Tag: Courts

Lawyer gets prison for laundering millions in drug money

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SAN DIEGO — A lawyer who laundered millions of dollars in drug money for a violent Mexican drug cartel was sentenced Friday to 15 years and eight months in federal prison.

Juan Manuel Álvarez Inzunza, 40, told a federal judge in San Diego, California, that he was “deeply remorseful” and thanked the U.S. government for his capture. The Mexican citizen said his 2016 arrest ended his criminal career and helped make sure “my conduct didn’t get any worse,” the San Diego Union-Tribune reported.

Álvarez Inzunza was sentenced on a money-laundering conspiracy charge. In 2016, he was arrested in Mexico, where he was held until his extradition to the U.S. last year.

With credit for time already spent in custody, he was likely to spend nine more years in prison and then will be deported to Mexico, the Union-Tribune said.

In a plea agreement with federal prosecutors, Álvarez Inzunza acknowledged that he laundered money for the Sinaloa Cartel from at least December 2013 to August 2015.

Álvarez Inzunza was orphaned and raised by poor relatives in Culiacán, the capital of Mexico’s Sinaloa state. He had a private law firm there when, about a decade ago, “the wrong client came in, and he listened to them” and began his criminal career, defense attorney Frederick Carroll said at Friday’s hearing.

Álvarez Inzunza would relay orders from cartel bosses to an associate in Colombia who would coordinate couriers to pick up cash in the U.S., the prosecution said.

During an investigation, U.S. federal agents found that Álvarez Inzunza had organized the transfer of millions of dollars from the United States to Mexico and other countries and they were able to seize at least $3.5 million in cash, including large amounts of drug money from Boston, Detroit and New York, authorities said.

Álvarez Inzunza was “trying to provide for his family” but ended up “destroying his family,” his attorney said.

At his sentencing. U.S. District Judge Dana Sabraw acknowledged that Álvarez Inzunza was remorseful but said his actions helped fund the violent cartel, which doesn’t “exist without money.”

“You’re complicit in all of this activity — it’s not just the money laundering,” Sabraw said.

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October 7, 2022
State, cops seek to bar evidence in trial over Floyd killing

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MINNEAPOLIS — Prosecutors and defense attorneys for two former Minneapolis police officers charged in the killing of George Floyd have filed more than 100 motions to limit testimony or evidence at trial — with many requests relying heavily on what happened at the previous two trials in Floyd’s death.

J. Alexander Kueng and Tou Thao are charged with aiding and abetting second-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter. With jury selection to begin Oct. 24, both sides are using what they learned in the prior trials to try to shape the proceeding in their favor. Hearings on the motions are scheduled for Thursday and Friday.

Defense attorney Mike Brandt, who isn’t connected to the case, said it’s typical pretrial maneuvering for the two sides to guess what the other will introduce and try to gain an advantage. Kueng and Thao “have a better crystal ball,” he said.

Kueng, Thao and Thomas Lane were working with Derek Chauvin on May 25, 2020, when Chauvin, who is white, used his knee to pin Floyd’s neck to the pavement for more than nine minutes as the 46-year-old Black man said he couldn’t breathe and eventually grew still. Kueng knelt on Floyd’s back, Lane held his legs and Thao kept bystanders back.

Floyd’s killing was captured in bystander video and sparked worldwide protests as part of a reckoning over racial injustice.

Many of the requests stem from what’s already happened in court. Tom Plunkett, Kueng’s attorney, wants the judge to bar the state’s witnesses from addressing jurors directly and from asking them to take actions as part of a demonstration, such as asking them to examine their own necks.

That comes after one expert in Chauvin’s trial, lung and critical care specialist Dr. Martin Tobin, at one point loosened his tie, placed his hands on his own neck and encouraged jurors to do the same as he explained how he believed Floyd died. Jurors said later that Tobin provided some of the trial’s most compelling evidence.

Tobin also narrated video of Floyd being held to the pavement and pinpointed what he said was the moment Floyd died. And paramedic Derek Smith testified that after checking for a pulse and not finding one: “In layman’s terms? I thought he was dead.” Bob Paule, an attorney for Thao, wants witnesses barred from referring to Floyd as dead until the time at which he was officially pronounced dead at a hospital. And Plunkett is asking that all non-physician testimony be limited to treatments and observations, not to Floyd’s cause of death or characterization about whether he was dead or alive.

The state, meanwhile, wants to bar the defense from introducing evidence about the men’s characters and families. That request comes after the federal trial, in which the defendants or their family members talked about their backgrounds, their volunteerism, and how they overcame hardship – all evidence the state called irrelevant.

The state also seeks to bar evidence about whether Chauvin was qualified to be a field training officer – after questions about that were raised during the federal trial as part of a defense strategy to blame the officers’ training for their actions that day.

The defense wants witnesses barred from testifying in uniform unless they are testifying as part of their job. That comes after Genevieve Hansen, a firefighter who was off duty when she came upon Floyd’s arrest, testified in uniform at Chauvin’s trial. Paule said Hansen will be testifying as a bystander, and that having a person testify under oath while in uniform might lead a jury to improperly find them more trustworthy.

