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☆ Australia inquiry finds misconduct by prosecutor linked to parliament rape trial
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-07 | by ( Renju Jose | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Reuters does not usually identify victims of sex crimes but Higgins went public with the accusation. Prosecutors in December dropped charges against Lehrmann over fears the trial was harming Higgins' mental health. Lehrmann, who worked in the same office as Higgins, pleaded not guilty and maintained his innocence. The ACT government in December set up the inquiry to check the conduct of criminal justice agencies after allegations of political interference in the trial. Chief Minister Andrew Barr said his government would check if it was against the law that two journalists had received the inquiry report before it was made public.

Persons: Brittany Higgins, Linda Reynolds, Bruce Lehrmann, Higgins, Shane Drumgold, Walter Sofronoff, Drumgold, Andrew Barr, Barr, Renju Jose, Robert Birsel Organizations: SYDNEY, House, Reuters, Prosecutors, Australian Capital Territory, ACT, Public, Thomson Locations: Australian, House, Queensland, Sydney

☆ Texas just raised the price of bottled water in prisons by 50% amid one of the state's most extreme heat waves yet
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-30 | by ( Katie Hawkinson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The Texas Department of Criminal Justice raised the price of bottled water for incarcerated people by 50%. This further limits access to water, as the tap water is often "simply filthy," one prison reform advocate told KVUE. Amid this punishing heat — which is even still milder than last year, during which at least 306 people died of heat-related illness in Texas — the Texas Department of Criminal Justice has raised the price of bottled water available in prisons by 50%, local outlet KVUE reports. Prison reform advocate Amite Dominick told KVUE that adds financial pressure on families where the breadwinner is incarcerated. The Texas Department of Criminal Justice did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment about water quality in state prisons.

Persons: KVUE, Amite Dominick, Chivas Watson Organizations: Texas Department, Criminal, Service, Texas Tribune, The Texas Department Locations: , Texas, Texas, El Paso , Texas, McAllen , Texas

☆ What causes someone to become a serial killer? Criminology experts explain
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-24 | by ( Alaa Elassar | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +16 min

CNN —For decades, criminologists and true crime documentaries have attempted to understand what causes serial killers to commit the atrocities they do. CNN spoke with three forensic psychologists and serial killer experts to better understand what causes people to become serial killers. Scott Bonn: Not all psychopaths are serial killers, and not all serial killers are psychopaths. In the case (of a serial killer who) is a psychopath, their brain functions differently than a normal human brain. Are all serial killers serial sexual murderers?

Persons: Dennis Rader, John Wayne Gacy, Jeffrey Dahmer, Albert DeSalvo, Ted Bundy, Rex Heuermann, Heuermann, he’s, Long, Scott Bonn, Psychopaths, Louis Schlesinger, Katherine Ramsland, DeSalvo, Joe Dennehy, Scott, –, you’re, they’re, Bundy, There’s, BTK, Jack, who’ve, They’re, Marny Malin, Sygma, William Heirens, ”, Ted Bundys, John Wayne Gacys, Dennis, they’re chameleons, it’s, He’s, there’s, Jeffrey Dahmer's Organizations: CNN, University of Michigan, John Jay College of Criminal, DeSales University, Boston, Boston Globe, Des, Des Plaines Police Department, Chicago Tribune, Tribune, Service, Getty, Lutheran Church, Boy Scout, Suffolk County Sheriff's, Scott Bonn Locations: United States, New York, Shore, criminologist, Scott Bonn, Chicago, Des Plaines, Milwaukee, Suffolk County, Long

☆ Opinion | Don’t Let Inflation Bury the Memory of a Government Triumph
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-20 | by ( Bryce Covert | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The recession caused by the Covid-19 pandemic was the shortest on record, thanks to rapid, robust and bipartisan congressional action. Americans were made whole by their government, which staved off what otherwise would have been mass financial suffering. But by the time Dr. Shaefer testified, inflation had begun to rise, sucking all the air out of the room. Inflation hawks blamed the pandemic response for driving up consumer demand, which, in their telling, drove up prices, causing pain for many people as the cost of food, rent and other necessities rose. The fracas over inflation risks memory-holing the concrete proof that the federal government is fully capable of keeping Americans afloat when the economy sinks.

