCOTUS Blog’s statistics page. Click on “Frequency in the Majority,” and lean back. Yup, Justices Kagan, Breyer and Sotomayor, the Court’s three “liberals” (SCOTUS colors them “blue”) are most often on the losing end. As they were, most recently, in two sociopolitically charged cases:  Ardoin v. Robinson and Kennedy v. Bremerton Sch. Dist.

6/25/22  Yet another (yawn) Supreme Court ideological split. In Dobbs v. Jackson (no. 19-1392, 6/24, 22) the Court’s five most conservative Justices ruled that the Constitution “does not confer a right to abortion.” Overturning two key precedents: Roe, which established the right, and Casey, which reaffirmed Roe, the Court returned the regulation of abortion to the States. Chronic straddler Chief Justice Roberts agreed that Mississippi's abortion ban should be restored but disagreed about discarding Roe and Casey altogether. Liberally minded Justices Kagan, Breyer and Sotomayor dissented.

6/24/22  In Vega v. Tekoh (no. 21-499, 6/23/22), the Supreme Court’s six conservative Justices held that the Miranda warning, which makes statements by a criminal suspect to police admissible in Court, is not a Constitutional right but a “prophylactic” rule, and failure to administer it does not make officers liable for damages as a deprivation of rights (42 USC 1983.) But the liberal threesome (Justices Kagan, Breyer and Sotomayor) dissented, holding that Miranda is a Constitutional protection.

6/23/22  New York State, along with California, Hawaii, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey and Rhode Island, requires that persons wishing to carry a concealed handgun outside the home demonstrate a “special need.” According to a 6-3 decision by the Supreme Court, New York’s law “violates the Fourteenth Amendment by preventing law-abiding citizens with ordinary self-defense needs from exercising their Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms in public for self-defense.” Justices Breyer, Sotomayor and Kagan dissented (New York State Rifle & Pistol Assn. v, Bruen, no. 20-843, 6/23/22.) The Justice Department promptly announced its displeasure.

6/23/22  A new 6-3 decision, while not criminal justice-related, clearly illustrates the Supreme Court’s ideological split. In Carson v. Makin (no. 20-1088, 6/21/22) the majority ruled that parents who live in areas not served by public secondary schools may use State tuition assistance reimbursements to pay for their childrens’ education at “sectarian” (i.e., parochial) schools that otherwise meet educational requirements. Maine law had said that they could not. Justices Breyer, Kagan and Sotomayor dissented.

6/9/22  Another day, another 6-3 Supreme Court decision. In Egbert v. Boule, the Court forbid extending the Bivens doctrine to allow a lawsuit against the Government for 1st. and 4th. Amendment violations by a Border Patrol agent. The plaintiff (an innkeeper) claimed that an agent, who was on the grounds of the inn while investigating a border crosser, assaulted him when asked to leave.  He complained to the agent’s superiors, and the agent retaliated by having his taxes checked. Justices Sotomayor, Breyer and Kagan dissented in part, feeling that the 4th. Amendment claim should proceed.

5/24/22  On April 23, by a 6-3 vote, with liberal justices Kagan, Breyer and Sotomayor in the minority, the Supreme Court reversed a Ninth Circuit decision that had granted two Arizona men facing the death penalty a Federal habeas review of their convictions based on the alleged failure of their State appellate lawyers to pursue evidence that went beyond the court record.

5/12/22  In a 2-1 decision, a Ninth Circuit panel held that California’s prohibition on the sale of semi-automatic rifles to persons under 21 violated the 2nd. Amendment. Both judges in the majority had been appointed under President Trump, while the dissenter was appointed under Clinton. Ruling

4/26/22  On April 18, by a 6-3 vote, with liberal justices Kagan, Breyer and Sotomayor in the minority, the Supreme Court turned away an appeal by a Texas death row inmate, a Black male. His trial jury had included a White juror who believed that “non-White races” were more violent because of statistics he saw in “[n]ews reports and criminology classes.” The trial judge declined to exclude him from the jury panel for cause, and the defense had no peremptory challenges left.

4/22/22  On April 21, by a 6-3 vote, with liberal justices Kagan, Breyer and Sotomayor in the minority, the Supreme Court reversed a Circuit Court decision ordering the retrial of a Michigan defendant convicted of murder because he was visibly shackled during his trial. According to the majority, the State’s post-conviction inquiry that revealed jurors had not been affected by the restraints sufficed. And by an 8-1 vote, the Court upheld a Federal rule that denies SSI benefits to residents of Puerto Rico. Justice Sotomayor, whose parents were born in Puerto Rico, was the only dissenter.