The defense also wants an order barring witnesses from wearing signage, after another state witness, Donald Williams, wore a T-shirt under his dress shirt that said “Black Excellence,” according to the defense, and was visible to at least one juror. Paule also wants prosecutors to be barred from questioning Williams about his martial arts training and his understanding of a “blood choke” and how it affects breathing, saying Williams has no medical training.

The defense wants to bar the state from questions that elicit emotional responses, as prosecutors did during Chauvin’s trial, and they want to bar prosecutors from calling juvenile bystanders as witnesses, including a girl who was 9 at the time.

The defense says calling the child would further traumatize her, provoke emotions from the jury, and that her testimony has repeated what other bystanders said. The state has countered that the testimony of multiple bystanders is necessary, and that the varied people on the street – an older man, teenagers and a young girl – show it was not the dangerous crowd the defense tried to portray in Chauvin’s trial.

They also said the fact that a 9-year-old girl knew Floyd was in distress demonstrates just how unreasonable the officers’ use of force was.

Kueng, Thao and Lane were convicted in federal court earlier this year of depriving Floyd of his right to medical care. Thao and Kueng were convicted of a second count for failing to intervene and stop Chauvin.

In July, U.S. District Judge Paul Magnuson sentenced Kueng to three years in prison and Thao to 3½ years on the federal counts. They reported to federal custody on Tuesday: Thao, who is Hmong American, is being held in Lexington, Kentucky, and Kueng, who is Black, is in Lisbon, Ohio.

Lane, who is white, avoided a state trial by pleading guilty in May to aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter. He was sentenced to three years on the state conviction, and 2 1/2 years on the federal conviction. He is serving both sentences concurrently at a low-security federal prison camp in Littleton, Colorado.

Chauvin was convicted of murder and manslaughter and was given a 22 1/2-year state sentence in 2021. He also pleaded guilty to a federal count of violating Floyd’s civil rights and was sentenced to 21 years on the federal charge. He is serving the sentences at the same time at the Federal Correctional Institution in Tucson, Arizona.

———

Find AP’s full coverage of the killing of George Floyd at: https://apnews.com/hub/death-of-george-floyd

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October 5, 2022
Today in History: October 5, Truman speaks on TV

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Today in History

Today is Wednesday, Oct. 5, the 278th day of 2022. There are 87 days left in the year.

Today’s Highlight in History:

On Oct. 5, 1953, Earl Warren was sworn in as the 14th chief justice of the United States, succeeding Fred M. Vinson.

On this date:

In 1892, the Dalton Gang, notorious for its train robberies, was practically wiped out while attempting to rob a pair of banks in Coffeyville, Kansas.

In 1947, President Harry S. Truman delivered the first televised White House address as he spoke on the world food crisis.

In 1958, racially-desegregated Clinton High School in Clinton, Tennessee, was mostly leveled by an early morning bombing.

In 1983, Solidarity founder Lech Walesa (lek vah-WEN’-sah) was named winner of the Nobel Peace Prize.

In 1989, a jury in Charlotte, North Carolina, convicted former P-T-L evangelist Jim Bakker (BAY’-kur) of using his television show to defraud followers. (Although initially sentenced to 45 years in prison, Bakker was freed in December 1994 after serving 4 1/2 years.)

In 1994, 48 people were found dead in an apparent murder-suicide carried out simultaneously in two Swiss villages by members of a secret religious doomsday cult known as the Order of the Solar Temple; five other bodies were found the same week in a building owned by the sect near Montreal, Canada.

In 2001, tabloid photo editor Robert Stevens died from inhaled anthrax, the first of a series of anthrax cases in Florida, New York, New Jersey and Washington.

In 2005, defying the White House, senators voted 90-9 to approve an amendment sponsored by Republican Sen. John McCain that would prohibit the use of “cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment” against anyone in U.S. government custody. (A reluctant President George W. Bush later signed off on the amendment.)

In 2011, Steve Jobs, 56, the Apple founder and former chief executive who’d invented and master-marketed ever sleeker gadgets that transformed everyday technology from the personal computer to the iPod and iPhone, died in Palo Alto, California.

In 2015, the United States, Japan and 10 other nations in Asia and the Americas reached agreement on the landmark Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal.

In 2018, a jury in Chicago convicted white police officer Jason Van Dyke of second-degree murder in the 2014 shooting of Black teenager Laquan McDonald. (Van Dyke was sentenced to 81 months in state prison.)

In 2020, President Donald Trump staged a dramatic return to the White House after leaving the military hospital where he was receiving an unprecedented level of care for COVID-19; Trump immediately ignited a new controversy by declaring that despite his illness, the nation should not fear the virus.

Ten years ago: A month before the presidential election, the Labor Department reported that unemployment fell in Sept. 2012 to its lowest level, 7.8 percent, since President Barack Obama took office; some Republicans questioned whether the numbers had been manipulated.

