Jan 9, 2023
Basic Income / Business Insider (US) – Jason Lalljee
Meet a single mom who transformed her life through a guaranteed income program that gives her $1,800 every 3 months. It helped her get a car, a new job, and move into a better neighborhood for her daughter.
There is a mentality that says first that poor and vulnerable people must suffer considerably before they get “handouts” and secondly that generosity to the poor and vulnerable will result in poor choices in the use of “free” resources. This is an article that challenges both these assumption and illustrates why basic income is a much better resolution of poverty than the welfare system ever has been. From Compton, California: “The Compton Pledge, an initiative from the Compton mayor’s office, is the largest city-based guaranteed income program in the US. The group has dispersed $4 million in funding so far, out of the $9.2 million they’ve raised. Currently, they’re supporting 800 low-income households in Compton through a lottery program, each of which will receive funds for two years… “I was finally able to pay rent and have money in my pocket for necessities,” Christine said. “It was such a blessing.”” https://www.businessinsider.com/how-ubi-helps-woman-went-from-homeless-guaranteed-income-funding-2021-11 Related article: Toronto Star Editorial (Jan 6, 2023) More policing will not make us safer – ‘When it comes to preventing crime, we know that funding social supports is a smarter bet than beefing up enforcement.’ https://www.thestar.com/opinion/editorials/2023/01/06/more-policing-will-not-make-us-safer.html?source=newsletter&utm_content=a01&utm_source=ts_nl&utm_medium=email&utm_email=404CAADEF7EB839FC77B1B04F0C251E1&utm_campaign=top_160691
CTV News – Peter Szperling
Ottawa Police Association sounds alarm following recent officer killings
The tough-on-crime agenda has many driving forces as illustrated by this article. This article presents the Police Associations’ response to the death of Constable Greg Pierzchala and four other police constables recently killed on duty. The declaration of ‘root causes’ seems to suggest that police are targeted and that further when police are safe the public is safe, an argument that defies the poor relationships between police and the communities they serve. The recent reversal of Toronto Mayor John Tory on crime prevention is an added element of this continued belief that police bring community safety and less bail and more prison are the answers to crime in the community. https://ottawa.ctvnews.ca/ottawa-police-association-sounds-alarm-following-recent-officer-killings-1.6221247?cid=sm%3Atrueanthem%3Actvottawa%3Atwitterpost&taid=63b9c83c85891000017b8da8&utm_campaign=trueAnthem%3A+Trending+Content&utm_medium=trueAnthem&utm_source=twitter Related article: Global News – Michael Tutton The Canadian Press New Brunswick man who killed three Mounties in 2014 files appeal of stiff sentence https://globalnews.ca/news/9389564/justin-bourque-parole-appeal-new-brunswick/ Tweet from Criminalization and Punishment Education Project (Ottawa) on Police Deaths: “If on duty police officer deaths is a key measure used to assess dangers your members face, how would you assess the present when taking a longer view? When would you say it was most dangerous to be a police officer?” (Cf accompanying graph) https://twitter.com/CPEPgroup/status/1611767740745793536?cxt=HBwWgICy-Y-Ok94sAAAA&cn=ZmxleGlibGVfcmVjcw%3D%3D&refsrc=email cf also https://twitter.com/CPEPgroup/status/1611497229340282882 Related article: Statistics Canada – Sara Dunn Police officers murdered in the line of duty, 1961 to 2009 (A dated resource that may be helpful) https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/en/pub/85-002-x/2010003/article/11354-eng.pdf?st=rXdrBymd Related article: Toronto Star – Kieran Leavitt Why are so many places in Canada talking about ditching the RCMP? Canada’s national police force is facing a pivotal time in its history. Can it evolve? https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2023/01/04/why-are-so-many-places-talking-about-ditching-the-rcmp.html?source=newsletter&utm_content=a05&utm_source=ts_nl&utm_medium=email&utm_email=404CAADEF7EB839FC77B1B04F0C251E1&utm_campaign=lng_160688
The Manchester Guardian (UK) – Sam Levin (US desk)
‘It never stops’: killings by US police reach record high in 2022 – Law enforcement killed at least 1,176 people or about 100 people a month last year, making it the deadliest for police violence
