http://www.alternet.org/story/153870/do_harsh_pot_laws_create_a_dangerous_drinking_culture_5_reasons_to_get_stoned_instead_of_drunk/
Monday, January 30, 2012
How Much Is Spent Defending Sex Offenders?
Effective coverage of the high costs of sex offender civil commitment program in Washington state
The Seattle Times has a very interesting set of pieces today discussing the intricate procedures and high (runaway?) costs involved in the operation of Washington's now-two-decades-old civil commitment program for sex offenders. This paper and its reporters merit kudos for conducting this in-depth investigation of the longest-running sex offender civil commitment program, and it will be interesting to see how policy-makers respond to a report that seems likely to prompt a political firestorm.The lead piece, available here, has this headline and subheading: "State wastes millions helping sex predators avoid lockup: Washington's civil-commitment program that shields society from the worst sex offenders is burdened with unchecked legal costs and secrecy, The Seattle Times has found." Here are excerpts from the start of this lengthy article:
In 1990, Washington became the first state to pass a civil-commitment law, detaining offenders who are deemed by a judge or a jury to be too dangerous to set free. Since then, the controversial program has been plagued by runaway legal costs, a lack of financial oversight and layers of secrecy, The Seattle Times has found.
The state has little or no control over the $12 million a year in legal bills — nearly one-quarter of the [Special Commitment Center's] budget. This results in overbilling and waste of taxpayer money at a time when the agency overseeing the center, the Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS), faces deep budget cuts.
The civil-commitment law has created a cottage industry of forensic psychologists who have been paid millions of dollars for evaluating sex offenders and testifying across the state.
The Times determined that the busiest and best-paid experts include two psychologists who were fired in California, another who has flown here at state taxpayer expense from his New Zealand home, and one who has been paid $1.2 million over two years, some of it for work on cases in which judges questioned his credibility.
Defense teams have hired multiple psychologists — each charging tens of thousands of dollars — for a single case. In at least eight King County cases, the public paid for three or more forensic experts to evaluate the offender or testify for the defense. The state typically hired one expert. Both sides accuse each other of expert shopping.
Defense lawyers repeatedly delay trials, seeking continuances and appeals, which push costs up. In King County, it takes on average 3.5 years for a commitment case to go to trial; several have taken close to a decade. Meanwhile, offenders are held at McNeil Island, by far the most expensive confinement in the state at $173,000 a year per resident.
It takes up to $450,000 in legal costs to civilly commit a sex offender in King County. Defense outspends prosecution almost 2-to-1, says David Hackett, prosecutor in charge of civil commitments.
How some of the money is spent is a mystery. King County judges, at the request of defense attorneys who cited lawyer-client privilege, have indefinitely sealed hundreds of documents authorizing funds for defense experts. The Times fought successfully to get many of these records unsealed, which included psychologists' names and their fees. Hackett said the program needs a financial overhaul. "It's a morass," he said. "We've left the door to the candy store wide open."
Here are links to some of the companion pieces run with this lead article:
- Sex offenders' legal costs were kept secret from public
- Timeline: Evolution of Washington's troubled civil-commitment program
- Graphic: How a sex offender gets committed to McNeil Island
Please contact Lindsey Erickson or Dionne Scherff with Erickson Scherff, LLC at www.ericksonscherff.com if you have any questions.
There Are the Current Bills In KS Legislation. Learn Them. Know Them.
Below is a list of new or re-activated (not the technical term) bills, with hearing dates when applicable. You can access all of these bills at www.kslegislature.org.
SB 279: adds people who live, work or volunteer in foster homes to definition of unlawful sexual relations (hearing was 1/17 in Senate Judiciary)
SB 280: allows expert witnesses to be called at any sexually violent predator case proceeding (not just at trial); evaluator has to tell the person being evaluated what the purpose of eval is and that it is not confidential (hearing was 1/17 in Senate Judiciary)
SB 281: removes expiration period for commission on judicial performance
SB 282: includes asset forfeiture for felony eluding (by the way, this would make the 26th ground for asset forfeiture under K.S.A. 60-4104 – and it doesn’t matter if there is a prosecution or a conviction) (hearing was 1/19 in Senate Judiciary)
SB 283: appears to make sheriffs’ civil process fee $30 for serving, executing and returning (or trying to) any writ, process, order, summons, alias, notice (and it looks like prices now are $1-$10) (hearing to be 1/25 in Senate Judiciary)
SB 285: second and subsequent violations of mis-classifying an employee as an independent contractor for purposes of avoiding tax or unemployment insurance requirements goes from a Class C nonperson misdemeanor to a SL 10 nonperson felony (hearing to be 1/25 in Senate Judiciary)
SB 290: amendments to the Addictions Counselor Licensure Act (hearing to be 1/24 in Public Health and Welfare)
SB 304: creates in the AG’s Office a batterer intervention program certification unit and a fund; also adds municipal judges as those required to “tag” cases as DV and sentence accordingly
SB 305: speedy trial statute – attributes to defendants the continuances and requests made by defense counsel even over the defendant’s objection; allows defense counsel to make such requests without consulting defendant; talks about time between motions and decisions as not counting; basically many things that take the state off the hook AND asks for these provisions to be applied retroactively to any challenges that may be made (hearing to be 1/26 in Senate Judiciary – I WILL TESTIFY if no one else wants to)
SB 306: amends intimidation of a witness statute to include acts done with the intent “to prevent the discovery of victimization or any crime” by SRS personnel or mandatory reporters (hearing to be 1/26 in Senate Judiciary)
SB 307: limiting jury instructions on lesser included crimes in felony murder cases (to be heard 1/26 in Senate Judiciary)
SB 308: amendments to criminal code (I recognize these as the Recod committee’s policy recommendations) – adds some offenses (ex. armed criminal action), changes some, etc. (and it makes the sodomy statute constitutional!)
