Crime News
The Daily Signal reports on crime news with analysis and commentary on policies, crime rates, and policing debates.
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- News
What Rising Murder Rates in US Cities Mean for 2016
The 2015 year in crime was marked by a sharp rise in murder rates in many U.S. cities, including those touched by high-profile incidents between police and citizens, such as Baltimore and Chicago. But the rate of crime overall in America’s largest cities declined in 2015 (as of Dec. 23) compared to the year before,…Josh Siegel -
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Justice Department Halts Program Allowing Law Enforcement to Split Proceeds of Seized Cash, Property
The Justice Department is halting a controversial program that allows law enforcement to keep most of the proceeds of cash and property they seize from Americans under federal law, sometimes without charging anyone with a crime. Now the law enforcement community, which benefits from the program, is pushing back against the Justice Department, saying its decision…Melissa Quinn -
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Obama Grants Clemency to 97 Federal Prisoners, Most Convicted for Drug Crimes
President Barack Obama shortened the sentences of 95 federal inmates on Friday, in his latest mark on a bipartisan push to reduce prison overcrowding and undo the harshness of the nation’s war on drugs. After using executive authority to grant his third batch of clemencies during his administration, Obama has now granted 184 commutations —…Josh Siegel -
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Support for Assault Weapons Ban Drops After San Bernardino
Americans’ support for an assault weapons ban is at its lowest point in more than two decades, according to a new ABC News/Washington Post poll. More than half of Americans—53 percent—oppose the federal government’s prohibiting the sale of assault weapons, the poll found. In the wake of the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre in Newtown,…Natalie Johnson -
- Opinion
Local Officials Advocating Sanctuary Policies Put Illegal Criminals Ahead of Americans
San Francisco and other cities across the United States have created so-called “sanctuaries” for illegal aliens. These municipalities are defying federal immigration law, just like some Southern jurisdictions that defied federal civil rights laws in the 1960s. But unlike that earlier era, today’s sanctuary cities are creating safe havens for known criminals. Their policies have…Hans von Spakovsky -
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Why Criminal Intent Should be Part of Justice Reform
Critics of mens rea (criminal intent) reform claim it would shield white-collar criminals from prosecution. Rejecting the default criminal intent standard because we are rightfully upset by the lack of accountability for corporate wrongdoing is simply cutting off your nose to spite your face. Criminal intent standards improve the criminal law for white-collar criminals, migrant…John G. Malcolm -
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Why Marco Rubio Is Worried About the IRS Targeting Churches
Sen. Marco Rubio said he believes pastors must be both cautious and bold against an intrusive IRS that may be looking more carefully at their words from the pulpit after the Supreme Court ruled that there is a constitutional right to same-sex marriage. “I think, long-term, it’s something we should be vigilant about,” Rubio, R-Fla., told The…David Brody -
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This Counterterrorism Expert Says US Must Treat Terrorism as ‘War’ Rather Than ‘Crime’
The Obama administration has “downplayed” the terrorism threat faced by the U.S., leaving law enforcement unprepared and inadequately trained, an expert in counterterrorism said at a Washington panel two days after the massacre in San Bernardino, Calif. “The terrorism that’s going on now in this country, this is war. This is not crime,” Katharine Gorka,…Natalie Johnson -
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This Veteran Faced Life in Prison for One Nonviolent Crime. After 19 Years, He’s Free.