This report draws on both the NGO Mapping Police Violence and a data bank maintained by the Washington Post. “In 2022, 132 killings (11%) were cases in which no offense was alleged; 104 cases (9%) were mental health or welfare checks; 98 (8%) involved traffic violations; and 207 (18%) involved other allegations of nonviolent offenses. There were also 93 cases (8%) involving claims of a domestic disturbance and 128 (11%) where the person was allegedly seen with a weapon. Only 370 (31%) involved a potentially more serious situation, with an alleged violent crime.” https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/jan/06/us-police-killings-record-number-2022
Philadelphia Inquirer (US) – Akeil Robertson-Jowers
‘Our pasts are not easily forgotten’: For people like me who were in prison, coming home can put our lives at risk
This is an unusual perspective on re-entry. While there are many obstacles around rehab and re-entry, one would not think that getting killed is included. What is also unusual is that both individuals were exonerees after lengthy prison sentences served, wrongfully convicted. “The judicial system was set up to punish us with more passion than it used to protect us, but we need something different.” https://www.inquirer.com/opinion/commentary/prison-released-killed-christopher-williams-philadelphia-20230105.html Related article: Washington Post – Greg Jaffe Jan. 6 rioter weighs his sins and confronts his fate. Eight years before he stormed the Capitol, Jake Peart acted with ‘unfathomable’ grace. A judge must decide if it matters. https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2023/01/05/jan-6-rioter-prison-or-mercy/?utm_campaign=wp_must_reads&utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&wpisrc=nl_mustreads&carta-url=https%3A%2F%2Fs2.washingtonpost.com%2Fcar-ln-tr%2F38c0126%2F63b97bb5ef9bf67b234f7966%2F597720279bbc0f6826c0ca16%2F25%2F87%2F63b97bb5ef9bf67b234f7966&wp_cu=fb96708e020cba40746ac3907d799fbc%7C47D0917CB1DA3119E0530100007F9CD3
The Oregonian/OregonLive (US) – Zane Sparling
Hundreds of Oregon criminal convictions overturned due to nonunanimous jury verdicts, Supreme Court decides
The practice of conviction without unanimous jury verdicts was outlawed in Oregon two years ago but this decision impacts those split jury cases before the practice was banned. The state Supreme Court has retroactively ruled for the last 86 years while the practice was enforced. Louisiana is now the only state to allow other than unanimous verdicts. It was allowed in 1934, said Justice Pro Tempore Richard Baldwin who “described the authorization of 10-2 and 11-1 jury verdicts in 1934 as a “self-inflicted injury” that was intended to minimize the voice of non-white jurors.” No one is quite sure how the ruling will impact present day or historic convictions on less than 12 voices, nor weather falting steps to remove the same process in Louisiana will be impacted. https://www.oregonlive.com/crime/2022/12/hundreds-of-criminal-verdicts-now-invalid-after-oregon-supreme-court-rules-unanimous-jury-requirement-applies-to-old-cases.html?utm_source=The+Marshall+Project+Newsletter&utm_campaign=03dbc49b07-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2023_01_06_07_05&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_5e02cdad9d-03dbc49b07-%5BLIST_EMAIL_ID%5D Related article: The Marshall Project (US) – Jamiles Lartey How Two States Differ on the Injustice of Non-Unanimous Juries – Oregon and Louisiana eliminated the practice, which had white supremacist roots. But they differ on whether to retroactively overturn those convictions. https://www.themarshallproject.org/2023/01/07/oregon-louisiana-non-unanimous-juries-unconstitutional (Ed note: For those who follow criminal system development in the US, the Marshall Project is one of the best NGO’s offering research and opinion on a broad spectrum of issues: https://www.themarshallproject.org/newsletters?via=navright ) Related article: Washington Post – Cara McGoogan ‘You’re a slave’: Inside Louisiana’s forced prison labor and a failed overhaul attempt – In recent years there has been a growing movement to prevent forced labor in prisons for little or no pay. But in a state that has one of the highest incarceration rates in the country, the debate is unsettled. https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2023/01/01/louisiana-prison-labor-ballot-slavery/?utm_campaign=wp_must_reads&utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&wpisrc=nl_mustreads&carta-url=https%3A%2F%2Fs2.washingtonpost.com%2Fcar-ln-tr%2F38c0138%2F63b97bb5ef9bf67b234f7966%2F597720279bbc0f6826c0ca16%2F64%2F87%2F63b97bb5ef9bf67b234f7966&wp_cu=fb96708e020cba40746ac3907d799fbc%7C47D0917CB1DA3119E0530100007F9CD3