4/21/22  On March 4, by a 6-3 vote, with liberal justices Kagan, Breyer and Sotomayor in the minority, the Supreme Court reinstated the death sentence handed down to Dzhokhar Tsarnaev for bombing the 2013 Boston Marathon. An appeals court had vacated the penalty because prosecutors didn’t ask prospective jurors about their exposure to media accounts and withheld information at sentencing that suggested Tsarnaev’s brother, Tamerlan, who died during the attack, was in fact its “mastermind.”

4/15/22  A recent academic study of retirement decisions by Federal appeals court justices revealed that they are substantially more likely to retire during the initial periods of a Presidential term when the officeholder is from the same Party that appointed the judge. But when the President is from a different Party, judges are less likely to retire during the three quarters preceding the next election. What’s more, “politically motivated exits have increased significantly in recent years to constitute 14% of retirements since 1975, suggesting an increasingly politically interested and polarized judiciary.

4/8/22  Justice Jackson was confirmed to the Supreme Court today. She will be seated later this year, when Justice Breyer retires. An earlier AP story discussed three of her past “notable opinions.” In one, she ordered the White House counsel to testify at then-President Trump’s impeachment. In a second, she ruled against “fast-tracked” deportations of persons illegally in the U.S. And in a third, she supported an organized labor challenge to a Federal rule change that would have limited collective bargaining.

7/26/24  Twenty Los Angeles-area intersections that have become “hot spots” for street takeovers are slated for speed bumps. But none of these locations were the scene of the latest spate. In LAPD’s chronically beset South Bureau, a 15-year old spectator was fatally shot by a robbery crew, and his teen companion was wounded. Gunfire also broke out at a takeover in nearby Compton, leaving two wounded. Elsewhere, celebrants looted a restaurant, busted a fire hydrant, and set a vehicle ablaze. According to LAPD data, there were 319 takeovers in 2019, 912 in 2020, and 482 in 2023.

7/5/24  Gunfire broke out in Corryville, a Cincinnati neighborhood, during the early morning hours of July 1st. Three persons were shot dead and a fourth, who was wheelchair-bound from a prior shooting, was wounded. An unidentified armed man ran into a nearby home and was arrested. Those killed include Shawn McDaniel Sr., 45 and his son, Shawn McDaniel Jr., 22. A convicted drug dealer, McDaniel Sr.  authored two graphic novels, Cincinnati Jack Boy$ and 80’s Baby, about life, drugs and death on Cincinnati streets.

7/3/24  Situated on an ocean bluff, it doesn’t get any “tonier” than Newport Beach, Calif.’s “Fashion Island”. Nor, as shoppers discovered during a “tranquil afternoon”, more lethal. Robbers accosted an elderly couple strolling outside the exclusive stores. Shots were fired, and the assailants dragged the woman to the parking lot and fatally struck her with their car. Four suspects were arrested after a protracted air-and-ground pursuit. “This doesn’t happen in Newport Beach,” said the Mayor. “Fashion Island is an incredibly safe place. This is a tragedy, and I’m furious.”

6/26/24  Five North Las Vegas residents, including four women ages 20-50 and a man in his twenties, were shot to death in nearby apartments. A teen-age girl was critically wounded. After an overnight search police were informed that the 57-year old suspect, Eric Adams, was at a local business. When they arrived he ran into a nearby backyard. He refused to drop his gun and committed suicide.

6/25/24  Forty-five Chicagoans were shot one weekend ago; seven fatally. This weekend the toll was a lesser twenty-nine. But nine died, including two 16-year olds. One was fatally struck, and his two teen companions were wounded, by gunfire from a passing SUV. That happened Friday night. The other fatally wounded youth was shot multiple times during a dispute in a park. That was on Saturday. And on Sunday, a gunshot detection system alerted police to a 19-year old who had been repeatedly (and, fatally) shot. Details about other episodes are in the Chicago Tribune.

6/24/24  Mass shootings continue besetting the land. Shoppers dove for cover as a man armed with a shotgun opened fire at a Fordyce, Arkansas grocery store. Travis Eugene Posey, 44 shot and killed four and wounded nine, including two police officers. Posey was also wounded and taken into custody. Fordyce, a town of about 3,400, is about 10 miles from New Edinburg, the hamlet where the shooter lived. And in downtown Columbus, Ohio, an early morning shooting wounded ten persons, ages 16-27, one critically. The gunman, who was reportedly dressed in black, fled in a waiting car. He remains at large.