NEWBERRY, S.C.—Douglas Lindsay was supposed to serve life in prison for a first-time, nonviolent drug crime. But in July, after 19 years, Lindsay was one of 46 federal inmates to be granted clemency by President Barack Obama. Last year, as a component of his push for criminal justice reform, Obama announced he would grant clemency…Josh Siegel -
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The Significance of Britain’s Decision to Authorize More Airstrikes Targeting ISIS
On Wednesday, the House of Commons voted to expand Britain’s air war into Syria. Expanding the British air campaign into Syria should have been an easy decision to make, since much of the territory ISIS controls is in Syria, with its capital in Raqqa, but Prime Minister David Cameron has had a hard fight winning…Robin Simcox -
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Why Police in Many States Can Seize Your Property Without Proving You’re Guilty of a Crime
Civil asset forfeiture is a growing problem throughout the nation, driven by a profit incentive that encourages property seizures by law enforcement authorities even under dubious circumstances. That is the inescapable conclusion of the second iteration of Policing for Profit: The Abuse of Civil Asset Forfeiture, the Institute for Justice’s comprehensive report on civil forfeiture….Jason Snead -
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Congress Is Finally Considering Real Criminal Justice Reform
I was recently bemoaning the fact that mens rea reform was not part of the various proposals that were being considered in the House and the Senate under the rubric of criminal justice reform, and that what was really being discussed was criminal sentencing reform. Well, I need lament no longer. This week, significant mens…John G. Malcolm -
- Opinion
Planned Parenthood Loved This ‘Scandal’ Episode. They Shouldn’t Have.
Planned Parenthood gave the winter finale of “Scandal,” a TV drama about politics, a big thumbs up for its portrayal Thursday of a character’s abortion. “We saw one of our favorite characters make the deeply personal decision that one in three women have made in their lifetime,” Planned Parenthood said in a statement, per Entertainment…Katrina Trinko -
- Opinion
Lawmakers Demand Answers About Illegal Immigrant Gang Member Who Assaulted Police Officer
Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson has 10 days to complete a homework assignment. But this assignment, given to him via a strongly worded letter by the chairmen of the Senate and House Judiciary Committees, doesn’t involve math, science, or literature: it involves telling the truth about the violent criminal past of a known MS-13…Cully Stimson -
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New York Attorney General Tries to Criminalize Scientific Dissent on Climate Change
Everyone reading this should do the attorney general of New York, Eric T. Schneiderman, a big favor: buy a copy of the U.S. Constitution, highlight the First Amendment in the Bill of Rights with a bright yellow or orange Sharpie, and mail him a copy. Schneiderman obviously needs a remedial lesson in the fact that…Hans von Spakovsky -
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Put the Brakes on Bangladesh’s Flawed War Criminal Process
The Bangladeshi authorities are set to execute two senior opposition politicians for alleged war crimes committed 45 years ago—by an International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) that has been deemed “flawed” by international human rights organizations. The convictions and death sentences of senior Jamaat-e-Islami (JeI) politician Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mojaheed, and senior Bangladesh National Party politician Salauddin…Lisa Curtis -
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People Who Sell Jelly With Six Fruits or More as Food Are Criminals
Pushing the boundaries of jelly science is risky. You may sell food labeled as “jelly” only if it has a combination of two, three, four or five fruit juice ingredients pursuant to the specifications in paragraph (b)(1) of section 150.140 of title 21 of the Code of Federal Regulations. You are free to sell a…John-Michael Seibler -
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This Ohio City Council Made Possession of Cigarettes for Those Under 21 a Crime
Should a 20 year-old’s possession of cigarettes within any 1.33-square-mile area be a crime? Lawmakers in Grandview Heights, Ohio, thought so until some vocal opponents changed their minds. One lesson of overcriminalization is that federal, state and local legislators, prosecutors, agency regulators and even judges can contribute to making virtually any conduct a crime. If lawmakers don’t…John-Michael Seibler -
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Lois Lerner Won’t Be Facing Criminal Charges. Here Are the Problems With the ‘Investigation’ That Cleared Her.
In an eight-page letter last week to the Judiciary Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives, the Justice Department informed Chairman Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., that it was closing its investigation of the IRS targeting scandal, claiming there is not sufficient evidence to “seek any criminal charges” against Lois Lerner or any other IRS officials. However, there…Hans von Spakovsky -
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Poll Reveals What Americans Fear the Most: Corruption of Government Officials
Chapman University in Orange, Calif., recently conducted its second annual survey on fears possessed by Americans in order to pinpoint what Americans fear the most. The fear that ranked the highest among Americans surveyed was corruption of government officials at 58 percent. Cyber-terrorism ranked second at 44.8 percent and corporate tracking of personal information was…Sara Jones