Free Republic

It took four years and nine months before Nicolas Cruz was finally sentenced for the murder of seventeen people in the horrific Parkland massacre. So much of the legal system focuses on fairness to the criminal; but the damage to the victims and their families as they wait for trial is tremendous. Those who have to testify or give victim impact statements must continually think about what they will say at trial. There is also uncertainty about the verdict and whether the murderer will be punished. In the Parkland case, the victims were denied the closure of Cruz receiving the...

Nikki Goeser, the CPRC’s Executive Director, was present for final passage of a bill that she inspired to create a lifetime order of protection. The order can be issued to a victim of certain felony offenses to prohibit the offender from coming about or communicating with the victim. The bill passed the House unanimously and had already passed the Senate unanimously. The bill now goes to Governor Bill Lee’s desk for signature. Once signed, the law will go into effect on July 1st.

The Department of Correction (TDOC) doesn’t seem to think it’s a criminal offense that a murderer harasses a victim of their crime from their prison system. Despite a Federal judge ruling that there is sufficient evidence for the murderer to face stalking charges, the prison system announced on Tuesday that they are still not willing to seriously review this case. In 2009, a man who was stalking me murdered my husband, Ben, in front of me in the middle of a busy restaurant in Nashville, Tennessee. The murderer, Hank Wise, came up behind Ben and shot him in the head...

A New York City man could be facing a manslaughter charge for defending his wife against a would-be rapist. Mamadou Diallo received a frantic call from his wife. A man identified as Earl Nash forced his way into the Diallos' apartment, according to the brave husband. The intruder took off his pants and attacked Mrs. Diallo, tearing off her clothes and telling her she was about to be raped, according to reports. Mr. Diallo told police he found his naked wife in the hallway -- and saw that Mr. Nash was trying to escape.

After 17-year old, Savannah Dietrich, was sexually assaulted last year, the two criminals who attacked her circulated the pictures they had taken of her to their friends. After the assault, she did the right thing. She reported the incident and these guys were arrested. What happened next is not surprising to me. They cut a deal and pleaded guilty to first-degree sexual abuse and voyeurism. The terms of the plea bargain are not known but Savannah felt the agreement was too lenient and a mere “slap on the wrist.” So, when the court ordered her “don’t talk about it, or...

A key part of a victims-rights measure that voters approved in November has been overturned by a federal judge, who ruled the state must provide attorneys for parole violators when it is considering whether to send them back to prison. Senior Judge Lawrence K. Karlton of the U.S. District Court in Sacramento ruled against Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and the state in issuing an injunction against that part of Proposition 9.

Supreme Court Steps Closer to Repeal of Evidence Ruling By ADAM LIPTAK Published: January 30, 2009 The Reagan administration’s attacks on the exclusionary rule — a barrage of speeches, opinion articles, litigation and proposed legislation — never gained much traction. But now that young lawyer, John G. Roberts Jr., is chief justice of the United States. This month, Chief Justice Roberts, writing for the majority in Herring v. United States, a 5-to-4 decision, took a big step toward the goal he had discussed a quarter-century before. Taking aim at one of the towering legacies of the Warren Court, its landmark...

Proposition 6 redirects state funding from anti-crime programs that have been proven to work. Prop. 6 would spend millions to put children in jail and keep them there longer for inconsequential “crimes.” And more 14 year-old children would have to be tried as adults. That money could be spent on education and healthcare, programs proven to reduce crime. Virtually every criminal justice study of gang problems and high crime communities calls for a coordinated balanced approach that includes community service workers, mental health, drug and alcohol services along with tough law enforcement. Proposition 6 ignores these facts and takes money...

Michelle Obama in 1997 organized a university event in which she invited her husband, Sen. Barack Obama, and former Weathermen radical Bill Ayers to serve on a panel discussion about whether child murderers should be tried as adults.

One of the most hotly contested ballot measures this election is Proposition 9, pitting victims' rights versus the rights of prison inmates. Recently, Prop. 9's backers took their campaign into unusual territory: right inside the walls of San Quentin prison. Proponents of the ballot measure came together with victims of violent crime and men serving time for their deeds. The event was a daylong symposium held inside the prison's Catholic chapel. "We all as inmates recognize that the victims need rights," said one inmate, while another prisoner said Proposition 9 would "change the rules of the game significantly." Specifically, Proposition...

Propositions that are on the November 4, 2008 General Election Ballot* Bond MeasureProposition 1 SB 1856 (Chapter 697, 2002). Costa. Safe, Reliable High-Speed Passenger Train Bond Act for the 21st Century.** **Note: The Safe, Reliable High-Speed Passenger Train Bond Act for the 21st Century was originally scheduled to appear on the November 2, 2004, General Election ballot. Subsequently, Senate Bill 1169, Chapter 71, Statutes of 2004, provided that it appear on the November 7, 2006, General Election ballot. However, most recently, Assembly Bill 713, Chapter 44, Statutes of 2006, provides for the submission of this Act on the November...

