Photo from Steven Lane of The Associated Press.
From Harold Jordan, ACLU-PA Senior Policy Advocate
One of the issues that the ACLU has been working on diligently, for years, has been student and youth rights. This week, NBC News aired a series of reports on police in schools.
As a part of the reporting project, many local affiliates are running companion investigatory pieces. Here in Philadelphia, NBC 10 aired a two-segment series on school discipline beginning last night with “Policing Our Schools: Uneven Rates of Discipline in our Region.” It includes an interview with yours truly. The second segment is called “Changing the Narrative on School Discipline.”
The lead-off segment for the national report ran on Sunday, on NBC News with Lester Holt. A longer piece ran on the Today show. The stories feature an ACLU of Missouri client, a 7-year old kid who was handcuffed.
Here is a quick guide to some of the other reports that have aired so far.
- From NBC News: “Kids in Cuffs: Why Handcuff a Student With a Disability”
- From NBC Boston: “Off-the-Books Suspensions May Enable Some Schools to Skirt State Law.”
- From NBC NYC: “Policing the Schools: Minority Students More Likely to Be Suspended or Arrested.”
- From NBC Bay Area, a six-part series on police in schools: “Arrested at School”
On to more links.
EXCERPTS
(Criminal justice news that could use a second look.)
Donald Trump’s executive order on immigration enforcement ramps up 287(g), a program that allows local law enforcement to serve as federal immigration agents. Photo from The Atlantic.
From The Atlantic: “Donald Trump’s Plan to Outsource Immigration Enforcement to Local Cops”
“Thirty-eight law enforcement agencies are currently collaborating with ICE, according to the government’s latest figures. But a report released by the Immigrant Legal Resource Center in December found that the overwhelming majority of the 2,556 counties surveyed didn’t need formal programs: They were already offering assistance to ICE. An early example is the Milwaukee Sheriff’s Department, led by Trump surrogate David Clarke, which teamed up with ICE for a 2-day raid in Wisconsin that ended on the same day that the president signed his executive order enlisting help from local law enforcement. The sheriff’s department has not formally entered agreements to join the 287(g) program. Still, local law enforcement played an active role in arresting 16 undocumented immigrants, all of whom authorities said had previous criminal convictions ranging from assault to drug possession.”
From The Quattrone Center in collaboration with PennLaw’s RegBlog: “Reporting Police Force in the Digital Age”
“Even FBI Director James Comey recognized that a lack of data is driving police and citizens further apart. It seems like an issue that should have been addressed ages ago. In fact, it was. In 2000, Congress passed the Death in Custody Reporting Act (DCRA), which required police departments to track and report to the U.S. Attorney General the number of civilians who died in police custody or during arrest. Garnering bipartisan support, the law was heralded as a major step forward in the measurement and improvement of police use of force. The result? It took 15 years for the federal government to issue any kind of report on the DCRA’s data. When it did, it showed poor data coverage and quality. Fewer than half of ‘arrest related deaths’ were recorded, and there were major quality issues due to ‘lack of standardized modes for data collection, definitions, scope, participation, and the availability of resources.'”
From The Urban Institute: “How Do People in High-Crime, Low-Income Communities View the Police?”
“Residents of these high-crime, heavily disadvantaged communities witness and experience intensive police presence, high rates of incarceration and community supervision, and concentrated violence and question the intent, effectiveness, and equity of the criminal justice system. Indeed, police may carry out aggressive strategies that target quality-of-life infractions and drug-, gun-, and gang-related violence in ways that undermine public confidence. Perhaps not surprisingly, areas with high levels of mistrust tend to be those that are heavily policed, where police use tactics such as pretextual stops that damage their relationship with the people they are charged to protect. The results can be far-reaching: a distrust of the criminal justice system, an unwillingness to cooperate with the police, and a cynical view of the law that can perpetuate crime and victimization.”
HEADLINES
(Criminal justice news to be aware of.)
Mayor Bill Peduto spoke to a crowd in Braddock Tuesday about new data highlighting the economic impact of immigrants. Photo from The Post-Gazette.
Pennsylvania
- From The Inquirer: “She helped convict Kathleen Kane. Now, former Bucks prosecutor hopes to bring change to the AG’s office”
- From Post-Gazette: “Advocates wonder what Trump administration will mean for transgender students”
- From Trib Live: “Pittsburgh prison already shrinking as closing gets underway”
- From The Inquirer: “Ubiñas: Trump’s travel ban has local immigration lawyers on high alert”
- From WESA: “Pennsylvania Ranks Near The Top In Hate Group Numbers”
- Also from WESA: “Pittsburgh Police Force Grows As New Officers Sworn In”
- From Newsworks: “Leaked Trump executive order sparks anxiety around H-1B visas popular in N.J., PA.”