Persons: ” H, Luke Shaefer, Shaefer, J.W, Mason, we’ll Organizations: University of Michigan, John Jay College of Criminal

☆ Factbox: From Hawaii to Kentucky, a mix of severe weather
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-19 | by ( Brendan O'Brien | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

REUTERS/Adrees LatifJuly 19 (Reuters) - Severe weather disrupted parts of the United States on Wednesday, with a tropical storm skirting Hawaii, thunderstorms knocking out power in Kentucky and Tennessee and a relentless heat wave stubbornly parked over the Southwest. The zone of extreme heat could expand into the northern Plains and Midwest beginning the middle of next week, the weather service said. TROPICAL STORM, POWER OUTAGESIn the Hawaiian Islands, Tropical Storm Calvin lashed the Big Island on Wednesday with strong winds and heavy downpours as it slowly passed south of the Pacific archipelago. Hawaii Governor Josh Green declared a state of emergency, closing all state offices and schools in anticipation of the storm. New York, the most populous city in the United States, was listed on Wednesday morning as No.

Persons: Olivia, Evelyn Black, Adrees Latif, Storm Calvin, Josh Green, Brendan O'Brien, Jonathan Oatis Organizations: REUTERS, National Weather Service, Texas Tribune, Austin, Texas Department, Criminal, Thomson Locations: Fountains, Discovery, Houston , Texas, U.S, United States, Hawaii, Kentucky, Tennessee, Canada, Southern California, San Bernardino , California, Phoenix, San Antonio , Texas, Midwest, TEXAS, Texas, Austin, Hawaiian, Virginia, Carolinas, East Coast, New York, Chicago

☆ U.S. Virgin Islands seeks at least $190 million from JPMorgan Chase in Jeffrey Epstein case
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-14 | by ( Dan Mangan | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

The government of the U.S. Virgin Islands in a court filing Friday estimated that it will seek damages of at least $190 million from JPMorgan Chase in a lawsuit accusing the big bank of facilitating sex trafficking by its former long-time customer Jeffrey Epstein. The Virgin Islands also said it wants an order requiring JPMorgan to take a series of steps to protect young women and girls from other predators in the future. The filing says the Virgin Islands wants at least $150 million in civil penalties alone. JPMorgan in its own court filings has accused the Virgin Islands itself of being "complicit in the crimes of Jeffrey Epstein." Last month in the same court where the Virgin Islands is suing the bank JPMorgan agreed, without admitting wrongdoing, to pay $290 million to victims of Epstein to settle a suit by one of his accusers.

Persons: Jeffrey Epstein, Epstein, Jed Rakoff, Jeffrey Epstein's, JPMorgan Chase, Ariel Smith, Smith, Patricia Wexler, JPM, Virgin, Sergey Brin, Bill Gates, Lex Wexner, Glenn Dubin, Donald Trump, Bill Clinton, Prince Andrew of Great Organizations: New York State Division, Criminal, Services, Reuters, U.S . Virgin, JPMorgan Chase, Virgin, JPMorgan, Virgin Islands, Google, Microsoft, Limited Brands, Deutsche Bank, New York state's Department of Financial Services Locations: U.S, Manhattan, United States, Virgin, Eastern, Prince Andrew of Great Britain, Florida, New York

Their tormentors have also called in false bomb threats to venues using their names in three states. To combat the growing problem, the FBI has begun taking formal measures to get a comprehensive picture of the problem on a national level. Chief Scott Schubert with the bureau's Criminal Justice Information Services headquarters in Clarksburg, West Virginia, told NBC News that the agency formed a national online database in May to facilitate information sharing between hundreds of police departments and law enforcement agencies across the country pertaining to swatting incidents. No central agency has tracked swatting incidents or suspects in the U.S., so official statistics are not available. The couple was mostly recently swatted at their home on Tuesday, bringing the total of swatting incidents to 43.

Persons: Patrick Tomlinson, Niki Robinson, hasn't, Scott Schubert, Schubert, Lauren R, Shapiro, Mark Herring, Niki Robinson.NBC, —, Andrew Finch —, Finch, Swatting, he'd, Norm Macdonald, Tomlinson, It's, impersonators, Swatters, Patti Labelle, Robinson Organizations: Las Vegas, Tribune, Service, Getty, Clemson, Harvard, Cornell, Rutgers, Middlebury College, swatters, FBI, bureau's, Information Services, NBC News, NBC, Google, John Jay College of Criminal, Defamation League, Twitter, Daily, YouTube, Police, Irish, Milwaukee Brewers, Riverside Theater Locations: Milwaukee, U.S, Clemson , Florida, Boston, Pittsburgh, Oklahoma, Clarksburg , West Virginia, Texas, China, Taiwan, Tennessee, Wichita, Wisconsin, Marquette

