Wednesday, April 12th, 2006,
by Fred (,
crime, Illinois, Madison County
,
Police: Man became burglar to nab impounded pooch
Police said that Thomas Carroll, 20, of Glen Carbon, broke into Madison County’s animal control facility and left with his pet Weimaraner, Titus.Police said Carroll could not come up with the $125 needed to retrieve the dog, which had been picked up as a stray. Now Carroll, of the 100 block of South Main Street, is charged with two felony counts of burglary and is being held in the Madison County Jail on $50,000 bail. He will need $5,000 to make bond.
I can’t decide which is worse. Is it that someone is so stupid that they would risk a sentence of 3-7 years in prison and a $25,000 fine to avoid paying the $125 fee to retrieve a stray dog? Or is it that the government charges you $125 to retrieve your stray dog? Apparently, it is better that this dog be put up for adoption (and put to sleep if adoption fails) than that the dog be returned to his owner without payment of the Madison County Dog Tax.
Share This
Tuesday, April 11th, 2006,
by Fred (,
education, Illinois, nanny state, nutrition, politics
,
Committee blocks Illinois school junk food ban
An Illinois legislative committee voted overwhelmingly Tuesday to block the State Board of Education’s plan to bar junk food from elementary schools.The ban championed by Gov. Rod Blagojevich would prohibit the sale of soda, chips and candy in vending machines.
The Joint Committee on Administrative Rules blocked it 10-1.
Good. Hopefully the ban will be killed entirely, and not just re-worked. Clearly, a diet composed entirely of candy bars and grape soda is unhealthy, but even sugary snacks are acceptable in moderation. Illinois is just caving to the food fascists at the CSPI and their kin.
Share This
Tuesday, April 11th, 2006,
by Fred (,
crime, Illinois, psychology
,
Illinois Seeks to Commit Sex Offender
A Catholic priest who was scheduled for parole Tuesday after serving two years in prison for molesting boys will instead be sent to a state treatment center for sexually violent criminals, where he could be committed indefinitely.State officials petitioned the court to involuntarily commit the Rev. Frederick Lenczycki on the grounds that he likely would molest again.
A judge on Monday ordered the 61-year-old priest held at the state facility in Joliet until a hearing can be held to determine if he should remain there indefinitely.
The case is the first in which the state has attempted to hold a priest under Illinois’ Sexually Violent Persons Commitment Act, a 1998 law that allows for the involuntary commitment of convicted sex offenders to mental institutions until they are determined to no longer be threats to society, said DuPage County State’s Attorney Joseph Birkett.
These laws should give any freedom-lover pause. What Lenczycki did was horrible, but he did serve the sentence provided in the law for the crime for which he was convicted. Illinois could not constitutionally extend his prison sentence for another 20 years while he was behind bars, so why should they be able to imprison him indefinitely based on a claim that he “likely would molest again”? Studies have repeatedly shown that sex offenders actually have lower rates of recidivism than other offenders.
Even with the offenders who are pedophiles, treatment can help change behavior even if it does not change sexual attraction patterns. In a 1998 evaluation of 61 research studies on sexual offender recidivism (known as a meta-analysis), sexual offense recidivism was very low (13.4% of more than 23,000 offenders). The sexual offense recidivism of child molesters was slightly lower — 12.7% for 9,603 abusers. In another study, one in five of the extrafamilial child molesters recidivated. The Bureau of Justice Statistics of the U.S. Department of Justice reports that 5.3% of sex offenders were rearrested for a sexual crime within three years of release. Another study found that child molesters with female victims had a 10 to 29% recidivism rate while child molesters with male victims ranged between 13 and 40%, but this study included non-sexual offenses in its data. Other criminals had higher rates of recidivism – for example, 38% of those convicted of a violent crime had another offense, as did one third of those with a property offense.
So if the rate of recidivism for other offenders is three times higher, why is it only sex offenders we seek to confine indefinitely? If prosecutors and legislators think pedophiles should be confined for life, then seek to amend the statute to provide life sentences. Don’t allow parole and then use a back-door, ripe-for-abuse civil commitment.