Five years ago: Hollywood executive Harvey Weinstein announced that he was taking a leave of absence from his company after a New York Times article detailed decades of alleged sexual harassment against women including actor Ashley Judd. The National Rifle Association and the White House expressed support for controls on “bump stock” devices like those that apparently aided the gunman behind the Las Vegas attack; the NRA later said it was opposed to an outright ban on the devices. California Gov. Jerry Brown signed legislation extending protections for immigrants living in the United States illegally; police in California would be barred from asking people about their immigration status or taking part in federal immigration enforcement activities.

One year ago: A former Facebook employee, data scientist Frances Haugen, told a Senate panel that the company knew that its platform spread misinformation and content that harmed children, but that it refused to make changes that could hurt its profits. Work at all of the Kellogg Company’s U.S. cereal plants came to a halt as roughly 1,400 workers went on strike. (The strike would end in December after workers voted to ratify a new contract.) A Russian actor and a film director rocketed into space on a Russian Soyuz spacecraft to make the world’s first movie in orbit during a 12-day stay on the International Space Station.

Today’s Birthdays: Actor Glynis Johns is 99. College Football Hall of Fame coach Barry Switzer is 85. R&B singer Arlene Smith (The Chantels) is 81. Singer-musician Steve Miller is 79. Sen. Benjamin L. Cardin, D-Md., is 79. Rock singer Brian Johnson (AC/DC) is 75. Blues musician Rick Estrin is 73. Actor Karen Allen is 71. Writer-producer-director Clive Barker is 70. Rock musician David Bryson (Counting Crows) is 68. Astrophysicist-author Neil deGrasse Tyson is 64. Memorial designer Maya Lin is 63. Actor Daniel Baldwin is 62. Rock singer-musician Dave Dederer is 58. Hockey Hall of Famer Mario Lemieux is 57. Actor Guy Pearce is 55. Actor Josie Bissett is 52. Singer-actor Heather Headley is 48. Pop-rock singer Colin Meloy (The Decemberists) is 48. Actor Parminder Nagra (pahr-MIHN’-da NAH’-grah) is 47. Actor Scott Weinger is 47. Actor Kate Winslet is 47. Rock musician James Valentine (Maroon 5) is 44. Rock musician Paul Thomas (Good Charlotte) is 42. Actor Jesse Eisenberg is 39. TV personality Nicky Hilton is 39. Actor Azure Parsons is 38. R&B singer Brooke Valentine is 37. Actor Kevin Bigley is 36. Actor Joshua Logan Moore is 28. Actor Jacob Tremblay is 16.

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October 4, 2022
The Onion and the Supreme Court. Not a parody

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WASHINGTON — The Onion has some serious things to say in defense of parody.

The satirical site that manages to persuade people to believe the absurd has filed a Supreme Court brief in support of a man who was arrested and prosecuted for making fun of police on social media.

“As the globe’s premier parodists, The Onion’s writers also have a self-serving interest in preventing political authorities from imprisoning humorists,” lawyers for the Onion wrote in a brief filed Monday. “This brief is submitted in the interest of at least mitigating their future punishment.”

The court filing doesn’t entirely keep a straight face, calling the federal judiciary “total Latin dorks.”

The Onion said it employs 350,000 people, is read by 4.3 trillion people and “has grown into the single most powerful and influential organization in human history.”

The Supreme Court case involves Anthony Novak, who was arrested after he spoofed the Parma, Ohio, police force in Facebook posts.

The posts were published over 12 hours and included an announcement of new police hiring “strongly encouraging minorities to not apply.” Another post promoted a fake event in which child sex offenders could be “removed from the sex offender registry and accepted as an honorary police officer.”

After being acquitted of criminal charges, the man sued the police for violating his constitutional rights. But a federal appeals court ruled the officers have “qualified immunity” and threw out the lawsuit.

One issue is whether people might reasonably have believed that what they saw on Novak’s site was real.

But the Onion said Novak had no obligation to post a disclaimer. “Put simply, for parody to work, it has to plausibly mimic the original,” the Onion said, noting its own tendency to mimic “the dry tone of an Associated Press news story.”

More than once, people have republished the Onion’s claims as true, including when it reported in 2012 that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un was the sexiest man alive.

The brief concludes with a familiar call for the court to hear the case and a twist.

“The petition for certiorari should be granted, the rights of the people vindicated, and various historical wrongs remedied. The Onion would welcome any one of the three, particularly the first,” lawyers for the Onion wrote.

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October 3, 2022
American Airlines CEO defends JetBlue deal to federal judge

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The CEO of American Airlines said Monday that his airline needed a partnership with JetBlue because Delta Air Lines had bulked up through a merger sooner than American, had more takeoff and landing rights at New York airports, and fewer unionized workers.

Robert Isom also conceded that Delta has “run a nice, reliable airline” and enjoys some cost advantages over American.

The Justice Department and six states are suing American and JetBlue in federal court over their regional partnership in the Northeast, which government lawyers call a de facto merger. Isom defended the arrangement, which has been in effect for well over a year, as JetBlue CEO Robin Hayes did last week during a trial in federal court in Boston.