[1/3] Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson listens to U.S. According to legal scholar Adam Feldman, who tracks court data, Jackson spoke more during oral arguments than any of the other current justices during their first terms. "She's just showed up from day one," said Terry Maroney, a Vanderbilt Law School professor who studies judicial decision-making and behavior. "She knows what she's doing, she's not shy, she's posing uncomfortable hypotheticals - and she's not afraid to do those things even if it's causing discomfort." Last year, rulings powered by the conservative justices ended recognition of a constitutional right to abortion and widened gun rights.

Persons: Ketanji Brown Jackson, Cory Booker, Elizabeth Frantz, Jackson, Lorie Smith, Smith, Santa Claus, Kristen Waggoner, Joe Biden, Adam Feldman, She's, Terry Maroney, she's, Stephen Breyer, Kent Greenfield, Greenfield, Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, Roman Martinez, John Roberts, Jackson's, Neil Gorsuch, Martinez, " Maroney, Andrew Chung, John Kruzel, Will Dunham Organizations: U.S . Senate, U.S, Supreme, Capitol, REUTERS, WASHINGTON, Democratic, Vanderbilt Law, Environmental Protection Agency, Boston College, Thomson Locations: Washington , U.S, Colorado, United States, California, New York, Washington

☆ Prison staff misconduct made it easier for sex predator Jeffrey Epstein to kill himself, DOJ watchdog says
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-27 | by ( Dan Mangan | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

U.S. financier Jeffrey Epstein appears in a photograph taken for the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services' sex offender registry March 28, 2017 and obtained by Reuters July 10, 2019. "Significant misconduct" by federal Bureau of Prisons staff made it much easier for sex predator Jeffrey Epstein to kill himself in a New York jail in August 2019, a Department of Justice watchdog said in a new report Tuesday. The jail's Psychology Department had issued a directive that he be given a new cellmate. Epstein's death came a month after he was arrested on federal child sex trafficking charges. The city's Medical Examiner's office ruled shortly after his death that Epstein's injuries were consistent with him hanging himself, rather than from being strangled by another person.

Persons: Jeffrey Epstein, Epstein, Epstein's Organizations: New York State Division, Criminal, Services, Reuters, federal, of Prisons, of Justice, DOJ's, Metropolitan Correctional Center, Department Locations: New York, Manhattan

[1/2] U.S. financier Jeffrey Epstein appears in a photograph taken for the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services' sex offender registry March 28, 2017 and obtained by Reuters July 10,... Read moreCompanies Deutsche Bank AG FollowMay 17 (Reuters) - Deutsche Bank AG (DBKGn.DE) has agreed to pay $75 million to settle a proposed class-action lawsuit alleging the lender facilitated the late Jeffrey Epstein's sex-trafficking ring, the Wall Street Journal reported late on Wednesday, citing lawyers who sued the bank on behalf of alleged victims. The suit was filed last year in New York by an anonymous woman on behalf of herself and other accusers, alleging Deutsche Bank did business with Epstein for five years knowing he was engaged in sex-trafficking activity, the report said. Deutsche Bank did not immediately reply to a Reuters' request for comment. Reporting by Rahat Sandhu in Bengaluru; Editing by Jacqueline WongOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ The No. 1 reason Gen Z workers are leaving their dream jobs behind—and what they're seeking instead
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-16 | by ( Rebecca Picciotto | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Gina Fahrenholz, 22, left her childhood dream job of criminal justice to become a nurse once she realized she would be more financially stable. After advising thousands of college students on their career paths, Christine Cruzvergara "doesn't truly believe in only having one dream job." Rather, Cruzvergara, the chief education strategy officer at early-career job platform Handshake, says, "The reality is your dreams can change." The 2023 definition of a dream jobFarenholz is not alone in her decision to abandon her childhood dream job in favor of stability. Instead, Cruzvergara says, students are looking at brands "that have stood the test of time" like Raytheon, Capital One and Nike.