6/20/24  Seven-year old Jai’Mani Amir Rivera stepped out of his Chicago Near West Side apartment to visit a friend. Suddenly a “random” bullet fired from a considerable distance struck him in the chest, inflicting a fatal wound. Not long ago a five-year old was shot and killed nearby. According to residents of the Oakley Square complex where Jai’Mani lived, gunfire is common. It’s in ZIP 60612, poverty 29.1%.

6/3/24  In Akron, a noisy, fireworks-laden gathering brought two-hundred celebrants into a residential street late Sunday evening. Police broke things up, but the partying resumed. Gunfire soon broke out, killing a 37-year old man and wounding two dozen, ages 19 to 43, two critically. Two handguns and numerous spent cartridges were recovered, and police speculate that party goers had exchanged fire with a passing vehicle. Gang activity is suspected. Akron's 2022 poverty rate was 24.4%.

5/22/24  Why has violent crime surged in Columbus? A deep-dive by the New York Times suggests that a proliferation of guns and Ohio’s easing on gun laws - it lifted a ban on high-capacity magazines and allowed handgun carry without a permit - contributed to the chaos. As guns proliferated and shootings mounted Columbus sought to pass its own gun restrictions, but the State said “no”. And neighborhoods already plagued by violence got worse.

5/16/24  A deep-dive by the New York Times into fatal shootings across the U.S. revealed substantially higher percentages during the pandemic years in the percentage of city residents who live within a quarter-mile of at least one killing. In large cities, the proportion rose from 31% during 2016-19 to 38% during 2020-2023. Cities with traditionally high rates of violence experienced the largest gains. In Atlanta the increase was from 36% to 58%; in Columbus, from 28% to 41%. Throughout, the residents of poorer neighborhoods were the most substantially affected.

5/7/24  During the late evening hours of May 4 two suspected gang members opened fire on a group gathered in a parking lot near a Long Beach, California nightclub. Witnesses say that as many as twenty shots were fired. Seven male adults were wounded, four critically. Both shooters fled; no arrests have yet been made. According to the Census, the location of the incident, ZIP 90805, has a poverty rate of 18.9 percent. LBPD news release

5/6/24  Lots of Los Angeles bus riders went without on May 3rd. as “dozens” of drivers struck to protest a string of assaults on operators, including a recent stabbing “while passengers watched.” Metro logged 168 assaults in 2023, and there was an assault “every other day” in February. Work will soon begin to install hard partitions between drivers and passengers. There’s also a move to create a special Metro police force that would take the place of present contract guards. But that seems a long way off.

4/19/24  Feds are bringing in special tools to help violence-besieged cities. To help trace the path of firearms used in crimes, Chicago is getting its very own Crime Gun Intelligence Center. And the surge in carjackings will be addressed by Federal-local task forces in Alabama, California, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oregon, Texas and Washington.

3/6/24  King City is a working-class Northern California town of about 14,000 mostly Latino residents. Most are employed in agriculture. And on Sunday it suffered a mass shooting. It’s offering $20,000 for information about three men who drove up to a home where a birthday party was in progress and opened fire. Four adults were killed and seven were wounded. King City’s police chief said there were “gang issues” years ago, and that there’s still “a homicide here and there...but nothing on this scale.”

1/4/24  Compton, a poor, violence-stricken community in South Los Angeles, is beset by street takeovers. And now they’ve morphed into something else. “Dozens” of participants in an early-morning New Year’s takeover followed up their revels by breaking into a local bakery and carting off cash registers and all the goodies they could grab. Deputies had trouble getting to the scene because the roadways were blocked. According to the owner, the holiday profits - at least $20,000 - were gone.

11/6/23  With robberies up 57% this year, the Chicago Tribune’s editorial board demands that Mayor Brandon Johnson - “a progressive outlier” - take immediate steps to counter the “full-blown crisis” that’s turned the city “into a place residents increasingly speak of leaving.” Editors praise San Francisco, whose mayor is “freeing police to fight crime rather than jump through bureaucratic hoops.” They recommend removing limits on when police can chase. And hiring more cops is urgent.

10/9/23  “Dozens of gunshots” rang out during an early-morning Sunday gathering at a rural Pennsylvania community center. A 22-year old was killed and eight others, ages 18 to 23, were wounded. Police recovered multiple firearms. About the same time, in Chicago’s prosperous River North area, a street brawl morphed into a gunfight, leaving eight persons ages 23-43 wounded, four critically. No arrests have yet been made in either shooting.

8/29/23  Chicago T.V. crews have suffered two armed robberies this month. During the afternoon hours of August 8, a photographer was “assaulted and robbed” as he got ready to cover a news conference. And during the early morning hours of August 28, a two-person T.V. crew that was covering a series of local robberies was itself robbed of personal items and a camera by three armed persons wearing ski masks.

