The Old Joke About Lawyers
Question: What’s the difference between a lawyer and a shark? Answer: Nothing.
Okay, look, right off the bat I want to say: I work with a lot of lawyers and I count many of them as good friends. But we’ve all heard the old jokes and let’s face it; the public’s general perception of lawyer’s honesty and integrity is pretty rotten. The latest Harris poll on the subject puts attorneys way down at the bottom of the list with members of congress, car salesmen – and, yes, journalists.
But since lawyers are the crux of our justice system I think it is important that we take a closer look at the way some of them operate. Why is it so many of us curl our upper lip at the very mention of dealing with a lawyer? [click to continue…]
Taking a Seat Here Can Change Your Life
Having spent the better part of the last two weeks watching an excruciatingly long jury selection for a capital murder case I’m left wondering – is it time for the United States to begin using professional jurors?
During the last couple weeks I watched intently as prospective jurors took the stand to explain to the court the financial hardship that leaving work to judge another would bring to their lives. Some of them work for employers who grant paid leave for jury duty but often it covered only a day or two. Many others worked for struggling small businesses or are self-employed and they explained that every day they didn’t show up at work was lost profit or a day’s pay docked off their paycheck. [click to continue…]
Sex Offenders Must Be Punished
We’re pretty good at punishing people who are caught and convicted of sexual abuse. We’re not so good at stopping the abuse in the first place, especially when children are involved. After all these years of open discussion about this scourge why is it still so prevalent?
Because, we keep attacking the problem the same old way!
A new project from the Association for the Treatment of Sexual Abusers, funded by the Ms. (magazine) Foundation, concludes it is time for us to adjust our collective thinking about sex offenders.
Perhaps the A.T.S.A.’s most important conclusion is that media coverage of abuse “monsters” has warped our sense of who they really are. Television news, movies and books mainly focus on the most extreme “stranger danger” cases, those in which a child is kidnapped, sexually assaulted and murdered.
In reality, the sexual abuse of kids doesn’t usually come from outside their circle and murder is extremely rare. [click to continue…]
by Diane on April 18, 2011
Ugly Custody Battles Can Result in Parental Kidnappings
Hardly a week passes without hearing something about missing children in this country. Some are believed stolen for sexual purposes, some are found murdered and thousands of other children are kidnapped by one of their own parents.
Today, let’s focus on parental abductors.
For the parents left behind after their former spouse has kidnapped their child there is the agony of not knowing when – or if – they will see their baby again. Even the tiniest clue as to their son or daughter’s whereabouts is vitally important if there is ever to be a re-union.
To those heartsick parents I say – The IRS may very well know where your missing child is but the agency won’t tell you. The Agency isn’t allowed to tell you. [click to continue…]
by Diane on March 28, 2011
Abused Women Must Speak Out & Get Out
Oh boy, am I ever going to take heat for this. But it must be said.
There are some women caught up in the awful throes of domestic abuse who are to blame. Domestic abuse occurs because they allow it.
The women of whom I speak stay when they should leave. They repeatedly call police to come to their rescue after their partner’s anger erupts. Then, they repeatedly refuse to press charges. These abused and humiliated women forget the panic they felt at the moment they scrambled to the phone and dialed 9-11 for help. They imagine they can’t possibly make it in life without their abusive mate. They’re caught in a terrible cycle of co-dependent violence. [click to continue…]
by Diane on March 14, 2011
Time to Re-Think?
I
’m against the death penalty.
Until I’m not.
Mention a criminal who has sexually abused or murdered a child and I waver. Show me a terrorist who wants to kill Americans because we don’t share his religion and I vacillate. Catch a stone cold cop killer and I think if we don’t punish the murderer to the fullest we allow the very fabric of our nation’s security to unravel.
Yet, with all that said, there seems to be a built in contradiction to killing a killer, don’t you think? [click to continue…]
by Diane on March 7, 2011
Prisoners Committing Tax Fraud - To the Tune of Multiple Millions!
At prisons across the country all incoming mail is opened and checked for contraband before the prisoner ever receives it. What would be considered mail tampering on the outside is standard operating procedure in a prison.
Amazingly, however, outgoing prison mail is mostly just bundled up and shipped out via the U.S. Postal Service with no inspection. The only exception is if a particular prisoner is under suspicion for some sort of criminal activity.
That’s a shame because this failure to monitor mail is the first weak link in a chain of inmate tax fraud that’s been going on for years, according to government investigators. In just the 2009 tax year, for example, prisoner inspired IRS fraud cost you, me and every other taxpaying American at least 39 million dollars. [click to continue…]
by Diane on February 14, 2011
Teen Killers - Some Deserve Life W/O Parole
I goofed. I thought I had researched it thoroughly enough but the response to my last column showed me I did not. Consider this my mea culpa.
The column was about the number of juveniles we sentenced to life without parole (LWOP) on charges of murder or accessory to murder. I quoted a Human Rights Watch report that placed the number of “children” sentenced to LWOP at 2,574. I questioned how America’s international stance on human rights squared with our “routinely toss(ing) kids” into prison for the rest of the lives.
As comments to the column rolled in I realized I had only written one side of the story. [click to continue…]
by Diane on February 7, 2011
America Locks Up Children Forever
Quick, a question: What does the United States of America have in common with the African nation of Somalia?
Answer: They are the only countries to refuse to sign Article 37 of the 1989 UN document entitled, “Rights of the Child.”
What’s that mean? Translated, it means America stands shoulder-to -shoulder with a primitive east African nation in routinely refusing to acknowledge the rights of children. And, America is also the only known nation in the world that allows children under the age of 18 to be tried as adults and sentenced to prison forever – with absolutely no chance for parole. In a majority of U.S. cases the child is charged with murder but sometimes they have simply been in the company of someone else who committed murder.
Hey, wait a minute! [click to continue…]
by Diane on January 31, 2011
State of President Obama's Union, 2011
One of the primary functions of government is to keep us safe – not only from foreign enemies but from fellow citizens who’ve turned to crime. We function best when we feel safe and secure in the world. It allows us to unlock our creative minds, produce more and better work and give back to society in the most positive ways.
So, as I watched President Obama’s State of the Union speech I listened carefully for what he would say that would address American’s concerns about crime and justice and help us feel safer. After all, consider recent events. Shortly before the speech, in states across the nation, eleven police officers had been killed in the line of duty in a 24 period. And the country is still reeling from the shooting rampage in Tucson, Arizona that left 6 people dead and 14 wounded, including Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords.
I was disappointed with the speech. [click to continue…]