☆ New York City choking death revives debate over subway crime
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-09 | by ( Julia Harte | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

The overall subway crime rate spiked in April 2020, as COVID-19 gripped New York, but city statistics show the daily rate fell back to pre-pandemic levels by mid-2021. Robbery and grand larceny, the other most common types of major subway crime, dropped during the same period. But the data does not show how often the assailants or victims are homeless, according to Herrmann. "The problem is people are conflating homelessness with crime," said Danny Pearlstein, policy and communications director at Riders Alliance, a grassroots organization that advocates for city subway reform. Republican Lee Zeldin highlighted grisly city subway crimes in last year's gubernatorial election, prompting Democratic Governor Kathy Hochul to also focus on anti-crime policies in her campaign.

☆ Tangaraju Suppiah: Singapore executes man for trafficking two pounds of cannabis
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-25 | by ( Heather Chen | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

Tangaraju Suppiah, a 46-year-old Singaporean, was hanged early on Wednesday in Changi Prison and the family have received a death certificate, his sister Leelavathy Suppiah told CNN. Tangaraju was first sentenced to death in 2018 for “abetting the trafficking of more than one kilogram of cannabis (1,017.9 grams),” according to a statement from the Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB). The court found he was in phone communication with two other men caught trying to smuggle cannabis into Singapore. “As is the case for many people currently on death row in Singapore, Tangaraju was forced to represent himself to seek a review of the Court of Appeal’s decision to uphold his conviction. Singapore has a strong reputation as a rule of law country so this concerning omission is not normal,” Perrett added.

☆ Meek Mill: Rapper vows to 'spread the word' against antisemitism after Auschwitz visit
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-23 | by ( Dana Bash | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

One of the most famous marchers was Meek Mill, a 35-year-old African American rapper from Philadelphia without any prior connection to the atrocities that happened there. But at a time of rising antisemitism in the US, his presence spoke volumes, and that was the point. Mill is a friend of New England Patriots owner and philanthropist Robert Kraft, whose Foundation to Combat Antisemitism is in the midst of a $25 million national campaign, #StandUpToJewishHate. When Meek was incarcerated, Kraft visited him in prison, and the two stayed in touch and have remained friends. “But I think it’s also important for me to support Robert, all my Jewish friends, everyone that always supported me.

☆ JPMorgan bankers met with Epstein after his accounts were closed - WSJ
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Bank employees also met with Epstein after his accounts were closed to discuss other clients and introductions he could make to potential clients, the newspaper said, citing people familiar with the meetings. The interaction with Epstein was typical for a client of the private bank, a JPMorgan spokesman said after the article was published. JPMorgan is being sued in Manhattan federal court by women who said Epstein sexually abused them, and by the government of the U.S. Virgin Islands, where Epstein owned a private island. JPMorgan did business with Epstein as early as 1998, and managed about 55 Epstein-related accounts worth hundreds of millions of dollars. Epstein was a client for about five years after he pleaded guilty in 2008 to a Florida state prostitution charge.

[1/3] Former U.S. President Donald Trump attends his first campaign rally after announcing his candidacy for president in the 2024 election at an event in Waco, Texas, U.S., March 25, 2023. Trump has denied Daniels's claim, and his lawyer has accused Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, of extortion. To elevate that charge to a felony, prosecutors must prove that Trump falsified records to cover up a second crime. The New York Times and NBC News reported that Trump is expected to surrender next week, citing his lawyers. If Trump for some reason decided not to come in voluntarily, prosecutors could seek to have him extradited from Florida.

☆ Donald Trump could be charged any day - what happens next?
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-19 | by ( Joseph Ax | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Trump has denied the affair, and his lawyer has accused Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, of extortion. Were he charged, Trump would become the first former U.S. president to face criminal prosecution. While serving as president, Trump reimbursed Cohen for the Daniels payments, and federal prosecutors who charged Cohen said in court papers that the payments were falsely recorded as for legal services. Trump's lawyer, Joe Tacopina, told CNBC on Friday that Trump would surrender if charged. If Trump refused to come in voluntarily, prosecutors could seek to have him extradited from Florida, where he currently resides.

"Jamie Dimon knew in 2008 that his billionaire client was a sex trafficker," attorney Mimi Liu told Manhattan U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff at a hearing late Thursday, referring to the year Epstein was first criminally charged with sex crimes. "If Staley is a rogue employee, why isn't Jamie Dimon?" The lawyer continued: "Staley knew, Dimon knew, JPMorgan Chase knew" about Epstein's criminal conduct. Simon Dawson | Bloomberg | Getty ImagesA lawyer for JPMorgan disputed those arguments, "in particular the point about Jamie Dimon having any specific knowledge." Wexler also said, "Jamie Dimon has no recollection of reviewing the Epstein accounts."