Share This
Tuesday, April 11th, 2006,
by Fred (,
election law, Illinois, politics
,
Madigan Investigating Calls That Targeted State Democrats
[Illinois] State Attorney General Lisa Madigan’s office is investigating whether a telephone campaign paid for by House Republicans that targeted Democratic lawmakers violated state election rules.”We have received a complaint,” said Madigan spokeswoman Melissa Merz on Monday.
The campaign involved anonymous, automated calls to the constituents of House Democrats. The calls attacked the Democrats’ records and accused them of cutting veterans benefits, among other programs.
This is sloppy writing by the AP. Did the calls attack the record of the Illinois Democratic Party, or did it attack the record of individual Democrats? That is unclear from the article. This distinction makes all the difference. Section 9-9.5 of the Illinois Election Code provides that
Any political committee, organized under the Election Code, that makes an expenditure for a pamphlet, circular, handbill, Internet or telephone communication, radio, television, or print advertisement, or other communication directed at voters and mentioning the name of a candidate in the next upcoming election shall ensure that the name of the political committee paying for any part of the communication, including, but not limited to, its preparation and distribution, is identified clearly within the communication as the payor.
The Attorney General, widely known to have gubernatorial aspirations and daughter of the Democratic Speaker of the House, should disclose whether the calls are alleged to have mentioned the name of a candidate in the 2006 election. If so, an investigation is proper, although perhaps more fairly carried out by the State Board of Elections. If not, Madigan’s involvement is an improper attempt to harm Republicans in the upcoming election.
Share This
Tuesday, March 28th, 2006,
by Fred (,
Fred Phelps, Free Speech, Illinois, politics, unions
,
It looks like Illinois’ efforts to stop Westboro Baptist Church’s anti-gay funeral protests has hit a roadblock
An effort to stop radical anti-gay protesters from disrupting soldiers’ funerals is hung up in the Illinois Senate, as proponents wrestle with union concerns that the law could be used to curtail legitimate labor protests by cemetery workers.The legislation was filed in response to the tactics of the Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka, Kan., which has been staging confrontational protests at funerals around the nation of soldiers killed in Iraq, including several in Illinois. The group, touting slogans like “Thank God for Dead Soldiers,” claims the deaths are divine retribution for America’s tolerance of homosexuality.
The bill, HB 4532, creates the new misdemeanor offense of disorderly conduct at a funeral or memorial service, and forbids “knowingly engag[ing] in a march or picket at [a] funeral site at any public location located within 200 feet of any ingress or egress of that funeral site.” The unions have asked for special treatment, allowing them to continue to protest at cemeteries, but banning all other protests:
“We share the outrage to the horrible disrespect that’s been shown to these soldiers … but this bill would make felons out of (cemetery) workers for carrying out their rights,” said David Martino, lobbyist for the Service Employees International Union Local 1, which represents about 2,000 cemetery workers in the Chicago area.
The union has a point, but it’s not the point they think they have. Any protest at a funeral is disrespectful, whether the message is Westboro’s perverse claims about homosexuality or the union’s demand for better pay for grave-diggers. Either you accept that freedom of speech means freedom for reprehensible idiots, too, or you forbid all speech near funerals. The union shouldn’t expect a free pass.
UPDATE: Captain Ed makes the point better than I do. Freedom of speech is absolute. Just as we let the Nazis march in Skokie, we must let Fred Phelps make an ass of himself at funerals. The answer, as always, is more speech, not less. And organizations like the Patriot Guard stand ready to provide the speech. It’s interesting that conservatives, who presumably opposed the abortion clinic no-free-speech zones at issue in Madsen, now support such no-free-speech zones at funerals.
