Civil Asset Legitimacy, CO Employs Incarcerated Professor & More

"There is too much focus on policing and on punishment and not enough focus on prevention."

In one of the few major cities in the nation experiencing an uptick in violent crime, Washington, D.C. leaders are split on the policy changes that could address the nation's fourth highest homicide rate as well as a spate of car jackings that have left residents unnerved. For some, the progressive policing changes that saw significant support in D.C. in the past are no longer an option, and Mayor Bowser says the pendulum is swinging back to a bipartisan middle. For others, a step back from reform signifies an unwelcome distraction from what they see as a root cause of crime: poverty, lack of education, and a sense of hopelessness among youth.

"It’s a one-person-at-a-time, slow movement-building kind of work, and as we expand this to more individuals I know we will keep seeing this kind of result."

David Carillo is an adjunct professor for Adams State University in Colorado. He's also currently incarcerated for a murder he committed in 1993. His position—for which he is paid the same amount as un-incarcerated professors—is part of a new program by the University intended to address the shortage of adequate staff in prison facilities, and expand higher educational opportunities for inmates. For Carillo's students, it's an opportunity to learn from someone who deeply understands the challenges of their unique educational path.

"Murder plummeted in the United States in 2023, likely at one of the fastest rates of decline ever recorded."

According to a recent Gallup poll, over three-quarters of Americans still believe crime is increasing in the United States, with Republicans most likely to rate crime as a very serious problem. But, as Axios reports, statistics are painting a more optimistic picture: violent crime dropped precipitously last year, and by the time 2023 stats are finalized it may represent the largest decline in murders in decades.

"...a core principle of the American legal system is that you should be free to go about your business without having to show your papers to some officious, sticky-fingered busybody." 

While traveling with any amount of currency is not a crime, the head of the National Sheriff's Association has recently said that no one should be traveling with cash without "some level of legitimacy." The comments came in a recent interview with a North Carolina news outlet on civil asset forfeiture, a practice that allows police to seize property even in cases where the owner isn't charged with a crime. Last year, the outlet reported on how a sex crime victim was denied a court-ordered settlement from her abuser because police had already seized his cash through civil asset forfeiture and handed it over to the federal government.

"We hope that other facilities in the state that house youth will use this to measure their own conditions..."

The judge overseeing a troubled juvenile detention center in southern Illinois abruptly closed it on December 31, citing staffing shortages that hindered compliance with new state standards for youth treatment. The Franklin County Juvenile Detention Center, previously exposed for poor conditions and lax enforcement, failed to meet updated 2021 standards, including improved education and mental health services. The closure comes amid an ongoing national scrutiny of poor conditions in juvenile facilities and will displace youth from 26 counties.