by Diane Dimond on January 16, 2012
How Many Are There in America?
It was a small but horrifying item in the Los Angeles Times. “Police are asking for the public’s help in identifying what they call a ‘serious, dangerous serial killer operating in Orange County. Police believe one person is responsible for stabbing three middle-aged homeless men. He is (considered) extremely dangerous to the public.”
Another serial killer, I thought. And then the question: How many serial killers are out there in America?
John Douglas, a former Chief of the FBI’s Elite Serial Crime Unit and author of [click to continue…]
by Diane Dimond on January 3, 2012
What Road Will The New Year Take?
Time for New Year resolutions. Mine take the form of wishes and hopes focused on how to make our crime and justice system safer, saner and more evenhanded for all.
I know some of my wishes are unlikely to come true. But I also know many of them could if we were all determined to make society work better.
I hope that the coach Jerry Sandusky scandal at Penn State University gives strength and solace to the millions of victims of child sexual abuse everywhere, no matter how old they are now. May each of them understand that society condemns every person who preys on children and that the shame isn’t theirs, it rests solely on the molester. [click to continue…]
by Diane Dimond on October 24, 2011
Halloween Fun! But Not For All
The spookiest time of the year is fast approaching and you have likely already heard about local law enforcement officers preparing to keep your area free of danger on Halloween night.
They may be visiting schools to counsel kids on safe practices, they may be warning drivers about watching out for children on Halloween night and in communities across America officers are fanning out to knock on the doors of registered sex offenders.
The idea behind visiting local S.O.’s (as they are referred to) is twofold.
First, it’s a transparent effort to check that the address police have on record for the ex-offender is still good. Second, it is a somber face-to-face warning to the S.O. that they are not allowed to interact with children on Halloween. [click to continue…]
by Diane Dimond on October 10, 2011
Those With Criminal Records Are Worst Off
With the U.S. unemployment over nine percent these days nearly everyone knows someone who is out of work or under-employed. It’s a tragic and desperate time for millions of Americans.
But there is one sector of the population hit harder than any other – those Americans who carry the stigma of a past criminal conviction. An almost unbelievable 65 million people – one in every four U.S. adults – falls into this category. And, in this War-on-Terror era employers are conducting background checks on new hires like never before. No matter how exemplary a life a person has led since their conviction, their past record will pop up.
Look, no one could fault an employer for thinking twice about hiring someone who has been convicted of murder or child molestation. But, according to the author of a [click to continue…]
by Diane Dimond on September 5, 2011
Health Care in Prison? It is Constitutionally protected
TThey are charged with breaking laws or victimizing fellow citizens. We respond by making sure they get a lawyer – often on the taxpayer’s dime. If they plead “not guilty” we stage expensive trials for them so they can provide evidence to a judge or jury. If convicted, they are imprisoned.
So, after all that do we have an obligation to provide prisoners with any and all medicines they might need to keep them healthy?
While so many Americans are struggling to meet health insurance and prescription costs – services for prisoners constantly increase. And make no mistake about it, America has so many incarcerated people we are spending boat-loads of money on convicts’ medical care. Their services cannot be cut. But health care programs for the general public have been cut back time and time again. [click to continue…]
by Diane on June 27, 2011
Giffords, Five Months After Shooting
How wonderful to see the recent photos of a smiling Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords as she left the hospital five months after being viciously shot in the head by 21 year old Jared Loughner. Our hearts went out to Giffords and to the families of the 19 other victims, 6 of whom died.
But what about the family of Jared Loughner? Did you stop to think about them? The pain and suffering of Jared’s parents makes them victims too. And, in the end, if Jared is declared fit to stand trial, Arizona’s death penalty might be used to take away their only son.
[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…]
Could Her Mother Have Killed Her?
We are presumed innocent until proven guilty in this country. We are guaranteed a fair trial by an impartial jury. That’s the bedrock of our justice system.
But what about the high profile defendant who lives through months and sometimes years of sensational media coverage before their case comes to trial? The potential jury pool in their community can become saturated with negative news about the accused, leaving people to justifiably ask how in the world a fair trial can be conducted.
The upcoming capital murder case of 25 year old Casey Anthony of Orlando, Florida makes my point. [click to continue…]
by Diane on April 11, 2011
A 'Failure to Communicate' About the Need for Prison Labor
Who doesn’t remember the history class lesson about chain-gang rock-busting punishments for prisoners? Or the Academy Award winning movie with Paul Newman, “Cool Hand Luke” where prisoners were forced to dig meaningless trenches as their daily chore.
That is not what I’m advocating when I say we should return to full scale prison labor in this country.
I’m talking about prisoner labor that supplies a real service to the community or that goes to support the prisoner’s incarceration – such as growing their own food or building new facilities on prison grounds … labor projects that go beyond making license plates and picking up litter.
As U.S. Senator John Ensign, Republican of Nevada was quoted recently saying, “Do we want them just sitting in prison, lifting weights, becoming violent and thinking about their next crime?”
Of course, the answer is no. [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…]