☆ A Philly cop has been charged with assault over a bar fight. In 2011, the Fraternal Order of Police made sure he didn't lose his job after being accused of punching his wife in the face.
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-16 | by ( Charles R. Davis | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

A Philadelphia police officer has been charged with assault over an alleged bar fight. The officer became enraged when someone put on hip-hop or R&B music, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported. The same cop was arrested in 2011 and accused of punching his wife. The same officer was arrested in 2011 and charged with simple assault and reckless endangering after he was accused of punching his estranged wife in the face at another bar. An FOP spokesperson told Insider that, this time around, the union "is not representing the officer and has no further comment."

☆ Artist's discovery of an 'execution wall' sheds light on the brutal history of Nazi concentration camps on British soil
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-05 | by ( Isobel Van Hagen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

Forensic evidence from a bullet-damaged wall sheds light on the Nazi occupation of a British island. During World War II, thousands of prisoners were sent to labor and concentration camps in Alderney. Before the Germans occupied the Channel Islands, the whole population of Alderney were evacuated to England. German occupying troops parading in St. Helier on Jersey, Channel Islands in 1940. Last year a right-wing British think tank proposed that asylum seekers headed to the UK be detained on the island.

The banks said there were no allegations they knew about or actively did anything to further Epstein's sex trafficking, and had no legal duty to protect the women from his abuses. The plaintiffs have said numerous cash payments from the banks were used to pay Epstein's victims. Epstein killed himself at age 66 in a Manhattan jail cell in August 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges. The cases are Jane Doe 1 v Deutsche Bank AG et al, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No. 22-10018, and Jane Doe 1 v JPMorgan Chase & Co in the same court, No.

☆ Ron DeSantis just notched a win in court. But the judge says he still violated a prosecutor’s free speech rights.
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-20 | by ( Marc Caputo | Marc Caputo Is A Senior National Political Reporter For Nbc News. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +15 min

In a statement posted on Twitter, DeSantis' office lauded the ruling without addressing those nuances. By suspending Warren, DeSantis also elevated the Democrat’s political profile in his own party. And no one in Hillsborough County was charged with violating that state law when Warren was the county prosecutor. Court testimony from DeSantis administration officials showed that the abortion letter was the major cause of Warren's suspension. Abortion was the only issue mentioned in the first draft of DeSantis' suspension order.

☆ Texas executes former officer who hired hitmen to kill his wife
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-11 | by ( The Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +4 min

HUNTSVILLE, Texas — A former suburban Houston police officer was executed Tuesday for hiring two people to kill his estranged wife nearly 30 years ago amid a contentious divorce and custody battle. Prosecutors say Robert Fratta organized the murder-for-hire plot in which a middleman, Joseph Prystash, hired the shooter, Howard Guidry. The execution was carried out after Texas’ top criminal appeals court overturned the injunction and the state’s supreme court rejected an appeal. Mauzy’s order conflicted with last week’s edict from the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals that barred her from issuing any orders in the lawsuit that would halt any execution. The Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles last week unanimously declined to commute Fratta’s death sentence to a lesser penalty or to grant a 60-day reprieve.

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Monday revived a Texas death row inmate’s claim that his murder conviction should be tossed out on the grounds that DNA evidence used at trial was later found to be unreliable. In a rare move, prosecutors had agreed that the evidence was faulty and there should be a new trial. The Supreme Court sent the case back to an appeals court in Texas "for further consideration in light of the confession of error by Texas," the brief order said. Prosecutors accepted that finding and notified the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, which was reviewing the case. At the Supreme Court, Travis County District Attorney Jose Garza, representing the state, urged the justices to rule in Escobar’s favor.

The country’s leading experts on pardons have called out the president for his “cowardice” in granting mercy to only a handful of the over 130,000 federal prisoners. By commuting the sentences of some of the nonviolent Jan. 6 rioters, Biden would push his primary critic, Donald Trump, into a corner. Second, while Democrats have lost full control of Congress, Biden can act unilaterally to reduce the federal prison population. The power to pardon or commute federal sentences is a prerogative of the executive branch. Finally, by commuting the sentences of some of the nonviolent Jan. 6 rioters, Biden would push his primary critic, Donald Trump, into a corner.

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