Changes since the last update: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1310. (07-0081) Nonviolent Offenders. Sentencing, Parole and Rehabilitation. Statute. Qualified for the November 4, 2008 General Election 1326. (07-0094, Amdt. #1S) Criminal Penalties and Laws. Public Safety Funding. Statute. Qualified for the November 4, 2008 General Election 1304. (07-0066, Amdt. #1S) Renewable Energy. Statute. Qualified for the November 4, 2008 General Election 1298. (07-0068) Limit on Marriage. Constitutional Amendment. Qualified for the November 4, 2008 General Election Propositions that are on the November 4, 2008 General Election Ballot Bond MeasureSB 1856 (Chapter 697, 2002). Costa. Safe, Reliable High-Speed Passenger Train Bond Act for the...

The Ohio Supreme Court unanimously rejected an appeal from death row inmate Phillip E. Elmore, whose lawyers argued that the jury was anxious to reach a verdict quickly because the judge disallowed cigarette breaks during deliberations. Only one member of the jury was a smoker and Justice Evelyn Lundberg Stratton, who authored the opinion, noted that "There is no support in the record for Elmore's claim that the juror who wished to smoke was under any additional stress occasioned by 'mentally wanting, and physically needing to smoke tobacco."' Elmore bludgeoned his ex-girlfriend to death, on her son's wedding day. The...

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said in Oakland today that he supports state legislation that would give crime victims new rights. Accompanied by local police chiefs and several high profile crime victims, Schwarzenegger also said he has appointed Susan Fisher of Sacramento to the newly-created position of Crime Victim Advocate and that he is expediting a program to use global positioning systems to track dangerous criminals. He said he supports "The Crime Victims Bill of Rights," a comprehensive legislative proposal authored by Assemblywoman Nicole Parra, D-Hanford, to help crime victims overcome the hardships caused by criminal acts. Schwarzenegger said he has directed...

He fought off a challenge to the state's three-strikes law, endorsed the Jessica's Law initiative cracking down on sex offenders and has denied clemency on every petition sent his way from death row. But coming into the 2006 political season, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger still found himself vulnerable on the crime issue, thanks to a relentless campaign waged against him last year by the California prison cops union and two leading victims rights groups that it supports. Schwarzenegger's top-level administrative staff, however, has shifted into overdrive this year to shore up his standing with his adversaries on the criminal justice front,...

A rape suspect is in critical condition after being fended off by his intended victim. Police Special Victims Unit Captain John Darby says when the 30-year old woman said no thanks, the man forced his way into her West Haines Street home and started to rape her in front of her two year old child. "At some point she was able to talk the male into interrupting the attack so that she could place the child upstairs in the bedroom in safety." That was the moment she needed. She went away with the child and came back with a knife...

Elementary schools start with the fundamentals, the building blocks, the three R's: reading, 'riting and 'rithmetic. The California Comeback starts with its fundamentals, its building blocks, too. They are a different three R's: recovery, reform, rebuild. When I took office 22 months ago, I had no illusions about how difficult the job would be, no illusions about what it would take to turn around a state $22 billion in debt. But in that time, we have accomplished the first R - recovery. We saved the state from bankruptcy, increasing state revenues $6 billion without raising taxes. We rolled back the...

Attorneys with the Lubbock Criminal Defense Lawyers Association are threatening legal action if a victims' rights monument on the lawn of the county courthouse is not removed. (snip) The granite monument which reads, "Justice will not be served until those who are unaffected are as outraged as those who are," was erected April 11 by several victims' advocacy groups. (snip) "There can't be anything for victims on the courthouse lawn," Griffin said in the meeting. "The courthouse is for justice." Metze said in the meeting that having a monument on the courthouse grounds gives the impression that the county favors...

Murder suspect loses bid for victim's house by Christina Sobran ROCKLAND - The Rockport man accused of beating his live-in girlfriend to death in Portland in January said Wednesday he is entitled to inherit her Rockport home, but a judge disagreed. David R. Haraden, 48, has been in Cumberland County Jail since Jan. 2, when police found him in a Portland hotel room with the body of Maxine Witham, 35, of Rockport. The medical examiner later determined she was beaten to death. Haraden was indicted in March for murder and has since pleaded not guilty. The murder trial is scheduled...

Rick Dembow January 28, 2005 -- A stunning 28-year-old actress died in her fiancé's arms yesterday after a Lower East Side thug answered her challenge — "What are you going to do, shoot us?" — by firing a single bullet into her chest, cops said. Nicole DuFresne, of Brooklyn, had just left a trendy bar with her fiancé and another couple when they were confronted at about 3:15 a.m. by four muggers — two men and two women — at the corner of Clinton and Rivington streets, police said. One of the thugs, who was carrying a gun, demanded money....