Hayes, however, once had misgivings about the deal — called the Northeast alliance, or NEA — because of American’s size advantage over JetBlue.

“I think NEA is dead as Robin isn’t supportive,” former JetBlue executive Scott Laurence texted a consultant in January 2021.

Laurence — who later jumped to American after a one-month gig at Delta — testified that Hayes worried American “had nearly unlimited resources” to tilt the alliance to its favor. Despite Hayes’ concerns, American and JetBlue announced their deal six months after Laurence’s text message.

The Justice Department is trying to convince U.S. District Judge Leo Sorokin to kill the partnership, under which American and JetBlue work together to set schedules and share revenue, although they are not allowed to collaborate on prices. Government lawyers argue that the deal limits competition and will push fares higher.

American and JetBlue say the government has no evidence that the deal is hurting consumers. To the contrary, they say it will help travelers by creating a stronger competitor to Delta and United in New York and Boston.

American and JetBlue say they were unable to grow in New York on their own because they couldn’t get enough new takeoff and landing times — called slots — at congested airports. JetBlue resorted to unusual tactics including red-eye flights, and it tried to get slots from other airlines.

“How did that go?” JetBlue lawyer Richard Schwed asked Laurence.

“It went poorly,” the executive replied. “I don’t think our competitors were interested in seeing us gain more access.”

The trial is expected to last about another week, but it could be weeks or months later until Sorokin issues his ruling — there is no jury.

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October 3, 2022
Bolsonaro, Lula start fight for support before Brazil runoff

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RIO DE JANEIRO — Jair Bolsonaro and Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, two diametrically opposed candidates for Brazil’s presidency, have started a four-week race to pursue votes ahead of a winner-take-all runoff.

After garnering more than 90% of the vote in Sunday’s first round, leaving their competitors far behind, incumbent President Bolsonaro and ex-President da Silva are already eyeing options that can push them over the top, whether political alliances or endorsements from candidates now eliminated.

Political analysts say Bolsonaro will seek to capitalize on an unexpectedly strong showing by the right wing as a whole to shore up support from politicians seeking advantageous alliances while da Silva — who won the first-round vote — reaches out to moderates.

The election will determine whether a leftist returns to the helm of the world’s fourth-largest democracy or whether Bolsonaro can advance his far-right agenda for another term.

Many polls had indicated leftist da Silva had a significant lead, with some suggesting he could even clinch a first-round victory. Most showed margins that neared or exceeded double digits. But Bolsonaro came within just five points of da Silva, forcing an Oct. 30 runoff.

While da Silva’s tally of 48.4% of the vote was within most polls’ margins of error, Bolsonaro’s 43.2% far exceeded most of them. The president’s allies running for Congress and governorships also outperformed polls.

“The far-right has shown great resilience in the presidential and in the state races,” said Carlos Melo, a political science professor at Insper University in Sao Paulo.

Speaking after the results, da Silva said he was excited to have a few more weeks of campaigning and the opportunity to go face-to-face with Bolsonaro and “make comparisons between the Brazil he built with the Brazil we built during our administrations.”

“I always thought that we were going to win these elections. And I tell you that we are going to win this election. This, for us, is just an extension,” da Silva said.

Meanwhile, Bolsonaro seemed to appeal to poorer voters, who make up a significant chunk of da Silva’s base. He highlighted high inflation that has boosted the cost of food and has hurt the approval ratings of leaders worldwide.

“I understand there is a desire from the population for change, but some changes can be for the worse” he said. Bolsonaro added that he wanted to keep Brazil from adopting leftist economic policies that would put it on a troubled economic path similar to those of Argentina and Venezuela.

It still isn’t clear why polls missed the mark on support for Bolsonaro and right-wing candidates.

Some analysts suggest voters had been embarrassed to tell pollsters they backed Bolsonaro and instead listed another candidate, said Arilton Freres, director of Curitiba-based Instituto Opinião. “But that in itself doesn’t explain everything,” he added, saying outdated census data also may have had an impact on the design of the polls.

Bolsonaro and allies have repeatedly cast doubt on the polls, and pointed instead great turnouts at his street rallies. “Many people were carried away by the lies propagated by the research institutes,” Bolsonaro wrote Monday on his Twitter profile.

The right’s positive night extended to races for congressional seats and governorships, especially candidates with Bolsonaro’s blessing.

Bolsonaro said his party’s showing could bring fresh endorsements ahead of the runoff as other parties strike alliances in exchange for support. Bolsonaro’s Liberal Party will surpass da Silva’s Workers’ Party to become the biggest in the Senate and the Lower House, with a total of 112 seats, or 23 more than its main rival — though still are short of what is needed to pass legislation by itself.

The right’s stronger-than-expected showing in Brazil’s populous southeast especially could benefit Bolsonaro, analysts say. His former infrastructure minister topped the race to govern Sao Paulo and will go to a runoff. The governor of Rio de Janeiro, an ally, won reelection outright, and the governor of the second most populous state, Minas Gerais, indicated he will endorse Bolsonaro in a video message Monday afternoon.

