by Diane Dimond on May 13, 2012
But Not For All Mothers
Happy Mother’s Day to all the other Moms out there! Your children have likely bought you a nice card and a gift, maybe some flowers or perhaps they plan to take you out for a fancy meal to show you how much they love you. Sweet. And just the way it should be.
My mom is no longer here and this holiday is one that makes me sentimental and nostalgic.
But for tens of thousands of American mothers it is just another day behind bars. There are no flower or PajamaGram deliveries allowed in prison to mark this day.
It is hard to find current and trustworthy statistics about exactly how many women are incarcerated in the United States or how many of them are mothers. One of the causalities of our lousy economy is up-to-date research on such things, but I think it’s safe to say the number of female prisoners lies somewhere between Amnesty International’s figure of 148,000 and the American Civil Liberties Union’s tally which put the number of American women and girls in lockup at 200,000. A documentary released last year by the University of Pennsylvania put the number of incarcerated mothers in 2007 at 65,600. [click to continue…]
by Diane Dimond on April 23, 2012
Fast Growing Crime Scene - Pharmacies
They used to be the friendly neighborhood place where you went to get razor blades or Band-Aids, toiletries or the occasional prescription the doctor gave you. Today, as America’s population uses more prescription medications than at any other time in history, the face of America’s pharmacies is changing. And, in some sinister cases the activity taking place inside these stores is far from legitimate.
You’ve probably noticed that your pharmacy now has a video surveillance system, maybe a uniformed guard and the pharmacist may have to retrieve your order from a locked safe. At closing time they might roll down a metal cage to cover the counter or let loose guard dogs to patrol inside the store. This isn’t your father’s pharmacy anymore and the reason is a shame: Prescription drug abuse has now become an epidemic in America. It’s become a much bigger problem than street sales of drugs like heroin, marijuana and cocaine. [click to continue…]
by Diane Dimond on April 16, 2012
Annie McCann Was Just 16
How did 16 year old honor roll student Annie McCann die? Her parents have been agonizing over that heart wrenching question for too long. Definitive answers have been few but these determined parents refuse to give up asking.
On October 31, 2008 Annie left a note in her bedroom which mentioned suicide but she had also added the hope-filled line, “But I realized I can start over instead. . . . If you really love me, you’ll let me go.” Then, she inexplicably ran away, taking $1,000 in cash, jewelry and the family Volvo. It was a shock to Dan and Mary Jane McCann whose daughter was a devout Catholic, quiet and studious – a child who had never given them any trouble.
Two excruciating days later the McCann’s got a phone call informing them Annie’s body had been found at a housing project in Baltimore, Maryland about seventy miles from their home. They were dumbfounded. [click to continue…]
by Diane Dimond on April 9, 2012
Like a Free Four Day Get-Away?
What if your boss decided to reward you and your fellow workers with an all-expense paid get-away? Wouldn’t that be great? You could stay in a nice hotel, spend some quality time networking with your colleagues and in the evening you could enjoy cocktails, special entertainment and indulge in expensive dinners.
Think in these economic times your boss would spring for that? Yeah, not in a million years, right?
Well, if you pay federal income taxes you’ve already helped foot the bill for just such a bash. Sorry, you weren’t invited. This four day event was arranged by the General Services Administration and after learning the details I think someone there ought to be arrested for misappropriation of funds – more than 820 thousand dollars of our funds! [click to continue…]
by Diane Dimond on March 26, 2012
Army Staff Sgt Robert Bales
The drumbeat has already started and I want it to stop.
The moment the horrific news that a U.S. soldier had gone on a rouge killing spree in the far away province of Kandahar, Afghanistan – murdering 16 Afghan civilians, mostly women and children and then burning some of the bodies, America has been struggling to make sense of it. If the reports are true, what could have caused Army Staff Sgt. Robert Bales, the married father of two, to commit such a heinous act of multiple murder?
In the days since we first heard the news I’ve lost track of how many times I’ve read or heard the sentiment that somehow the culture or conditions within our U.S. military made him do it. Or that the military “taught him to kill.” Nonsense.
Look, war is hell and since America has now endured more than a decade of non-stop wars maybe it should come as no surprise that this has been the [click to continue…]
by Diane Dimond on March 19, 2012
Proving Who You Are to Get What You Want
Welcome to the 21st Century. In this day and age you can’t write a check, use a credit card, set up a bank account, get on an airplane, rent a hotel room or a car or even get a library card without first showing your photo identification – usually a driver’s license.
It is a pain, but we dig into our wallets and pull out the old ID card (with the photo we wish we could change) because, well… because that’s the way it is. Today, we have to prove who we are to get what we want.
So, why are some people so aghast at the idea that when we vote we should have to show a photo ID? [click to continue…]
by Diane Dimond on March 12, 2012
Original 10 Most Wanted Captivated Me
In the unlikely event they make a movie of my life story a good place for the opening scene would be the post office in Albuquerque where my Mother used to take me as a child.
Scene one, act one, would be me making a bee-line to the bulletin board displaying the FBI’s 10 most wanted list. The future crime writer transfixed.
“So that’s what a murderer looks like,” I always thought to myself, leaning in to the grainy black and white photos. I would peer deep into the eyes of the fugitive bank robber or kidnapper to try to find a clue as to what made these men turn so bad. (Back then, the list was all men) I admit it – I was a strange child.
[click to continue…]
by Diane Dimond on February 20, 2012
Teachers Can Be Sexual Predators Too
This is not a column you want your children to read unless you are prepared to have a very important and personal discussion. Then again, maybe that’s why I think it’s important to write this column.
Recent events underscore the need to talk to our kids (again) about the sanctity of their own bodies.
In Los Angeles County, California an elementary school teacher named Mark Berndt was arrested after a clerk reported developing disturbing photographs for the 61 year old man. The clerk showed police photos of blindfolded young school children with their mouths covered with tape and some of the children had “large, live Madagascar-type cockroaches on their faces and mouths,” according to the Sheriff’s Department. Other pictures showed [click to continue…]
by Diane Dimond on February 13, 2012
Fr. James Manship, courtesy New Haven Independent
In a day when the words “Catholic” and “priest” often conjure up negative thoughts I want to tell you a story about a man who saw injustice and took on an entire police department to try to set things right. He would be the first to tell you he didn’t do it alone.
Father James Manship leads the flock at the New Haven, Connecticut St. Rose of Lima Catholic Church. He had been ministering to this mostly Latino congregation for a short time when, in the summer of 2008, his congregants began telling him stories about rogue police officers who made their lives miserable.
Their tales of harassment, unwarranted traffic stops, needless arrests and beatings while in custody were mind boggling to this young priest, the nephew of a veteran State Police trooper. [click to continue…]
by Diane Dimond on February 6, 2012
NFL Commish Goddell
I wonder if the National Football Commissioner Roger Goodell knows the information I’m about to tell you? If not, may I be the one to clue him in to the shocking criminal background of a guy named Gary who is prominently featured at NFL games … including this year’s Super Bowl?
Around 1980, when Gary was in his mid-30’s he was charged with having sex with an underage 14 year old girl named Allison. He was acquitted.
For the entire decade of the 80’s Gary was considered to be such a dangerous and chronic drunk driver that authorities banned him from getting behind the wheel for ten years. [click to continue…]