8/28/23  Bullets flew during the early stages of an evening White Sox vs. Oakland A’s baseball game in Chicago’s Guaranteed Rate Field. Two women spectators in the outfield seating area were struck. One, 42, was wounded in the leg and hospitalized in fair condition; another, 26, was grazed in the abdomen and declined treatment. A third person found a round lodged in their clothing. It’s speculated that the source of the gunfire may have been outside the stadium. And no, the game wasn't called.

6/23/23  A 34-year old New York City man is accused of murdering five persons by purposely overdosing them with street drugs. During a March-December 2022 campaign, Kenwood Allen and his accomplice, Sean Shirley, allegedly picked out twenty-six likely targets in bars, fed them drugs, then assaulted them and “took what they had” when they left. In addition to robbery charges Allen faces ten murder counts, two for each of his victims; Shirley is charged in two of the deaths.

6/15/23  While the decline seems moderate and hasn’t played out evenly, Dallas’ violent crime rates have come down over the past two years. That improvement, according to the Washington Post, is due to the 2019 election of Mayor Eric Johnson. An opponent of the defund movement, he championed hiring more cops. He and his like-minded police chief, Eddie Garcia, adopted a “microgrid” (i.e., hot spots) approach that concentrated policing in places most beset by crime. And that has supposedly worked.

5/30/23  Faced with violence that remains far higher than pre-pandemic, cities are readying for the summer. In Detroit, which is beset by shootings, the Feds will pursue gun crimes and armed robberies. Chicago, whose mayor has promised to reduce the police role, will deploy State-funded civilian “peacekeepers” in crime-stricken neighborhoods. Civilians will enforce Baltimore’s youth curfew, taking recalcitrant youngsters to “engagement centers.” Cleveland, Newark and Philadelphia will use a mix of strategies, increasing officer presence in troubled areas while encouraging community-based solutions.

4/21/23   One day after Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s criticism made page one, Chicago PD launched an official inquiry into its officers’ alleged failure to challenge the rioting youths who turned the city’s downtown upside-down last weekend. A distraught parent is convinced that it will take more than cops to turn things around. “We need to do real investigative thinking into what these kids need.”

4/20/23  Over the weekend, another large, unruly gathering of youths beset Chicago’s downtown. Replete with looting, fistfights and vandalism, it overwhelmed the city’s strapped police force, which reportedly tried to “contain” instead of wading in. “There was so much confusion,” said an alderman. “I heard a lot of evidence of a lack of command on the ground … and we were short-staffed too.” Furious with what she felt was a weak response, outgoing Mayor Lori Lightfoot is demanding answers.

4/18/23  Nighttime street takeovers continue to rattle Compton, an economically beset, violence-impacted community in South Los Angeles. This time “dozens of revelers”, many clad with masks, broke into a service station and emptied it of consumable goodies. A sheriff’s sergeant insisted that “we’re doing our best we can to try to assist the citizens in dealing with this issue.” But he admitted being stunned by the “flash-mob violence”. As usual, no arrests were made.

3/15/23  Debating their public safety views, Chicago Mayoral candidates Brandon Johnson, a Black man and county commissioner, and Paul Vallas, a White man and past leader of the city school system, tried to assure their audience that they did not hold extremist views. Mr. Johnson, who once held up defunding as “necessary” and endorsed “removing ourselves away from...state-sponsored policing,” pledged to keep police spending as-is. Vallas, who’s called for abolishing rules that “literally handcuffed officers” denied that “to restore proactive policing” (which he favors) means “taking the handcuffs off” (see 3/1/23 update).

3/6/23  Two males in their twenties approached a group gathered at a beachfront barbecue in San Pedro, a working-class community of South Los Angeles. An “altercation” ensued. One of the intruders - he was dressed in black and was wearing a black mask - opened fire with a pistol. Five persons were wounded, two critically. No arrests have been made. A shooting last July in a local park killed two and wounded several. But an elderly resident shrugged it all off. He likes San Pedro for its small-town feel.

3/1/23  Coming in third, Chicago’s embattled Lori Lightfoot conceded as nine candidates duked it out in the Mayoral primary. Paul Vallas, a White man, former city school head and police booster came in first; County Commissioner Brandon Johnson, a Black man who believes that policing is “a failed strategy,” took second. They will vie for election on April 4 (see 3/15/23 update).