Meanwhile, da Silva’s campaign is likely to focus on winning over the centrist vote, especially in Brazil’s most populous state, Sao Paulo, where da Silva’s politically moderate running mate, Geraldo Alckmin, is a former governor, independent political analyst Thomas Traumann said.

Bolsonaro has expressed no interest in bringing defeated presidential candidates to his side, while da Silva has said he already reached out to competitors, who garnered about 8% of the vote combined. Analysts say there was a last-minute migration of votes from some of those candidates to Bolsonaro.

Simone Tebet and Ciro Gomes, the third- and fourth-place finishers, together earned 8.5 million votes. The difference between Bolsonaro and da Silva in the first round amounted to 6.1 million votes, and more than 30 million people abstained.

Before the election, Tebet hinted she might urge her backers to vote for da Silva and in televised debates, she vehemently criticized Bolsonaro’s four years in office. After results came out on Sunday, she gave her coalition of political parties 48 hours to clarify who it will back, saying after that deadline she will make her own position public.

Center-left Gomes was a minister in da Silva’s government before breaking with him, and in 2018 became openly hostile. That would make a possible endorsement more awkward, despite their ideological common ground, said Marco Antônio Teixeira, a public administration professor at the Getulio Vargas Foundation, a university in Sao Paulo.

“I want to make something clear: Lula is the favorite, period. As the momentum is Bolsonaro’s, people forget that,” Traumann said.

Even if da Silva does come out on top, his administration will face tough opposition in Congress, according to Rey.

“Part of the big centrist bloc will be Bolsonarista, although we don’t yet to what extent,” she said. “And Lula will have to deal with this.”

———

Bridi reported from Brasilia. AP writers Mauricio Savarese, Daniel Politi and David Biller reported from Sao Paulo, Curitiba and Rio de Janeiro.

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October 3, 2022
Max Baer, Pennsylvania Supreme Court’s chief justice, dies

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PITTSBURGH — Max Baer, the chief justice of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, has died only months before he was set to retire, the court confirmed Saturday. He was 74.

Baer died overnight at his home near Pittsburgh, the court said in a news release. The court didn’t give a reason for his death but called his “sudden passing” a “tremendous loss for the court and all of Pennsylvania.”

The court said Justice Debra Todd now becomes chief justice “as the justice of longest and continuous service on the court.” She is the first female chief justice in the commonwealth’s history, a court spokesperson confirmed.

“Chief Justice Baer was an influential and intellectual jurist whose unwavering focus was on administering fair and balanced justice,” Todd said in the release. “He was a tireless champion for children, devoted to protecting and providing for our youngest and most vulnerable citizens.”

Gov. Tom Wolf ordered state flags at commonwealth facilities, public buildings and grounds lowered to half-staff, saying he was “extremely saddened” by the death of such a “respected and esteemed jurist with decades of service to our courts and our commonwealth.”

Baer, a Duquesne Law graduate, was an Allegheny County family court judge and an administrative judge in family court before he was elected to the high court in 2003 and became its chief justice last year. Baer also served as deputy attorney general for Pennsylvania from 1975 to 1980 and was in private practice before entering the judiciary.

Earlier this year, Baer was part of the 5-2 majority as the Pennsylvania Supreme Court upheld a wide expansion of mail-in voting in Pennsylvania.

Baer was set to retire at the end of 2022 after reaching the mandatory retirement age of 75. The court said the seat had already been slated to be on the 2023 ballot, and “in the interim the governor may choose to make an appointment, subject to confirmation by the Senate.” Baer was elected as a Democrat and his death leaves a 4-2 Democratic majority on the high court.

Duquesne’s president, Ken Gormley, told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that Baer believed justices shouldn’t be public figures and that he therefore shied away from the limelight, using his position to uplift others in the profession.

“He was collegial, he worked really hard to have the court function as a family, and he led by example,” Gormley said. “He was the most caring person imaginable — always put others first and celebrated their successes. He hated pettiness. He had no time for pettiness.”

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October 1, 2022
Case against source for Trump dossier advances, barely

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ALEXANDRIA, Va. — A judge is allowing prosecutors to move forward with their criminal case against an analyst who provided key details for a flawed dossier on ex-President Donald Trump, although the judge called his decision “an extremely close call.”

Lawyers for Igor Danchenko asked a judge Thursday in U.S. District Court in Alexandria to dismiss all five charges against him. He’s accused of lying to the FBI about how he obtained the information that ultimately made its way into the “Steele dossier,” a report that purported to detail connections between Trump and Russian intelligence and helped fuel a full-fledged FBI investigation called “Crossfire Hurricane” in the months leading up to the 2016 election.

The dossier famously suggested that Russians had compromising information on Trump regarding salacious sexual activity he allegedly engaged in at a Moscow hotel.

The indictment alleges Danchenko lied about the credibility of his sources when in reality his primary source was actually a Democratic operative named Charles Dolan with ties to Trump’s opponent in the 2016 election, Hillary Clinton.

