New York Gives Arrestees Get-Out-Jail Cards

     New York State's so-called bail reform law took effect on January 1, 2020. According to Governor Andrew Cuomo, the new legislation will mean that 90 percent of people arrested in the state will remain on the street until their cases are resolved in court. The new law lists 159 criminal offenses for which arrestees must be released from custody without bail.

     The political hacks and criminal justice dimwits who passed this bill, and the fool who signed it into law, defend the no-bail concept with the following talking point: "People are in jail because they are poor." No, they are behind bars because they committed crimes.

     Among the criminal acts listed in the no-bail statute, the following are not what anyone in their right mind would consider minor offenses:

   2nd degree burglary of a residence

   2nd degree robbery

   criminal sale of a controlled substance in or near a school

   criminal sale of a controlled substance to a child

   reckless assault of a child by a day care provider

   stalking

   aggravated vehicular assault

   aggravated assault of a child under 11 years old

   Menacing

   criminal obstruction of breathing (choking, strangulation, suffocation)

   aggravated vehicular manslaughter

   3rd degree arson (vehicle arson)

   aggravated grand larceny of an ATM

   auto stripping

   forgery

   insurance fraud

   perjury

   killing a police dog or police horse

   bribing a witness

   bribing a juror

   criminal anarchy

   pointing a laser at an aircraft

   harming a service animal

   assisting in female genital mutilation

   endangering the welfare of a vulnerable elderly person

   unlawfully fleeing a peace officer in a vehicle

     In New York City, it gets even crazier. To show gratitude to those accused of crime who show up for court, the city will give them NY Mets baseball tickets and gift cards. No kidding.

     One doesn't have to be a psychic to predict that this new "reform" law will prove disastrous for law obeying citizens. Take the crime of stalking, for example. What do you think an enraged stalker will do the minute he is released from jail? Moreover, with this new law, fewer victims of this crime will report it. 

Go Ahead and Write, You Have Nothing to Lose

One thing that helps is to give myself permission to write badly. I tell myself that I'm going to do my five or ten pages no matter what, and that I can always tear them up the following morning if I want. I'll have lost nothing--writing and tearing up five pages would leave me no further behind than if I took the day off.

Lawrence Block, crime novelist

Politics and the Art of Hypocrisy

     On Christmas Eve 2019, an upstate New York newspaper, The Daily Messenger of Canadaigua, published an op-ed by Brian Kolb, the 67-year-old minority leader of the New York State Assembly. Mr. Kolb had first been first elected to the Assembly in 2000 and became its minority leader in 2009. The Republican lawmaker, in his newspaper piece, urged his constituents to avoid driving under the influence during the holiday period, good advice for anytime of the year.

     At ten o'clock Tuesday night, New Year's Eve 2019, Assemblyman Brian Kolb, while driving his state issued 2018 GMC Acadia on County Road 41 near his hometown of Victor, New York, lost control of the vehicle and ended up in a roadside ditch.

     A short time after the accident, a deputy with the Ontario County Sheriff's Office took Mr. Kolb into custody on the charge of driving while intoxicated. The Assemblyman, after being issued a ticket, was released from custody and driven home.

     The next day, the Assemblyman's office released the following statement: "This was a terrible lapse of judgment, one I have urged others not to make, and I take full responsibility for it. I want to offer sincere apologies to my family, friends, colleagues and the people of the 131st Assembly District. I fully recognize that severity of the situation and I am profoundly sorry. There is no excuse and no justification for what occurred Tuesday evening. I made the wrong decision, and it is one I deeply regret."

     Assemblyman Kolb's full-throated apology didn't impress one of his Democrat colleagues, Assemblyman Angelo Santabarbara who called for Mr. Kolb's resignation as the Assembly minority leader. Brian Kolb's political opponent called the DWI incident a "serious" crime.

      Cases like this make all politicians uncomfortable because they remind voters that in one form or another, they are all hypocrites. Compared to the widespread corruption within our political classes, a first-time DWI offense where no one is injured, while highly embarrassing and perhaps politically damaging, is not a serious crime. And as a lawmaker, Assemblyman Santabarbara should know this. His calling it serious as justification for the minority leader's resignation, is just another example of political hypocrisy. 

Violent Crime in America

     About 130,000 rapes are reported every year. More than 200,000 rapes are not reported.

     On average, 310 people are shot every day. One hundred of them die.

     There are 747,000 registered sex offenders. As many as 100,000 convicted sex offenders are noncompliant with the registry and are unaccounted for.

     Every year about 17,000 criminal homicides are committed.

     Every year 460,000 children go missing. Almost 1,500 of them are kidnapped.

     Every year there are more than 100,000 armed robberies.

More Beat Cops, Less Street Violence

When I talk to Chicagoans who live in our most violent-prone neighborhoods, they do not hate the police. In fact, they tell me they want more cops and fewer gangs. They do not want more officers just driving through their communities. They want officers on the beat in their neighborhoods.

Rahm Emanuel, Chicago mayor 2011-2019

Police Powers: The Need For Restaint

I've spent my life in the police profession, and I'm proud of that. But I am also very cognizant of the profession's limitations, its potential for abuse, and its potential negative impact.

William B. Bratton, NYC Police Commissioner 1994-1996 and 2014-2016

2019: The Year of the Mass Murder

     When four or more people, excluding the killer, are murdered in the course of one killing spree, the homicide is called a mass murder. At one time, and not that long ago, mass murder cases were rare. Today in the U. S., we average one every nine days.

     Most mass murder incidents fall into one of four general categories: gang related shootings, school massacres, suicidal adults who murder their families, and workplace murders committed by disgruntled employees.

     According to a database compiled by the Associated Press, USA Today, and Northeastern University, 41 mass murder cases were recorded in 2019, the highest number of such incidents in American history. In 2006, there were 38 cases, another big year for mass murder.

     Regarding the number of mass murder fatalities in one year, 2017 tops the list with 224 victims. In 2019, mass murderers killed 211 people.

     Over the past fifteen years, while overall criminal homicide rates have declined, mass murder has been on the rise. While psychiatrists, psychologists, criminologists, and politicians have talked a lot about why this is happening, no one has a clue. Perhaps this is because deviant, pathological behavior is beyond understanding, a fact so-called experts won't acknowledge. 

Police Morale

Cops have been complaining about morale since police forces were created. I used to complain about it a lot when I was a young cop.

William B. Bratton, NYC Police Commissioner 1994-1996 and 2014-2016

College Education: Overpriced Dreams and a Life of Debt

     Today, the cost of college tuition runs from $16,000 to $60,000 a year. And that's just the tuition. There is no such thing as a cheap college education. If colleges were car dealerships, the cheapest cars on the lot would be Cadillacs.

     The ridiculous cost of a college degree has resulted in 45 million Americans owing a collective debt of $1.6 trillion. It will take many of these college graduates decades to pay off these loans. In many cases, these graduates paid for a Cadillac and ended up with a Pinto.

     According to a recent Sallie Mae survey, 70 percent of parents say they want their children to go to the best school they can get into, regardless of price and affordability. 

Very Good Advice

Substitute "damn" every time you're inclined to write "very." Your editor will delete it and the writing will be just as it should be.

Mark Twain