Pennsylvania Judge Convicted in Alleged 'Kids for Cash' Scheme
http://abcnews.go.com/US/mark-ciavarella-pa-juvenile-court-judge-convicted-alleged/story?id=12965182
12-Year-Old Spent Two Years in Jail
Young kids sent away for minor offenses by corrupt Pa. judge.
http://abcnews.go.com/video/playerIndex?id=7183391
Part 1: Kids Jailed for Cash?
Part 1: Corrupt judges took secret kickbacks from detention center.
http://abcnews.go.com/video/playerIndex?id=7194700
Part 2: Kids Jailed for Cash?
http://abcnews.go.com/video/playerIndex?id=7194728
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Cost of sex offenders program alarms panel
Gov. Bob McDonnell proposed a spending increase for the program, which locks up offenders.
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RICHMOND -- Lawmakers expressed shock Friday over the exponentially rising cost of a program to keep some sex offenders locked up after they complete their criminal sentences.
The annual operating cost of Virginia's Sexually Violent Predator Program is projected to hit $32 million next year -- more than a tenfold increase in eight years.
The program was created by the General Assembly in 1998 to keep sex offenders deemed likely to re-offend off the streets after they finish their criminal sentences. The process is known as civil commitment.
The 300-bed Virginia Center for Behavioral Rehabilitation in Nottoway County, built two years ago at a cost of $62 million, will be filled to capacity by this fall, the House Appropriations Committee was told Friday.
Gov. Bob McDonnell has proposed spending an additional $68.5 million this year to accommodate the growing number of offenders coming into the program, including $43.5 million in borrowed money to convert a shuttered prison in Brunswick County into a second 300-bed treatment center.
The numbers generated bipartisan alarm on the budget-writing panel.
"This has just exploded," said Del. Chris Jones, R-Suffolk.
"I worry about where we're heading," said Del. Jim Scott, D-Fairfax County.
The committee took no action on the matter Friday, but several members expressed reservations about McDonnell's spending proposal.
The panel grilled Olivia Garland, deputy commissioner of the state Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services, about how and why the program has grown so dramatically.
Initially, the pool of offenders was limited to four crimes: rape, forcible sodomy, object sexual penetration and aggravated sexual battery. In 2006, however, the assembly expanded the list of crimes to 28.
In addition, the state switched to a different screening test that lowered the threshold for commitment.
As a result, Garland said, the number of offenders coming into the program, initially about one a month, now averages six to eight a month.
There are 252 offenders in the program now. So far, 11 have been released.
The average annual operating cost is $91,000 per resident. That's low compared with some of the other 19 states with similar programs, Garland said.
The department is exploring ways to curb the program's growth, Garland said.
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www.dailypress.com/news/dp-nws-tamara-felon-0114-20110113,0,1508257.column
dailypress.com
Rallying for ex-offenders in Richmond
Tamara Dietrich
8:56 PM EST, January 13, 2011
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Last October, when Renita Parker organized the Higher Heights Job Fair in Newport News, she hoped to hook up ex-offenders with decent jobs.
Parker is co-founder of Good Seed, Good Ground, a local advocacy group that believes one way to reduce violence in the community is to give ex-offenders who've paid their debt to society a means to mainstream.
Studies show reintegration works. That ex-offenders who aren't denied work or a place to live are far less likely to re-offend.
But Parker is learning that society, in general, doesn't care about such studies. It doesn't care about common sense or compassion.
Employers are still loath to hire someone with a record, even for a nonviolent offense. In fact, in Virginia an employer can refuse to hire someone who's only been arrested on the mere suspicion of committing a crime.
Ex-offenders are often denied welfare assistance and student loans. Landlords don't want to rent to them.
One client, Parker says, was evicted from the apartment he'd lived in for years — not because of some new offense, but because the complex was renovated and the new management didn't want an ex-offender for a tenant.
Even clients who've been out of prison for decades are being denied work and housing.
"How long do they have to pay?" Parker says. "Commit a crime, do your time — that should be it. People have to work. But, as it stands right now, the way the system is set up, their right to work has been taken away from them. When I contact employers, they tell me they won't hire ex-felons. They don't care how long (ago) their convictions were."
Last year's job fair, she says, stirred up stories of men and women desperate for a second chance, but continually denied it, and made her realize "something needs to be done on another level."
So this week, Parker and other advocates are gathering in Richmond to lobby for two bills — one already introduced, the other not.
SB 796 would allow prisoners to earn "credits" to shorten their sentences in return for getting a GED, vocational training and rehabilitative treatment. It was introduced by state Sen. Mamie Locke, D-Hampton.