- From The Morning Call: “Rape investigation leads to arrest of undocumented workers in Palmerton”
- Also From The Morning Call: “In Lehigh Valley, Trump’s deportation plan raises fears among immigrants, vows by officials to follow law”
- From PennLive: “Lighter penalties for small marijuana possession? York County town is considering it”
- From LancasterOnline: “Lancaster County DA: Double homicide example of why burglars should face harsher penalties”
- From Allied News: “Cheating Pa. state cop cadets damage public trust”
- From Penn State News: “Researchers, Pennsylvania State Police collaborate on countering opioid epidemic”
- From The Pa. Attorney General: “Attorney General Josh Shapiro Offers ‘Full Assistance’ of Office of Attorney General to Law Enforcement Investigating Threats Against Jewish Community Centers”
- From The Post-Gazette: “Local officials, clergy challenge the narrative of Trump’s immigration policies”
- From PublicSource: “Sen. Casey wants more federal funding for public safety, asks Trump to ‘prove’ he’s tough on terrorism”
- From The Pa. Western District U.S. Attorney’s Office: “Man Pleads Guilty and is Sentenced to Prison for Hate Crime at Downtown Pittsburgh T-Station”
Philadelphia district attorney race
- From The Inquirer: “Tariq El Shabazz to announce run for DA,” and then: “El-Shabazz declares himself ‘perfect candidate’ for DA, despite tax debts”
- From The Philadelphia Tribune: “Williams disappointed those who voted for him”
- From The Inquirer: “Newall: El-Shabazz’s campaign slogan ought to be ‘Lien on Me’”
- Also From The Inquirer: “Commentary: Next DA must end capital punishment in Philly”
Nationwide
- From The Associated Press: “ACLU sues Milwaukee, accusing police of unconstitutional stop-and-frisk program”
- From ACLU of New York: “Victory: Judge issues order to stop use of solitary confinement on children in jail”
- From Bloomberg: “Justice Department Reverses Obama Private Prison Order”
- From The New York Times: “Even in Texas, Mass Imprisonment Is Going Out of Style”
- From The Washington Post: “‘I can’t breathe’: Video shows deputies pepper-spraying man in a restraint chair”
- From InvestigateWest: “Driving While Brown”
- From The Charlotte Observer: “After 13 years in solitary – and a brief reprieve – prisoner is sent back”
- From The Texas Tribune: “Despite state budget woes, Republican lawmaker wants funds for death penalty attorneys”
- From Teen Vogue: “What It’s Like to Be a Teen Living in an Immigration Detention Center”
- From NBC News: “Kids in Cuffs: Why Handcuff a Student With a Disability”
- From WESA: “How To Rebuild A Police Agency From The Inside Out”
- From The Burlington Free Press: “Advocates: Isolation puts inmates in danger”
- From The Los Angeles Times: “Police blame reform for putting a convicted felon suspected of killing a Whittier officer back on the street. The record is more complicated”
- From The New York Times: “Citing Racist Testimony, Justices Call for New Sentencing in Texas Death Penalty Case”
- From The Washington Post: “Sotomayor questions whether lethal injection is ‘our most cruel experiment yet’”
- From The Miami Herald: “Disabled teen rages, pounds on cell door and confounds Florida juvenile justice”
- From Solitary Watch: “At Wisconsin Juvenile Prisons, Children Face a Nightmare of Solitary Confinement and Abuse”
- From The Washington Post: “I sentenced criminals to hundreds more years than I wanted to. I had no choice.”
- From NBC News: “ACLU Sues Milwaukee Over Police Stop-and-Frisk Policy”
- From The Crime Report: “Distrust Cops? Respect the Law? Residents in 6 High-Crime Areas Say Yes to Both Questions”
- From San Antonio Express News: “Adult prison is not for 17-year-olds”
- From Vera: “A New Normal: Addressing Opioid Use through the Criminal Justice System”
- From CNN: “Supreme Court rules in favor of death row inmate”
Trump criminal justice watch
- From Mother Jones: “The private prison industry is licking its chops over Trump’s deportation plans”
- From The Marshall Project: “Trump’s First Roundup”
- Also from The Marshall Project: “The Opposite of Sanctuary”
- From ProPublica: “CIA Cables Details Its New Deputy Director’s Role in Torture”
- From The New York Times: “Trump Rescinds Rules on Bathrooms for Transgender Students”
The Appeal is a weekly newsletter keeping you informed about criminal justice news in the commonwealth of Pennsylvania and beyond. It is written and compiled by Matt Stroud, ACLU-PA’s criminal justice researcher, along with ACLU-PA interns Morgan Everett and Bethel Habte.
If you have suggestions for links or criminal justice-related work that you’d like to highlight in The Appeal — or ways that we might improve — please email Matt Stroud at mstroud@aclupa.org. And if someone forwarded this email to you, and you’d like to receive it every Friday, you can subscribe here.
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