1/24/23  Continuing “a wave of violence” that began last year, two youths were fatally shot and an adult  was wounded in a “targeted” shooting at a Des Moines, Iowa alternative school. Police detained three youths who were in a car that matched a description of the assailants’ vehicle. One youth had to be chased down. Along with “several” non-fatal shootings, the metro area has suffered “at least ten homicides” since early December. Officers also recently killed a 16-year old who allegedly pointed a gun.

11/17/22  In a guest editorial, Howard Wolfson, a deeply-connected New York City political figure,  attributed the Blues’ loss of the House majority, in part, to a failure to prioritize voter concerns about crime. As evidence he points to New York State’s “deeply unpopular” 2019 move that eliminated cash bail for nonviolent felonies. But then crime steeply rose. Concerns that bail reform was a contributing factor were met with meager adjustments, leaving New York as “the only state in the nation where judges cannot take into account whether a person arrested for a crime is a danger to the community.

11/5/22  According to a new Pew Poll about registered voter’s attitudes towards violent crime, six in ten say it is “very important” in their voting decisions. Breaking it down by Party, it is “very important” to three-quarters of Republicans and about half of Democrats. By race and ethnicity, violent crime is very important to 81% of Blacks, 65% of Hispanics and 51% of Whites. And while over eighty-percent of Black Democrats think that violent crime is “very important,” only one-third of White Democrats agree.

10/15/22  Bristol, Connecticut police officers Alex Hamzy and Sgt. Dustin Demonte, who were shot and killed October 12, were reportedly “lured” into an ambush through a 9-1-1 call about domestic violence. A third officer, Alec Iurato, was wounded. Suspect Nicholas Brutcher, 35 was shot dead and his brother Nathan Brutcher was wounded (see 10/13 update).

10/13/22  It’s been “an exceptionally violent week for officers across the country” according to CBS News. Responding to calls for service took the lives of Greenville, Mississippi police detective Myiesha Stewart, who was shot and killed Tuesday night, and Bristol, Connecticut police officers Alex Hamzy and Sgt. Dustin Demonte, who were shot and killed (a third officer was wounded) on Wednesday. Six other officers from agencies in Pennsylvania, Illinois and Florida were also shot and wounded yesterday.

10/12/22  In September, a rash of homicides and carjackings led Prince George’s County, Maryland, which adjoins our nation’s capital, to institute a “temporary” curfew on persons younger than 17 from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. Sunday through Thursday and midnight to 5 a.m. Friday and Saturday. While things have supposedly improved, local government and police officials have decided to extend the curfew through the end of 2022.

10/6/22  Yesterday the FBI officially released 2021 crime data compiled from submissions by the nation’s law enforcement agencies to its NIBRS program, which supersedes the UCR. In addition to crime counts, NIBRS includes estimates for variables including victim and arrestee age, sex, and race. However, no crime data was submitted by some key cities including Los Angeles, Chicago, New York City and D.C.

9/19/22  An analysis by the Major Cities Chiefs Association of violent crime in America’s major cities between Jan 1 - June 30, 2021 and Jan 1 - June 30, 2022 reveals that New Orleans began and ended with by far the highest homicide rates per 100,000 pop. Its 155 homicides in 2022 yield a rate of 41/100,000, seventeen times New York City’s 2.4 (207 homicides), 8.5 times Los Angeles’ 4.8 (186 homicides), and by our calculations nearly three times Washington D.C.’s 15 (104 homicides).

9/15/22  A major May-September effort involving the FBI and local police reportedly led to the arrest of “nearly 6,000 alleged violent criminals and gang members” and the confiscation of “more than 2,700 firearms.” Violent gangs were targeted in a score of communities, including Los Angeles, Albuquerque, and Houston, and 105 of these groups were effectively “dismantled.” Drug trafficking organizations also felt the sting, and large amounts of fentanyl and other lethal drugs were seized throughout the U.S.

9/6/22  Unremitting gun violence led the executive of Prince George’s County, Maryland (Washington D.C. area) to institute a 30-day curfew for persons younger than eighteen. It will run between midnight and 5 a.m, on Fridays and Saturdays and from ten p.m. to five a.m. the rest of the week. “These kids don’t just need a hug, they also need to be held accountable,” said Angela Alsobrooks. “Where are the parents? Where the aunties? Where uncles and other family members who are responsible for them?”

8/26/22  On Wednesday afternoon, August 24, a passenger in “a black Mercedes with tinted windows” opened fire on customers gathered in the patio of an ice-cream parlor across the street from Chicago’s Carl Schurz High School. Four youths, ages 15 to 18, were wounded, none fatally. Two are Schurz students, and two attend a local charter school. A teen attributed the shooting to street gangs. “I’m very scared walking outside by myself now. I don’t feel safe being around here anymore.”