The second bill, not introduced, would forbid the release of criminal records for misdemeanor or nonviolent felony convictions for ex-offenders who've been out of prison for at least three years and have paid all court costs, fines and restitution.
It would also forbid releasing records of those convicted of a violent felony or drug offense more than five years after their release from prison, probation and parole, and payment of all court costs, fines and restitution.
Some obvious exceptions would apply. Requests from criminal justice agencies, for instance, or for those applying to work with vulnerable populations — children, the disabled, the elderly, etc. — or for jobs that require security clearances.
A similar bill failed in 2003. Parker says they didn't find a lawmaker to introduce it this session.
From 1 p.m . to 3 p.m. Saturday, Parker and members of other nonprofit groups will participate in the Community Restoration Campaign and Virginia People's Assembly's Peace Rally and Walk, in honor of Martin Luther King's birthday.
And at 9 a.m. Monday — the annual Coalition Day — advocates for ex-offenders, the disadvantaged and mental health agencies will gather in front of the General Assembly building for a day-long event, with featured speakers and the chance to meet lawmakers.
To go along, call Parker at 244-0199.
Second chances for ex-offenders rarely get the attention or community support it deserves.
But bear in mind that Virginia has about 38,000 men and women in state and federal custody, and 27,000 in local jails, according to January 2010 figures compiled by the Pew Center for the States.
Nearly 130,000, or one in 46 adults in Virginia, is under some sort of correctional control, from incarceration to probation, costing us $1.25 billion every year.
And every year about 12,000 offenders are released to return to cities throughout Virginia. By denying them the same chance as anyone else to work, house, and feed and educate themselves and their families, we help set them up to reoffend.
It's a costly, inhumane cycle. And not just for ex-offenders.
Contact Dietrich at 757-247-7892 or tdietrich@dailypress.com.
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When Raymond Jeremy Wimber is sentenced next month to multiple charges of child molesting, the 40-year-old will have to serve about 85 percent of his 60-year sentence.
That's because Wimber is classified as a credit-restricted felon under new legislation that took effect July 1, 2008, which means instead of the customary day-for-day good time credit, he will get credit for every six days that he serves.
Prosecutors and defense attorneys are beginning to see more of these cases, which is causing them to look at the cases more carefully. A person is considered a credit-restricted felon if they have been convicted of one of the following:
n Child molesting involving sexual intercourse or deviate sexual conduct if the offense is committed by a person at least 21 years of age and the victim is less than 12 years of age
n Child molesting resulting in serious bodily injury or death
n Murder if the person killed the victim while committing or attempting to commit child molesting, the victim was the victim of a sex crime or the victim of the murder was listed by the state or known by the person to be a witness against the person in a prosecution for a sex crime and the murder was committed with the intent of preventing that person from testifying.
Susan Wilkie, a deputy prosecuting attorney for Vanderburgh County, handles child-related cases dealing with sexual and physical abuse and neglect for the prosecutor's office. Wilkie, who joined the office in November, said she first learned of the legislation from a police officer, so she began researching it.
"It's probably something all the attorneys heard about when it was passed, but it doesn't come up very often," she said. "... It's something I'll have to keep in mind charging things. If I was going to plea bargain with someone, I'd certainly keep that in mind."
Wilkie said most of the cases her office handles soon will fit under the new guidelines.
"Once it applies, the sentencing report is going to come back and say this is credit-restricted time." she said.
Somewhere along the line, legislators decided there were two things they weren't going to put up with — murder and child molesting, Wilke said.
"It underscores the importance we put on these particular types of crime," she said. "The Legislature has reinforced they mean business about it. That's the message I get."
Steve Owens, chief public defender in Vanderburgh County, has sent out a memorandum in the last few weeks to the attorneys in his office reminding them to look at the law and make sure they understand it.
"We haven't seen a whole bunch of it up until this point because it only applies to offenses that occurred after July of '08, so some of that stuff hasn't winded itself through the system yet," he said.
Owens said he understands the Legislature wants to take violent offenders off the street, but he doesn't know about the legislation's long-term effect.
"If you look at recent articles on prison populations throughout the country, there has been a decline ... except for Indiana which is up 5.3 percent," he said.
"So it ... concerns me. If we keep locking these people up, who's going to pay — you and me?"
Owens has mixed emotions about the legislation.
"Like most citizens, I don't want violent people running around, but I do wonder if this statute is going to serve the purpose they think it's going to serve and whether there's any statistics for whether we're just going to be incarcerating a whole bunch of people for a longer period of time at a greater cost than we already have," he said.
He said defense attorneys will have to do better negotiations in these type of cases.
"If I had one of those cases, it's going to impact the way I look at that case," he said.
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