The indictment says the FBI could have better judged the veracity of the Steele dossier had it known that a Democratic operative who volunteered for Clinton was the source of much of the dossier’s information.

Danchenko’s lawyers argued Thursday that all the charges should be dismissed because Danchenko’s answers to the FBI were technically true, if not necessarily illuminating.

Specifically, Danchenko denied that he “talked” to Dolan about the allegations in the dossier. In reality, Danchenko had discussed the accusations in an email with Dolan, but never spoke with him in an oral conversation.

“It was a bad question,” said Danchenko’s lawyer, Stuart Sears. “That’s the special counsel’s problem. Not Mr. Danchenko’s. … He is not required to guess what the question actually means.”

The other counts deal with a statement to the FBI that Danchenko received other details in an anonymous phone call from someone he “believed” to be Sergei Millian, a former president of the Russian-American Chamber of Commerce.

Sears said Danchenko never said with any certainty that Millian was the source and that it can’t be a false statement if that was what Danchenko truly believed.

Special Counsel John Durham, who was appointed in 2019 by then-Attorney General William Barr to look for government misconduct in the “Crossfire Hurricane” investigation, said that Danchenko’s statements, if examined in context rather than in isolation, will show that he knowingly lied.

He said Danchenko himself used the word “speaking” to refer written words posted on social media accounts. And he said the evidence will show Millian didn’t know Danchenko and that Danchenko had no reason to believe that Millian was the anonymous caller that Danchenko cited.

“He knows exactly what the FBI is looking for, the context of those questions,” Durham said.

The judge, Anthony Trenga, acknowledged that the defense’s theory “can be a very persuasive, strong argument to a jury,” but he said that ultimately the government met its burden to overcome a motion to dismiss.

It will be up to a jury to determine whether the government can meet its burden of proving a crime beyond a reasonable doubt, a much higher standard. Trenga said he will revisit the issue during trial after the government presents its case.

The most incendiary allegations in the Steele dossier — that Trump hired prostitutes to engage in sexual activity in the presidential suite of the Ritz-Carlton in Moscow — may not be part of the trial at all. Danchenko is not actually charged with lying to the FBI about his sourcing for that specific allegation. But prosecutors want to present evidence to the jury about it nonetheless, and elicit testimony that would suggest Dolan was Danchenko’s source for that allegation as well.

Defense lawyers say any testimony about it is irrelevant and prejudicial and threatens to “swallow the trial” if it’s allowed in.

Prosecutor Michael Keilty countered that it’s important to show Dolan’s connection to those allegations.

“It’s not going to be a sideshow,” he said. “We’re not going to talk about what Mr. Trump did or did not do at the Ritz.”

Trenga took the issue under advisement — he said he had concerns about the relevancy of the information compared to its potential for prejudice, and that he would rule on that and other issues of what evidence will be allowed at trial before it begins Oct. 11.

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September 29, 2022
Today in History: September 29, Pope John Paul I found dead

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Today in History

Today is Thursday, Sept. 29, the 272nd day of 2022. There are 93 days left in the year.

Today’s Highlight in History:

On Sept. 29, 1938, British, French, German and Italian leaders concluded the Munich Agreement, which was aimed at appeasing Adolf Hitler by allowing Nazi annexation of Czechoslovakia’s Sudetenland.

On this date:

In 1789, the U.S. War Department established a regular army with a strength of several hundred men.

In 1829, London’s reorganized police force, which became known as Scotland Yard, went on duty.

In 1943, General Dwight D. Eisenhower and Italian Marshal Pietro Badoglio signed an armistice aboard the British ship HMS Nelson off Malta.

In 1962, Canada joined the space age as it launched the Alouette 1 satellite from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. The musical “My Fair Lady” closed on Broadway after 2,717 performances.

In 1965, President Lyndon Johnson signed the National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act of 1965, creating the National Endowment for the Humanities and the National Endowment for the Arts.

In 1978, Pope John Paul I was found dead in his Vatican apartment just over a month after becoming head of the Roman Catholic Church.

In 1982, Extra-Strength Tylenol capsules laced with deadly cyanide claimed the first of seven victims in the Chicago area. (To date, the case remains unsolved.)

In 1986, the Soviet Union released Nicholas Daniloff, an American journalist confined on spying charges.

In 1989, actor Zsa Zsa Gabor was convicted of battery for slapping Beverly Hills police officer Paul Kramer after he’d pulled over her Rolls-Royce for expired license plates. (As part of her sentence, Gabor ended up serving three days in jail.)

In 2000, Israeli riot police stormed a major Jerusalem shrine and opened fire on stone-throwing Muslim worshippers, killing four Palestinians and wounding 175.

In 2005, John G. Roberts Jr. was sworn in as the nation’s 17th chief justice after winning Senate confirmation.

In 2020, the first debate between President Donald Trump and Democrat Joe Biden deteriorated into bitter taunts and near chaos, as Trump repeatedly interrupted his opponent with angry and personal jabs and the two men talked over each other. Trump refused to condemn white supremacists who had supported him, telling one such group known as Proud Boys to “stand back, stand by.”

