#Space parolees Young Justice

[jamesgierach]

“LESSONS FOR STATE ON CASH BAIL” AND MUCH MORE

To: Gov. JB Pritzker, Chief Judge Timothy Evans, Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart, CC State’s Attorney Kim Foxx and CC President Toni Preckwinkle

CC: Frank Main, fmain@sun-times.com Tom McNamee, Chris McQuery

From: JEG, former aide to the late-Chief Judge John Boyle

Date: Monday, January 18, 2021

Summer 1968, as a DePaul law student and aide to then-Chief Judge John Boyle, I helped push an old oak desk into a space at the Cook County Jail under a hand-drawn “ROR” sign, the acronym meaning “Release on Recognizance” bail program, a program that would hopefully release Cook County Jail inmates awaiting trial, who, hopefully, would not commit new crimes while on bail. Chief motivation, likely: reduce jail occupancy and stop the drain on Cook County tax dollars.

The same motivation in 2021, spiked by COVID-19 imperative and a desire for better criminal justice for poor and Black inmates, has again put the bail bond system under the spotlight (“Lessons for State on Cash Bail?” Chicago Sun-Times, 1/18/21, news report by Frank Main) at a time when Cook County has 9,000 people in the sheriff’s custody, 5,400 at the jail and 3,600 more on house arrest with ankle bracelets.

THE PUZZLE

The puzzle — how to balance public safety with criminal justice for the poor who, often, happen to be minorities.

The proposed solution of the Illinois General Assembly is the bill it passed that would do away with the cash bail system. Maybe it will help but as a former Cook County assistant state’s attorney, I think we must recognize other realities pertaining to the criminal justice system.

FREEDOM, INCARCERATION, DELAY

One such reality is: A defendant charged with a crime is less likely to plead guilty if he is free on bond, can delay “judgment day,” and has a chance to “beat the rap” all together, because of future uncertainties. Witnesses die, move, forget, can’t be found, or may no longer be under duress from criminal charge themselves, later.

“Later,” sometimes, just never comes.

REDUCER, JUSTICE, DISCRETION

Another criminal justice reality is: reduced criminal charges can greatly expedite the arrival of Judgment Day.

A “reducer” is shorthand for the amendment of a criminal charge, often from a felony to a misdemeanor, the latter carrying a maximum jail time in Illinois of one year. Why would a defendant plead guilty to a reducer? Because auto theft, say, charged as a felony can put a defendant into a state penitentiary for years (incidentally, the incarceration bill then goes to the state rather than Cook County). Charge reduction is one of the best arrows in a prosecutor’s quiver, one that tends to prevent delay when “Justice delayed is (often) justice denied.”

TIME CONSIDERED SERVED, TIME ACTUALLY SERVED

Time was when an incarcerated defendant would routinely plead guilty after a relatvely brief jail stay for “time considered served, time actually served.”

CAR THEFT, JOYRIDE, CARJACKING

Time was when a car thief caught last night in the stolen car would go from arrest to jail; in the morning he’d go from jail to court, where he pled guilty to a “reducer,” and in handcuffs would leave court to serve a one-year sentence in the Cook County Jail for a misdemeanor. No delay, no continuances, no discovery, no motions, no lost witnesses, no slip between the cup and the lip.

Is one year of incarceration enough for a car theft, you ask? (We’re talking nonviolent, simple car theft here, not kids on a “joyride,” not carjacking, taking a vehicle from the person by use of force or threat of force).

I remember the assistant state’s attorney training me, who explained to the victim whose car was stolen and asked, why is the defendant only getting a year in prison on a misdemeanor when my car is worth “more than $150” (the misdemeanor-felony threshold in the early 1970s) as originally charged in the felony theft complaint for preliminary hearing, and not valued “at less than $150,” as the reducer complaint as amended charges?

COOK COUNTY CAR THIEVES GET ONE YEAR

“Because in Cook County if you steal a car you get one year in prison,” my teacher explained to the victim.

“But this isn’t the first time he stole a car,” the victim complained.

“Well, of course. He’s a car thief,” the prosecutor explained, “and in Cook County for that you get a year In jail.”

Is the alternative better?

FELONY CHARGING, DISCOVERY, MOTIONS, CONTINUANCES, BOND, PROBATION

Hypothetically, the auto thief steals a car and gets caught. Next morning he goes to court, and no deal is offered by the prosecutor on a reducer. The defendant pleads not guilty and bond is set at $10,000 which defendant cannot pay. Case is continued for two weeks for preliminary hearing on the felony charge.