8/19/22  Chicago’s toll of shot youths rose overnight. Now there’s been seven shot in seventeen hours, including a 15-year old who was killed just outside his home in a drive-by. A six-year old is in critical condition and a 14-year old is listed as fair. Four other young teens were shot earlier. During the past year, Mayor Lightfoot’s $1 million campaign to reward reports of illegal guns has paid out just $10,000. It’s a flawed approach, said former U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan. What’s needed is for police “to arrest and hold shooters accountable.” Most go scott-free, and retaliatory violence follows.

8/18/22  Increased mayhem has affected many urban areas. In Minnesota violence rose 22 percent during 2020-2021. Minneapolis airport workers are complaining about the safety of the rail link they must use to get to work. In normally placid Prince George’s County, Md. (MHI $86,994, pov. 9.5%) five separate shootings last weekend left five persons dead, including a 16-year old. And in Chicago's normally troubled Englewood neighborhood, four boys ages 15 and 16 were shot and wounded while sitting on a porch. So far, none of these incidents have led to an arrest.

8/12/22  “Everybody is armed” says the leader of a Philadelphia nonprofit. His city is indeed awash with guns. That may part of the reason for its sky-high toll of 338 homicides as of August 11. Including nonfatal injuries, 1403 Philadelphians have been shot as of August 7. Both counts are higher than last year’s, and the number of homicides is the most since at least 2007. According to the New York Times, the mayhem is concentrated in the poorest neighborhoods of “the country’s poorest big city.”

8/8/22  Violent crime continues to beset Chicago and D.C. Chicago suffered four fatal shootings overnight Friday. Thru July 31st. it’s recorded 379 murders. That’s better than 2021, when there were 452, but 30 percent worse than the 292 in 2019. But robberies, burglaries and thefts are each substantially worse than last year.  D.C. reports 128 murders thru August 5 versus 114 last year. Robberies are also up (1271 v. 1060.) That, says the Washington Post, reflects “an absence of hope.”

7/4/22  A drive-by shooting outside a Newark bodega during the late afternoon hours of June 30 wounded nine persons, ages 17 to 68, none fatally. Authorities later recovered two cars stolen from Jersey City, including the vehicle used in the attack, and arrested a 17-year old for receiving stolen property and resisting arrest. Newark Mayor Ras Baraka blamed the shooting on an undefined dispute between two groups, and not on gangs.

6/9/22  Our nation’s capital is beset by violence. MPD reports 104 homicides so far this year, a 17 percent increase over 2021. Overall, violent crime is up eleven percent. And teens are falling victim with distressing frequency. This weekend gunfire took the lives of an 18-year old girl who recently graduated from high school and was getting set for college, and of a 15-year old boy who was a local basketball star. Two adults were also shot and killed and “nearly two dozen” other persons were wounded.

6/22/22  In 2021, after years of preparation, the FBI shifted crime collection and reporting from the ’“old” UCR system to the “new” NIBRS, which offers far more detailed information about crime incidents, including how firearms were used and the nature of wounds. But more than 7,000 of the 19,000 law enforcement agencies in the U.S., including NYPD and LAPD, are yet to switch over. So at least for 2021, the FBI’s crime figures, and particularly State and National totals, won’t be comparable to past years. 

6/6/22  On Sunday afternoon, June 5, a traffic stop in Chicago’s violence-beset Englewood district led to an exchange of gunfire, seriously wounding a police officer and leaving the driver in critical condition. Four days earlier, another Englewood traffic stop had also led to gunfire and an officer’s wounding. Local residents fear what Summer will bring.

5/30/22  Oklahoma man Skyler Buckner, 26, is accused of opening fire with a gun during an argument at a yearly outdoor music festival in the small of town of Taft. A 39-year old woman was killed and seven other persons, ages nine to 56, sustained non-life threatening wounds. Buckner fled from the scene but turned himself in to authorities after a warrant was issued. One food service worker said that “bullets were literally flying everywhere.” Another remarked that “people were just screaming. Some were trying to run away. There were cars leaving, trying not to hit each other.”

5/23/22  An argument during a large, late-night gathering of young persons in a San Bernardino, Calif. hookah lounge - supposedly, a graduation party - erupted in gunfire, killing a 20-year old male and wounding eight others. On arrival, police were met by a “large, hostile crowd.” Officers arrested one person they found with “a loaded, stolen firearm” and another on a warrant.