Ten years ago: Omar Khadr, the last Western detainee held at the U.S. military prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, returned to Canada after a decade in custody. Former New York Times publisher Arthur Ochs Sulzberger died at the age of 86.

Five years ago: Tom Price resigned as President Donald Trump’s secretary of Health and Human Services amid investigations into his use of costly charter flights for official travel at taxpayer expense. The United States warned Americans to stay away from Cuba, and ordered home more than half of the American diplomatic corps there; the administration began referring to the mysterious health ailments affecting Americans there as “attacks” rather than “incidents” but acknowledged that neither Cuban nor US investigators could figure out who or what was responsible. San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulin Cruz accused the Trump administration of “killing us with the inefficiency” after Hurricane Maria.

One year ago: In a major victory for pop star Britney Spears, a judge in Los Angeles suspended the singer’s father from the conservatorship that had controlled her life and money for 13 years, saying the arrangement reflected a “toxic environment.” (The judge would end the conservatorship weeks later.) Five-time Olympic swimming medalist Klete Keller pleaded guilty to a felony charge for storming the U.S. Capitol during the Jan. 6 riot. Former Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida won Japan’s governing party’s leadership election, putting him in line to become the country’s next prime minister.

Today’s Birthdays: Conductor Richard Bonynge is 92. Writer-director Robert Benton is 90. Singer Jerry Lee Lewis is 87. Soul-blues-gospel singer Sherman Holmes is 83. NASA administrator and former Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., is 80. Actor Ian McShane is 80. Jazz musician Jean-Luc Ponty is 80. Nobel Peace laureate Lech Walesa (lehk vah-WEN’-sah) is 79. Television-film composer Mike Post is 78. Actor Patricia Hodge is 76. TV personality Bryant Gumbel is 74. Rock singer-musician Mark Farner is 74. Rock singer-musician Mike Pinera is 74. Country singer Alvin Crow is 72. Actor Drake Hogestyn is 69. Olympic gold medal runner Sebastian Coe is 66. Singer Suzzy Roche (The Roches) is 66. Comedian-actor Andrew “Dice” Clay is 65. Rock singer John Payne (Asia) is 64. Actor Roger Bart is 60. Singer-musician Les Claypool is 59. Actor Jill Whelan is 56. Actor Ben Miles is 56. Actor Luke Goss is 54. Actor Erika Eleniak is 53. R&B singer Devante Swing (Jodeci) is 53. Country singer Brad Cotter (TV: “Nashville Star”) is 52. Actor Emily Lloyd is 52. Actor Natasha Gregson Wagner is 52. Actor Rachel Cronin is 51. Country musician Danick Dupelle (Emerson Drive) is 49. Actor Alexis Cruz is 48. Actor Zachary Levi is 42. Actor Chrissy Metz (TV: “This Is Us”) is 42. Actor Kelly McCreary (TV: “Grey’s Anatomy”) is 41. Rock musician Josh Farro is 35. NBA All-Star Kevin Durant is 34. Actor Doug Brochu is 32. Singer Phillip Phillips is 32. Pop singer Halsey is 28. Actor Clara Mamet is 28.

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September 29, 2022
National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges (NCJFCJ) Releases Video Addressing Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in the Judiciary
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Press Release
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updated: Oct 21, 2019
RENO, Nev., October 21, 2019 (Newswire.com)
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The National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges (NCJFCJ) has released a video establishing the importance of diversity, equity and inclusion in the judiciary.

The video features several judges and judicial officers from across the country discussing what diversity, equity and inclusion means to them and how professionals in the juvenile and family courts can better represent the children and families they serve.

The NCJFCJ hosted the first-of-its-kind convening of organizations representing judges and practitioners within the judiciary and legal profession at the first Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Summit, supported by the Jessie Ball duPont Fund and facilitated by The Raben Group, during the NCJFCJ Annual Conference this year.

The group collectively determined where the largest gaps and opportunities to diversify the profession are. Goals, tactics, action items and roles and responsibilities were discussed and determined.

In 2015, the NCJFCJ developed its diversity statement, which states the organization’s commitment to diversity in every aspect of its composition and in performing its mission. Diversity in the judiciary is vital to upholding public trust and confidence in the legal system. Diversity in this context refers to communities and individuals who are identified by race, ethnicity, national origin, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, religion, age, or disability status. To achieve its mission and promote diversity, the NCJFCJ asserts its commitment to diversity through the following principles:
- NCJFCJ will recruit membership and leadership which reflects the diversity of the children and families we serve
- NCJFCJ will provide educational and training programs, publications, and policy positions that are relevant and culturally-sensitive.
- National policy and standards developed by NCJFCJ affecting courts will promote and encourage judges to be knowledgeable of diversity issues.
- NCJFCJ will engage in recruitment practices and retention strategies to achieve a diverse staff.
“The inaugural DEI Summit was a unique opportunity for collaboration among leading organizations within our profession,” said Judge Hiram Puig-Lugo, NCJFCJ member and a leader of the inaugural DEI Summit. “We need to address the lack of diversity as a collective team and improve DEI across the board. Our group of national leaders will convene quarterly to ensure our plan is moving forward. It is exciting to see this momentum and we look forward to the hard work ahead.”

