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Crime and Justice News Archive
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Crime and Justice News
6 days ago
2 min
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DOJ Find Civil Rights Violations By Police In Worcester, MA
Police in Worcester, MA, use excessive force and engage in “outrageous” sexual contact with women while undercover, a two-year civil investigation released Monday by the U.S. Department of Justice found. “The Department of Justice has reasonable cause to believe that the Worcester Police Department and the City of Worcester engage in a pattern or practice of conduct that deprives people of their rights under the Constitution and federal law,” the Justice Department wrote in its conclusion of a 41-page report it posted online. The report said the “pattern or practice” includes using excessive force and “engaging in outrageous sexual contact with women while undercover as part of official investigations." Investigators said they also have “serious concerns” about “credible reports of sexual assault and other sexual misconduct by WPD officers,” gender bias that “infects WPD’s investigations of sexual assault,” and “law enforcement practices that may have an unlawful discriminatory effect on Black and Hispanic individuals, the Worcester Telegram reports .. The report comes two years after the Justice Department announced it found “significant justification” to investigate whether city police use excessive force or discriminate based on race and gender. Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke, who oversees the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, said Monday’s findings were “the first time the department has issued a pattern or practice finding involving sexual misconduct by officers. “We look forward to working with city officials to institute reforms that build on their own preliminary efforts but that will fully bring an end to these unlawful and unconstitutional practices,” she said. “The Justice Department is committed to standing firm against sexual misconduct in all its forms.”
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Crime and Justice News
6 days ago
2 min
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Factual Disputes Emerge In N.R.A. First Amendment Case
The usually sharply divided United States Supreme Court came together earlier this year to to decide unanimously in favor of the National Rifle Association, finding that the organization could pursue its claim that a New York State regulator had infringed on its First Amendment rights when she sought to discourage insurers and banks from doing business with the gun group after the 2018 school massacre in Parkland, Fla. The N.R.A. called it a “a landmark victory.” But now, two women said to be the primary participants in a secret meeting described in the N.R.A. complaint, and pivotal to the Supreme Court ruling, say it never took place, the New York Times reports . The Supreme Court ruling drew on an account of the supposed secret meeting, detailed in the N.R.A.’s lawsuit, between Maria T. Vullo, New York’s top financial regulator at the time, and Inga Beale, then chief executive of Lloyd’s of London, as well as a Lloyd’s lawyer. But in interviews and emails, both Vullo and Beale told The New York Times that they first met several months after the purported meeting, and then only at an industry awards luncheon where they exchanged pleasantries. Vullo, whose motion to dismiss the N.R.A.’s lawsuit propelled the case to the high court, said in an interview that her life had been roiled by threats inspired by the gun group’s narrative. “I’ve had to deal with six years of a litigation of lies,” she said. “I’ve had to deal with a Supreme Court decision that is premised on those lies and all of the public discussion of it, including statements that the N.R.A. and its counsel have made reinforcing those lies and fund-raising off of those lies. And that has affected my reputation.” The N.R.A. stands by its assertions.
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Crime and Justice News
6 days ago
2 min
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Daniel Penny Acquitted In Subway Choking Death Of Jordan Neely
Daniel Penny, a former Marine who choked a fellow subway rider in New York City last year, was acquitted on a charge of criminally negligent homicide on Monday, the New York Times reports . The jurors decided that Penny’s actions were not criminal when he held the rider, Jordan Neely, in a chokehold as the two men struggled on the floor of a subway car on May 1, 2023. Neely, who was homeless and had a history of mental illness, had strode through the subway car that afternoon, yelling at passengers and frightening them, according to witnesses. After the forewoman announced the verdict, the courtroom erupted, with some people cheering the outcome and others responding with anger. The case had come to exemplify New York City’s post-pandemic struggles. Some who saw the four minutes of footage said Penny’s actions reflected transit riders’ fears and frustrations, and pointed to concerns about crime in the city. A number of Republican politicians hailed Penny. For others, the killing showed the city’s inability or unwillingness to help its most vulnerable and marginalized residents. And Penny, they said, deserved to be punished. The decision was a defeat for the office of Alvin L. Bragg, Manhattan’s district attorney. In a statement on Monday, Bragg said that the jury “has now spoken.” He also noted that prosecutors and their families had been “besieged with hate and threats — on social media, by phone and over email” throughout the trial. Mayor Eric Adams, at a news conference on Monday, said that Mr. Neely “should not have had to die” and described the city’s mental health system as “broken.”
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