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
Sexual Assault Victims Speak Out Against Washington’s Transgender Bathroom Policies
OLYMPIA, Wash.—A group of women who say they are former victims of sexual assault are making an emotional plea to Washington state legislators to reverse a bathroom policy that they say leaves them and their young children vulnerable, exposed and unsafe. “It started when I was in diapers and went through until I was 10,”… -
news
How the TSA and Drug Enforcement Administration Joined Forces to Seize Cash at Airports
A new report from a government watchdog criticized the Drug Enforcement Administration for working with a Transportation Security Administration security screener to flag bags containing large sums of cash, which the drug agency could then take. According to the investigation from the Department of Justice’s inspector general released earlier this month, the TSA agent was registered… -
opinion
Court Ruling Undermines Justice Department’s Use of Fines as Slush Funds
Should individuals be allowed to turn criminal fines into donations for their favorite charities? U.S. District Judge Janet Arterton recently faced this question and correctly said no. But scholars have raised the question before in response to prosecutors’ use of settlement funds reached in criminal prosecutions of major companies—some totaling billions of dollars—as checks to… -
news
This 71-Year-Old Woman Didn’t Commit a Crime. But She Fought the Government to Get Her Seized Jeep Back.
A 71-year-old woman in Rock Island County, Ill., found herself in the middle of the complex system of civil forfeiture laws as she successfully fought to have her Jeep Compass returned after it was seized by law enforcement for a crime she didn’t commit. Judith Wiese’s car was seized under Illinois civil forfeiture laws after… -
news
Mike Lee Assures Prison Reform Dispute Over Criminal Intent Can Be Resolved ‘Relatively Easily’
Seeking to settle a dispute that threatens to block bipartisan progress toward a deal on criminal justice reform, the Senate’s conservative leader on the issue is downplaying the hurdles to reaching an agreement. Rep. Bob Goodlatte, chairman of the influential Judiciary Committee, declared Tuesday that the House won’t pass legislation unless it contains a controversial… -
news
House Republicans Not Backing Down From ‘Criminal Intent’ Addition to Prison Reform Debate
As President Barack Obama prepares to deliver a State of the Union address that is certain to include a nudge for Congress to act on its pledge to reform the criminal justice system, some outstanding roadblocks remain. That was made clear Tuesday, when the chairman of the influential House Judiciary Committee said legislation won’t pass… -
opinion
How Lawmakers Stopped Part of Obama’s Assault on First Amendment
There is no question that the omnibus appropriations bill that Congress passed just before its holiday recess is full of wasteful spending. Even worse, it completely funds Obama’s unilateral, above-the-law executive actions in almost every area, from his immigration amnesty program to his overregulation of power plants. However, there is one area where Congress acted… -
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,… -
news
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… -
news
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 —… -
news
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,… -
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… -
opinion
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… -
news
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… -
news
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,… -
news
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… -
opinion
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… -
opinion
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…. -
opinion
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… -
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…