Two weeks later, defendant’s attorney appears and requests continuance (full retainer probably not paid). First continuance requested by defendant, attorney needs time to prepare, State asked for a continuance last time. Continuance granted, car owner told to come back next court date. Bond reduction motion denied. And with that the felony charge, direct indictment/preliminary hearing, discovery process (discovery rights attach because it’s a felony carrying serious penitentiary prison time), continuance process and delay of justice wheels start to turn and slip.

Eventually, as the case drags on, defendant’s bail is likely reduced, defendant posts bond, and the defendant is no longer anxious for his speedy trial. He’s free. Maybe on a bracelet.

A year later, maybe, it’s judgment day. Is the witness still willing, how crowded is the court docket, how’s COVID-19 relief coming in prisons, has the crime lab witness retired, how much pressure to get cases off the docket to enable prosecution of last summer BLM rioters...maybe probation with time served.

NO INCOME, NO JOB, NO RIGHT TO CARRY A WEAPON

Probationers, like parolees cannot carry a gun. Some probationers and parolees cannot find a job. They get hungry. Their families get hungry. What to do?

Often the drug business is the answer, “the Saving Grace.”

The “War on Drugs” makes drugs a profitable business, and the drug business does not discriminate based on constitutionally-outlawed differences. Everyone is equally invited to deal drugs, because “Just say NO” prohibition doesn’t ask a prospective worker, “Have you every been convicted, or arrested, for a crime?”

Prohibition, again as a century ago, is the universal and fair employer of last resort.

Trouble is: the drug business is highly competitive, very violent, and as a practical matter necessitates that serious players come armed with guns and a willingness to use them. This dilemma presents the probationer or parolee with a monumentally important choice, follow the rules of prohibition or parole and go hungry, or break the rules, eat, and maybe get caught.

And even if apprehension by the authorities presents itself, there is still the last option, “It was either him or me. I wasn’t going back to prison.”

RETALIATION, LIFE STYLE

“I decided to eat, so I ran the risk of working for a gang, selling drugs on a corner and regularly carried a gun. A gun is good protection but you’re more likely to get shot doing things that other people do who sell drugs. Competition becomes your worst enemy, and he looks just like you. The more you succeed in the drug business the more valuable your ‘corner’ or ‘license’ becomes, the more danger you’re in. And soon, the streets become a greater risk to your life than the cops,” a brother explained to me.

“Sure, I broke probation but I ate, and I lived well with a steady income. Then my best buddy got hit, shot like a target on a gun range. I knew who did it, the Upside Down gang. I squared the score. Life was good. I’m off probation. Then Illinois legalized pot.”

“TAKE THE PROFIT OUT OF DRUGS”

As a candidate for Cook County state’s attorney in 1992, I sought to stop much of Cook County crime by “taking the profit out of drugs.” It was a counterintuitive political message, but it made sense to me for a number of reasons, some captured in my campaign slogan.

“Take the Profit out of Drugs;

To take Crime off our Streets; and

Taxes off our Backs.”

Catchy, I thought, but it did not catch on. Instead, leaders like Rep. Charles Rangel (D-NY) asked, “How much drugs do you want to give addicts?” And I was soon transformed from tough on crime (“If I ever do anything wrong, you’re the last person I want to be prosecuted by,” Bob, a Cook County deputy sheriff with 30 years experience at the Criminal Court Building, 26th and California) to a “soft on crime” liberal.

QUESTION FEARED, NEVER ASKED

During my Don Quijotic quests for state’s attorney in 1992 and Democratic primary race for Illinois governor in 1994 (“Ilinois’ First Drug Policy Reform Governor”), I feared only one question from some smart reporter that never came. The question was:

“Well, Mr. Gierach, suppose Illinois did legalize all drugs. And suppose it did deprive gangbangers of drug revenues. What can we expect from young, armed, Black drug dealers, use to the good life, and now deprived of their customer base. Should we be expecting armed raids on white people in the suburbs?”

The question never came.

RECREATIONAL POT, $1 BILLION

Back to our probationer who couldn’t carry a gun.

In 2020, Illinois changed the law and legalized recreational pot, the most popular recreational drug of them all. This change caused a big, $1 billion revenue shift in its first year when combined with already legal medical marijuana.

According to a front-page, 12/20/1992, Chicago Sun-Times headline (“$7 Billion: Drug Trade In the City and Suburbs”), the drug business is big business here.

Now, $1 Billion on $7 Billion is not nearly all the illicit drug business in Chicago and its suburbs, but it’s noticeably large, large enough for government to notice and gangbangers, too.

And now I wonder. Are armed robberies on the Magnificent Mile, shootings in the suburbs, and on metropolitan Chicago expressways a response to the seismic shift of illicit drug revenues to legal markets? Are Last Resort Employees telling us, telling me, the frightening question my mind contemplated 29 years ago really was a potential threat to fear? Maybe.