HB 2413: allows BIDS to have access to defendants’ tax information to determine indigency (hearing was 1/18)
HB 2419: determining defendant’s indigency for purposes of appointing counsel (hearing was 1/18)
HB 2412: KS Firearms Freedom Act
HB 2422: Personal and Family Protection Act
HB 2440: creates the crime of failure to report the disappearance of a child (SL 8 NPF or Class B misd. depending on the section)
HB 2462: could proceed through a red light in certain circumstances (i.e. late at night when the green doesn’t come in a reasonable amount of time)
HB 2464: amends criminal discovery statute to prohibit release of child pornography evidence to the defense (it’s this year’s version of 2011 SB 73)
HB 2465: authorizing sentencing court to order lifetime electronic monitoring for certain sex offenders
HB 2467: creates the crimes of unlawful dissemination and possession of a depiction of a minor (it appears to make minors misdemeants for sexting or even possessing naked pictures of themselves) (hearing on 1/23 in House Corrections and Juvenile Justice - I will go watch but am not prepared to testify at this time)
HB 2468: requires defense counsel – 30 days before trial – to produce expert’s reports, witness lists and exhibits to the state (hearing set for 1/26 in Corrections and Juvenile Justice – I want someone to testify – if not me, then someone)
HB 2469: require payment of BIDS fees for parole revocation proceedings
HB 2476: prohibits carrying concealed handguns on school grounds
HB 2488: would allow insurance premium increases to be included as restitution to crime victims
HB 2494: increases statute of limitations for sexually violent offenses when victim is under 18 at the time of offense – in that case, the time starts to run on the day after the victim’s 18th birthday
HB 2496: applies the KS Law Enforcement Training Act to investigators of JJA and DOC
HB 2497: amends procedures concerning defendant’s competency to stand trial (I haven’t read this yet but I suspect it might be like 2011 HB 2334)
HB 2498: creates a mental health diversion option for county and district attorneys
Old bills that are back:
HB 2318: five-level drug grid is tentatively set for hearing 1/31 – I will be there to testify on that (last year I was a “proponent with concerns”) – but I will be seeking some additional input from my drug case experts J
HB 2330: medical marijuana (hearing set 1/24 in House Health and Human Services)
House Sub for SB 6: there is a joint meeting of Senate Judiciary and House Corrections and Juvenile Justice on 1/25 at 11:45 to discuss the DUI bill and possible changes that need to be made this year
KORA: no bill number yet, but there will be a bill to make some changes to the offender registry act that was “overhauled” last year in House Sub for SB 37
Please contact Lindsey Erickson or Dionne Scherff with Erickson Scherff, LLC at www.ericksonscherff.com if you have any questions.
Tougher Laws Equal Free Corporate Labor
According to a recent article by the Kansas City Star (http://www.kansascity.com/2012/01/02/3349648/tougher-sentences-boost-cost-of.html), as Kansas continues to pass legislation to crack down on crime, our prisons become more and more overcrowded. See Lambe, Joe, Tougher sentences boost cost of justice in Kansas. But what does this mean other than state officials searching for a solution to house or mass release prisoners? It means cutting spending for transition prisoners with mental illnesses. An article from LJWorld quoted Department of Corrections secretary Ray Roberts on his solutions: “We can build, we can contract, or we can look at early release mechanisms.” Rothschild, Scott, Kansas prison system overcrowded and understaffed, says Department of Corrections secretary,http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2011/sep/20/kansas-prison-system-overcrowded-and-understaffed-/.
Please contact Lindsey Erickson or Dionne Scherff with Erickson Scherff, LLC at www.ericksonscherff.com if you have any questions.
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
Overcrowding American Prisons
According to a recent article by the Kansas City Star (http://www.kansascity.com/2012/01/02/3349648/tougher-sentences-boost-cost-of.html), as Kansas continues to pass legislation to crack down on crime, our prisons become more and more overcrowded. See Lambe, Joe, Tougher sentences boost cost of justice in Kansas. But what does this mean other than state officials searching for a solution to house or mass release prisoners? It means cutting spending for transition prisoners with mental illnesses. An article from LJWorld quoted Department of Corrections secretary Ray Roberts on his solutions: “We can build, we can contract, or we can look at early release mechanisms.” Rothschild, Scott, Kansas prison system overcrowded and understaffed, says Department of Corrections secretary,http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2011/sep/20/kansas-prison-system-overcrowded-and-understaffed-/.
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