5/21/22  Two groups of persons clashed at a  crime “hot spot” in Chicago’s 18th. police district on the evening of May 20. One shooter is blamed for gunfire that killed two men on their early 30s and wounded seven others, including a 19-year old man who suffered a critical chest wound. Police say they arrested the shooter and seized his gun. Mayor Lightfoot and Police Supt. Brown ascribe the violence to poor parenting and a flood of guns; Brown also blames the courts for releasing gun offenders on low bail.

5/18/22   Hundreds of prosecutors, law enforcement officials and leaders of community organizations gathered for a virtual, two-day “summit” about “reducing violence and “strengthening communities.” Called under auspices of DOJ’s Project Safe Neighborhoods, the meeting emphasizes the key role that local communities play in preventing violence and building trust. DOJ’s announcement mentioned a recent CDC report which indicates that gun murders jumped 35 percent during 2019-2020, and that high-poverty counties had 4 1/2 times the homicide rate of their wealthier cousins.

5/17/22  Orange County church shooter David Wenwei Chou, 68, who is of Chinese descent, reportedly harbored hatred towards Taiwan and, by extension, to the congregates at the church, which serves the Taiwanese community. Intending to commit a massacre, he brought incendiary devices and chained the doors closed. Chou used two 9mm. pistols that he lawfully purchased in Las Vegas, where he lived. Chou was a deeply troubled person. His wife had left him and moved back to Taiwan. Impoverished and unable to pay rent, he was evicted from his apartment. New tenants found “horrible pictures” of Chou posing with a gun, including one at a memorial to a mass shooting. “I just don’t care about my life anymore” he said. A beating he suffered years earlier had also left its toll.

5/16/22  A weekend of violence beset the land. In Milwaukee twenty-one persons were wounded, none fatally, in three sets of shootings at outdoor “watch parties” of an NBA finals game. Eleven arrests followed. One night later, three separate shootings in Milwaukee led to three deaths. In Buffalo, suspects in a car being pursued by police opened fire, wounding three officers. And in a tony section of Orange County, Calif., a man with two pistols inexplicably began shooting during a church banquet, killing one and wounding four. Other parishioners tackled him and held him for police.

5/11/22  According to the CDC, the firearm homicide rate in 2020 was 6.1/100,000 pop. That’s more than a third greater than the 2019 rate of 4.6 and the highest since 1994. Homicide rates and poverty moved together, with the higher rates in poorer areas. Males and Black persons experienced the highest rates and the largest year-to-year increase. Males in the 25-44 age group had the highest rates: for White persons, 5.4, for Hispanic persons of any race, 13.4, and for Black persons, 90.6.

5/7/22  Unremitting disorder marks Los Angeles’ post-pandemic era. Assaults on transit workers and passengers by mentally-ill homeless persons plague its vast Metro system. In January one pushed an elderly patron onto the tracks, inflicting fatal injuries. A more recent encounter left another rider with broken ribs. Trash-filled encampments are everywhere. Meanwhile late-night street takeovers by masses of cars performing dangerous maneuvers beset major arteries. Some involve more than one-hundred spectators and force a large police response.

5/3/22  In downtown Chicago, a drug deal involving six suspects turned into a robbery and shootout. Errant bullets struck two innocent citizens standing outside a theatre that was scheduled to host a performance of the play “Moulin Rouge” that evening. Its cancellation led Mayor Lori Lightfoot to proclaim her distress at “the number of young people that seemingly are involved in acts of violence.”

4/18/22  Another weekend of violence besieged America. In Pittsburgh, a gunfight involving pistols and rifles broke out in and around a rental home being used for a large party, killing two young persons and wounding eight. No arrests were immediately reported. In Columbia, South Carolina, patrons fled for their lives as a shootout apparently involving three armed men broke out in a busy shopping mall. Nine were wounded, and police arrested a 22-year old for unlawfully carrying a pistol. And also in South Carolina, gunfire broke out in a nightclub near Charleston, wounding nine. For AP’s overview of recent mass shootings click here.

Transit crime is up throughout the U.S. says the Washington Post. New York’s system reports that robbery is up 71 percent, felony assault is up 28 percent and there have been more than twice as many grand larcenies as in 2021. And last year crime complaints were fourteen percent higher than in 2020. Experts say that empty spaces caused by a pandemic-fueled decline in ridership emboldened criminals. That discourages commuters, and breaking the cycle requires more cops. But activists worry that police would discriminate against persons of color and make more petty arrests, such as for fare evasion.

4/16/22  “Angry drivers; lots of guns.” Shootings prompted by road rage are besetting Texas. Dallas police report that angry encounters involving armed motorists wounded forty-five  and killed eleven last year. Austin reports 160 episodes in 2021 and fifteen so far in 2022. According to Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner, “instead of throwing up the finger, they’re pulling out the gun and shooting.” A U.C. Irvine criminologist attributes the “acting out” to frustration fed by “a huge rise in gun sales.”