COURAGE, INSIGHT

Have we the courage and insight to press on with drug legalization? Cocaine, heroin, meth, hundreds of new synthetics and a long, United Nations “Yellow List” of criminalized drugs. Will we “Just say NO to Prohibition, Again?”

James E. Gierach

Palos Park, Illinois 60464

1.18.21

(708) 951-1601

Risk-Assessment Algorithm: Bail

Delayed-Punishment Algorithm: Crime, Plea of Guilty

Time Considered Served

Time Actually Served

The Reducer

Drug Policy

[buichopsuey-blog1]

reklamówki z nadrukiem - tanio i na czas

California Relationship To End Local Violence

reklamówki z nadrukiem - tanio i na czas

A collaborative effort including personal citizens, government, regional community-based businesses, universities, parents, the hope community, and regional laws enforcement to prevent assault in our community and offer support for our youth and families through relationships. The result was the 2013 Regional Youngsters Violence Prevention Community Plan The plan is usually organized around the P.I.Y.L. (Prevention, Involvement, Enforcement and Reentry) system, put on by Robert J. Kipper, the previous Professional Director of Virginia's Bunch Reduction Program and internalized by the DOJ in their National Forum on Youth Violence Avoidance.

Data Resources: PubMed and Medline searches were completed using regular MeSH terms, including national assault, spouse abuse, battered females, prevalence, wellness understanding attitudes and practice, adult, mass tests, questionnaires, obligatory credit reporting, wellness position, family practice, family wellness, physician-patient relations, referral and assessment, mental disorders, tension, psychological, women's health, and humans.

Concurrently, and similarly simply because essential as the VRP's enforcement attempts in these neighborhoods, the VRP has forged superb operating romantic relationships with community market leaders and non-profit organizations to mentor at-risk youth, offer jobs and work training to young households, and support probationers and parolees to effectively re-enter society.

Globally, an approximated 1 in 3 ladies will encounter IPV and/or intimate violence 1 Despite the developing recognition of assault against women, evidence to support greatest procedures for responding to assault against females remains missing 2 , 3 Additional, questions remain as to whether sub-populations can gain access to evidence-based IPV surgery and whether such surgery are effective in handling IPV among these populations.

Chaotic clashes re-emerged between 2009 and 2011 32 - 34 Following the election of a fresh president and government in 2012, the country offers been undergoing a transition period from energetic discord to stable peace building 34 , 35 Côte d'Ivoire, once regarded the ‘jewel of Western Africa', proceeds to stay a essential country for regional Western African protection as it keeps deep jewelry to neighbouring countries (Mali, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia) and various other West African-american countries (Togo, Benin, Sierra Leone, Niger) through migration, trade and remittances.

To place this strategy into action, several assault prevention programs have got implemented male-focused surgery alongside programmes for women, with the goal of confronting gender norms related to negative manifestations of masculinity 15 - 18 Proof is usually beginning to display that by stimulating gender-equitable behaviors and values it is definitely possible to decrease gents perpetration of seductive partner assault against females 19 - 27 Nevertheless, almost all of this rising proof on prevention interventions provides primarily been drawn from non-conflict affected configurations, with little rigorous evidence on interventions that function straight with guys in conflict-affected settings 14 , 28.

Violence against females in conflict-affected configurations provides emerged plainly on the worldwide plan 51 Our research outcomes come from a war-torn nation and demonstrate the potential effect of intervening with guys to change gender norms and the great potential to prevent assault against women-and within a extremely brief programmatic period.

CDC's youngsters violence prevention technique focuses on analysis ventures to build proof, like the Country wide Centers of Fineness in Youth Assault Prevention, 4.09 MB funding regional wellness departments to implement prevention initiatives, and offering an on the web space for professionals to make a customized youth violence prevention plan through STRYVE Online CDC created the STRYVE Action Authorities in 2010 after spotting the need to control the knowledge, assets, and influence of partners inside and outside open public health to advance its function in organizations.

Acculturation was sized in two of the studies only to describe the sample 20 , 22 Provided that the proof that the level of acculturation is certainly linked with IPV perpetration and protection strategies used by survivors 10 , 32 , it would become useful to know whether particular components of an involvement are more appropriate with high or low-acculturated Latinas.

Beyond enlargement of the youngsters jobs plan, the YVP Relationship is usually pursuing grants and applications around regenerative justice, Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design http://www.emgraf.pl/, out of college suspension reduction, increased mental and behavioral wellness providers for youngsters, and additional supportive work programming for youth reentering the City from confinement.