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…]
If the Supreme Court Says Its Constitutional...
Saying, “I told you so,” is not becoming. So I won’t say it.
But I will remind folks of all those columns I wrote about the need for states to do something proactive about the problem of illegal immigration since members of the United States Congress have repeatedly fallen down on the job.
Frankly, I stopped writing about it because I figured anyone who was interested in the topic had already formed an opinion and nothing I would write would change any minds. Also, because there was the hate mail I got after I refused to call people who enter this country illegally “undocumented workers.” [click to continue…]
by Diane on June 22, 2009
Returning Vets Need Understanding
In America everyone is supposed to be equal in the eyes of the law. But we’ve got a growing group, a particular class of defendants entering American courtrooms who I believe need special consideration. They are soldiers returning from war.
Several studies conclude that between 30% to 40% of the approximately 1.6 million vets of Iraq and Afghanistan will “face serious mental-health injuries” like Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and problems from traumatic brain injuries. Experts in the field report both those conditions are linked to anti-social and criminal behavior.
Now, to me those numbers – up to 40% of the troops afflicted – seem high. But if it’s even half that it’s too many brave souls returning home needing special help. So, what do we do with a soldier, who put their life on hold to go to a foreign land to fight for our liberty, when they come home and get into trouble with the law? [click to continue…]
by Diane on April 13, 2009
It Attracts Criminals
Get ready for a new crime wave to sweep the nation. It may take a while for us to notice, but it will come. It’ll be sparked by the billions and billions of economic stimulus dollars being doled out by the federal government.
As an understated FBI director Robert Mueller put it during an appearance before Congress recently, the infusion of cash will “lead to an inevitable increase in economic crime and public corruption cases.”
Mr. Willie Sutton
Just as serial bank robber Willie Sutton said when asked why he robbed so many banks, “Because that’s where the money is.” It’s the same thing today. Any sudden windfall of money is like an aphrodisiac to the dishonest. It happened after Uncle Sam pumped a mountain of money into the South after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita…
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by Diane on February 21, 2009
Mother of 14 test tube children
Our country is built on a foundation of laws designed to keep order in our society. Some of these laws are passed by legislatures; others are society’s laws, the ethical and moral laws that guide us.
Two stories playing out in the news these days underscore the importance of this very basic cornerstone of American life.
The California single mother of six, whose addiction to test tube babies caused her to give birth to 8 more and the President of the Peanut Corporation of America, from which salmonella tainted products were shipped, have something in common. When faced with monumental choices they chose badly…
Poisoned?
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by Diane on January 31, 2009
Budget Cutting Blues
Everyone knows the economy is on the skids.
Wall Street certainly feels it. Corporations continue to cut jobs. Mom and Pop businesses struggle to stay open. And state and local governments are faced with the cold hard reality that there’s just not enough money to go around.
Here’s the really scary part. Among the budget-cutting targets are those used to run America’s jails and penitentiaries. The situation leaves policy makers little choice but to let some people currently in prison out of prison before they’ve served their sentences… [click to continue…]
by Diane on November 8, 2008
Child Abuse Takes Many Forms
There are outstanding bench warrants for thousands of parents all across America.
A man named David, the president of a consulting company in California owes $198,954.70. Gene, a man who now lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico dodged his obligation for some twenty years and is $242,147.00 in debt. And a dude from Illinois named Mark who sports a full brown beard, aviator glasses and a cheery smile owes an astounding $618, 679.00!
All of them owe the money to their children. And there are countless thousands more just like them who have reneged on agreed upon or court ordered child support. They are parents who have walked away from the most precious obligation one can have – their own children. And, its not just delinquent Dads, there are plenty of Moms who are shortchanging their children too. [click to continue…]
by Diane on September 20, 2008
Nicole Brown Simpson - one of two victims
I had never seen so much blood in my life.
As the coroner’s wagon pulled away – there it was. Puddles of it. Some of it had oozed down the cracks in between the pathway pavers and toward the sidewalk. As I looked closer I could see paw prints from a large dog and patterned traces of wispy blood that its dragging leash had left behind. Up toward the gate of the fancy condo statuesque Agapanthus stood, its purple flower heads dotted with drops of this blood.
It was June 1994, about ten a.m. on a sunny Sunday in Brentwood, California. My cameraman and I, the reporter on duty that weekend, had been assigned to go to the home of Nicole Brown Simpson. Word was O.J.’s ex-wife had been murdered.
My first thoughts that beautiful morning were: Why didn’t someone take a hose and wash away this horror – and – where were the police?
With no one to stop us, and with camera rolling, we gingerly tiptoed to the gate and opened it. Across a shallow courtyard was the plate glass window behind which Nicole had lived. We could see inside the cozy living room with its overhead balcony leading off to the side bedrooms. Candles were still burning, framed photos of a smiling Nicole and her kids were everywhere. Outside, there were bloody footprints and what seemed to be a bloody handprint on the side of the house. Eerie, and to this day I remember it vividly.
Is OJ’s voice on the audio tape evidence enough?
Vote in my online poll after the jump…
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by Diane on August 23, 2008
A Criminal in the Making?
Have you ever been the victim of a bully? Ever stand silent and let a bully pick on someone?
Most people wouldn’t consider bullying a crime – but it could be creating criminals right before our very eyes.
A study from a group called Fight Crime: Invest in Kids concluded that nearly 60 percent of boys whom researchers classified as bullies in grades 6-9 were convicted of at least one crime by the age of 24. And get this, 40 percent of those same boys grew up to have three or more criminal convictions.
In other words, today’s bully could be tomorrow’s criminal.
So, what can we do about it?
I’m a big believer in families taking responsibility for the actions of their children. But boys and girls reserve their bullying for when they are away from Mom and Dad. That means other adults have to step up at schools, camps, sporting events and youth activity centers.
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