4/13/22  According to a new Pew poll, “crime, drugs, and public safety” are Philadelphia residents’ primary concern. At 44%, the proportion of respondents who feel safe in their neighborhoods is the lowest since 2009. And while the proportion who believe that police treat Blacks and Whites equally has dropped - for Blacks it’s only 32 percent - 69 percent of Black respondents (the largest proportion by race) believe there are too few police. That may be because 60 percent of Blacks (the largest proportion by race) also feel that gun violence has had a “major impact” on the quality of their neighborhood life.

4/11/22  “I’ve been here eight years and have never had to investigate anything like this.” So said a Georgia police chief after robbers stole forty guns and shot dead two elderly owners and a teen grandson at a gun store and shooting range in Grantville, a placid small town of about 3,000 residents, 46 miles from Atlanta. That happened April 8. Two days later, after more than 100 patrons fled a Cedar Rapids nightclub where gunfire had broken out, killing two and wounding ten, it was an Iowa police chief’s turn to reassure residents that his town was indeed “a safe city.”

3/15/22  L.A.’s homeless beset bus and rail stations. Riders complain of harassment, and violent crimes in the city’s public transportation network soared 36% in 2021. Even as gas prices shatter records, post-pandemic commuters seem reluctant to return to mass transit. “It’s more intense,” said a rider who carefully chooses her trips. “You see other people being assaulted and you see people get pushed.”

3/14/22  A group was standing outside a South Chicago strip mall during mid-afternoon when two cars drove up and one or more occupants opened fire. Seven men, ages 31 to 63, were wounded, two critically. Neighbors reported hearing a flurry of shots, possibly from an assault rifle. The shooting’s precise location, 79th. St. and Exchange Ave., is the focus of the “79th. & Exchange” project announced last year as part of the city’s “INVEST South/West” neighborhood revitalization program.

3/9/22  Six Iowa teens, ages 14-17, have been charged with murder and attempted murder in a drive-by shooting that killed the 15-year old whom they targeted as he stood in a group outside a Des Moines high school. Two female students who were nearby, ages 16 and 18, were also struck by bullets; one is reportedly in serious condition and the other is critical. Police recovered thirty-five shell casings, twenty from the scene and the remainder from the three vehicles used in the attack.

2/21/22  Whiplash! That’s what D.C. police chief Robert Contee must have felt during his yearly review as activists slammed his agency’s “lagging effort” to embrace reform while the City Council berated its failure to tamp down violence. Murders soared from 166 in 2019 to 226 in 2021, an 18-year high, and a  “surge in carjackings” keeps drivers on edge. Meanwhile the force, which dropped in strength from 3,976 officers in 2013 to 3,766 in 2020, reportedly lost an additional 260 cops during the past year.

2/4/22  New York City’s struggle against violence prompted a visit from President Biden and his Attorney General, Merrick Garland. Promising its new Mayor, former police captain Eric Adams, that the Feds would not “abandon our streets,” the President and his A.G. announced enhanced Federal efforts to stem the flow of firearms to criminals. Among these is a national “ghost gun” program and an emphasis on preventing illegal gun sales. Mayor Adams also called for enhanced ATF funding. DOJ release

During 2015-2016 Philadelphia police conducted a Predictive Policing experiment that focused extra police resources, including marked and unmarked patrol, on data-identified crime “hot spots.” An academic study of its effects recently led OJP’s Crime Solutions to assign the practice a “No Effects” grade. While an increase in marked patrol was associated with a reduction in property crime, violent crime significantly increased. Unmarked patrol demonstrated no effect on either crime type.

2/2/22  Law enforcement officials warn that if violence continues apace, last year’s decade-high toll of slain police officers could be easily surpassed. According to the Gun Violence Archive, hostile gunfire injured twenty-eight officers and killed four in January 2022 compared to seventeen injured and three slain last year. It’s claimed that, among other things, increased leniency in charging and the reduction or elimination of bail have led to the prompt return of dangerous offenders to the street.

1/31/22  Researchers interviewed 330 New York City youths who had or carried guns. Many had been shot at. Nearly all were Black or Hispanic and living in public housing in high-crime areas. They said  that fear of victimization was their primary motivation for being armed. A “pervasive fear of law enforcement” was also reported. Researchers concluded, among other things, that “people of limited means want the same things as people of means and resort to crime to attain them.” They suggest that jobs should be created for these youths “with concrete pathways to jobs that pay a living wage.”