Share This
Friday, March 24th, 2006,
by Fred (,
freedom, guns, Illinois, minimum wage, Rod Blagojevich
,
It’s been all of three days since he rolled through a virtually-uncontested primary, and Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich is already 0-2 in Big Proposals. First, he proposed raising Illinois’ already high minimum wage by another dollar, threatening the jobs of the very entry-level and low-wage workers he ostensibly was trying to help. Now he proposes an ineffectual ban on “assault” weapons
Blagojevich appeared at a rally here Thursday with anti-gun groups galvanized by the killings this month of 10-year-old Siretha White and 14-year-old Starkesia Reed. The girls both died in their Chicago homes after being hit by stray bullets fired from the street outside.
The governor called for legislators to have some “political courage” and stand up to the gun lobby, which he said “put fear into their hearts and minds.”
“This really comes down to what you stand for and whether you’re willing to stand up to some powerful people,” Blagojevich said.
So-called assault weapons are already subject, along with all other firearms, to myriad laws and regulations restricting their purchase, possession and use. Had the Chicago police done a better job enforcing existing gun laws, the tragedy the Governor decries would have been prevented, and without restricting the rights of legitimate owners of such weapons.
Further, the federal “assault weapons” ban had virtually no impact on violent crime while it was in effect from 1994-2004, and enacting a state ban would have virtually no impact now. Prior to 1994, “assault weapons†were used in 1.4% of crimes involving firearms and 0.25% of all violent crime before the enactment of any national or state “assault weapons†ban. After a decade of federal enforcement, fewer than 1.1% of violent crimes were committed with any type of firearm besides a handgun. Only 1.4% of recovered crime weapons are models covered under the 1994 assault weapons ban.
The statistics are remarkably consistent - criminals generally (the ones in the Chicago incident notwithstanding) don’t prefer “assault weapons”, which are unwieldy and harder to hide than a handgun. And the ones that are prone to using such weapons aren’t deterred by a ban. About the only effect the federal ban did have was to increase the black market value of stolen weapons.
Luckily, it doesn’t look like there is support in either the House or the Senate for the proposal.
Share This
Wednesday, March 22nd, 2006,
by Fred (,
2006 election, Illinois, Judy Topinka, politics, Rod Blagojevich
,
Judy Baar Topinka declared winner of Illinois GOP primary
It appeared late Tuesday that Judy Baar Topinka had survived a blizzard - and four aggressive fellow Republicans - to become the second woman in Illinois history to win a major party nomination for governor.
Although statewide results were incomplete because of voting-machine snafus in Chicago, The Associated press declared Topinka a winner shortly after midnight. Throughout the evening, she had been narrowly but consistently beating dairy magnate Jim Oberweis in a GOP primary that was much closer than polls had predicted.
Topinka, a Chicagoan and social moderate, had enjoyed a sizable lead in pre-election polls over conservative dairy magnate Oberweis, but it appeared that conservative Metro East Republicans were more willing to fight bad weather to get to the polls than were their more moderate Chicago counterparts. In the end, Topinka had enough support upstate to overcome the 2-1 margin Oberweis had in Metro East.
The news appears similar for Topinka’s preferred running mate, DuPage County State’s Attorney Joe Birkett, who defeated state Sen. Steve Rauschenberger, R-Elgin. Rauschenberger, who aligned himself with gubernatorial hopeful Ron Gidwitz, had sharply criticized Topinka during the campaign. A Topinka/Rauschenberger ticket would have been entertaining but ineffective.
This sets up what is sure to be a hotly contested race for the fall between beleaguered governor Rod Blagojevich and Topinka. Election polls show Blago faring worse against Topinka than against either Oberweis or Gidwitz. The February Rasmussen poll shows the Democrat leading Topinka 42% to 36%, Oberweis 49% to 37%, Gidwitz 47% to 33%, and State Senator Bill Brady 47% to 29%. This is substantially better than in January, when Blago actually trailed Topinka 48% to 37%.
The change from January to February reflects more on Topinka’s tough primary battle than on an improvement by the governor, as more people now view Blagojevich unfavorably (53%) than did in January (49%). Now that Republicans will unite behind Topinka, it is likely that the race is either a dead heat or a slight lead for Topinka.
Share This
