Crime and punishment roundup

  • Radley Balko weighs in on Philadelphia bodega-robbery scandal: “I want to refer to these thugs as ‘rogue cops,’ but given that [they’ve thrived] how rogue can they really be?” [Washington Post, earlier here, here, here, etc.]
  • Speaking of Philadelphia cops: “16 Philly police, firefighters earned more than $400,000 in overtime since ’09” [Brian X. McCrone and Emily Babay, Philly.com]
  • Also from Balko: “Police cameras are great, except when the video goes missing“; “Police shooting 377 rounds into a car occupied by two unarmed men “raises concerns.” That’s one way of putting it.” And a not very funny t-shirt;
  • “Mission creep”: Department of Homeland Security has its fingers in many more pies than you might realize [Albuquerque Journal]
  • Felony murder rule: “Sentenced To Life In Prison For Loaning His Roommate His Car And Going To Sleep” [Amy Alkon] Sentencing reform is bipartisan issue on both sides [L.A. Times]
  • How many parents and caregivers are behind bars on scientifically bogus “shaken-baby” charges, and is there any urgency to finding out? [Matt Stroud, The Verge; earlier]
  • Milwaukee cop drives into sober woman’s car, charges her with DUI [WITI via Greenfield]

One Comment

  • The Florida cops shooting spree is reminiscent of the capture of the second Boston bomber. He was trapped inside a boat in a back yard and was supposedly involved in an hour-long gun battle with police. An unbelievable number of shots were fired but he didn’t fire one, since he was unarmed. Yet the media paid little attention to this fact.