Participating organizations include: National Association of Women Judges, National American Indian Court Judges Association, Association of Family and Conciliation Courts, Hispanic National Bar Association, American Judges Association, National Asian Pacific American Bar Association, National Bar Association, National Association for Court Management, American Bar Association, National Consortium on Racial and Ethnic Fairness in the Courts, National Judicial College, National LGBT Bar Association, and National Center for State Courts and the Conference of Chief Justices.

Since 1937, the NCJFCJ has served as the leader in providing continuing education opportunities, research, technical assistance, and policy development in the field of juvenile and family law. The NCJFCJ is a nonprofit organization with nearly 2,000 members nationwide and internationally. The NCJFCJ’s mission is to provide judges, courts, and related agencies involved with juvenile, family, and domestic violence cases with the knowledge and skills to improve the lives of the families and children who seek justice.

Recently, the NCJFCJ was awarded the 2018 Readers’ Choice Best in Business Award for Most Diverse – Workforce Diversity by Northern Nevada Business View.

About the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges (NCJFCJ):
Founded in 1937, the Reno, Nev.-based National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges, is the nation’s oldest judicial membership organization and focused on improving the effectiveness of our nation’s juvenile and family courts. A leader in continuing education opportunities, research, and policy development in the field of juvenile and family justice, the 2,000-member organization is unique in providing practice-based resources to jurisdictions and communities nationwide.

Press Contact:
Chrisie Yabu, KPS3
chrisie@kps3.com

Source: National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges
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October 21, 2019
The National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges (NCJFCJ) Earns United Nations Consultative Status

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NCJFCJ has been granted special consultative status by the United Nations (UN) Economic and Social Council for its experience in providing judicial education to juvenile and family law professionals.

Press Release
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updated: Aug 8, 2019

RENO, Nev., August 8, 2019 (Newswire.com)
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The National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges (NCJFCJ) has been granted special consultative status by the United Nations (UN) Economic and Social Council for its experience in providing judicial education to juvenile and family law professionals.

This status, adopted by the recommendation of the Committee on Non-Governmental Organizations (NGO), allows the NCJFCJ to actively engage and consult with the Economic and Social Council and its subsidiary bodies, take part in meetings and events held by the UN to present ideas and build an international network to address issues related to the NCJFCJ’s work.

Since 1937, the NCJFCJ, the oldest judicial membership organization in the country, has served as the leader in providing continuing education opportunities, research, technical assistance, and policy development in the field of juvenile and family law. The NCJFCJ’s membership of nearly 2,000 members nationwide and internationally includes members in every state including D.C., and international representation from Guam, Virgin Islands, Northern Mariana Islands, China, Germany Nigeria, Canada, and Australia.

“Access to fair, equal, effective, and timely justice for every child and family is a global issue,” said Joey Orduna Hastings, NCJFCJ CEO. “This special consultative status will help increase international membership and global awareness of the NCJFCJ’s continuing efforts to provide judicial officers and courts involved with juvenile, family, and domestic violence cases with the knowledge and skills to improve the lives of the families and children who seek justice.”

Last year, the NCJFCJ sent its first international delegation in eight years to Cuba for an opportunity to meet and learn from Cuban counterparts about the challenges and advances of juvenile and family law in Cuba. Throughout the year, the NCJFCJ partners with the Northern Nevada International Center to host visitors under the auspices of the Department of State’s International Visitor Leadership Program to host meetings to exchange ideas and best practices in trafficking, child welfare, juvenile justice, and family violence. The NCJFCJ is currently planning its next international delegation to visit Mexico City in 2020.

About the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges (NCJFCJ):
Founded in 1937, the Reno, Nev.-based National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges, is the nation’s oldest judicial membership organization and focused on improving the effectiveness of our nation’s juvenile and family courts. A leader in continuing education opportunities, research, and policy development in the field of juvenile and family justice, the 2,000-member organization is unique in providing practice-based resources to jurisdictions and communities nationwide.

Source: National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges

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August 8, 2019
Linking Systems of Care for Children and Youth Project Premieres New Website
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Press Release
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updated: Feb 15, 2019
RENO, Nev., February 15, 2019 (Newswire.com)
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The National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges (NCJFCJ) announced today that it has launched a website for their project Linking Systems of Care for Children and Youth to promote healing for victims of crime.

The Linking Systems of Care for Children and Youth Project, funded by the Office for Victims of Crime (OVC), Office of Justice Programs and U.S. Department of Justice, is designed to support and document the work of statewide initiatives for victims of crime. These programs promote healing through the coordination of trauma-informed prevention and intervention services for children and/or youth and their families.

Currently, youth and families may seek support from child welfare, courts, education, social services, juvenile justice, victim services and health services systems. At times, youth and families enter through several doors before finding and receiving adequate and appropriate services that meet their needs as victims. The key benefit of the Linking Systems of Care project is to formally integrate these systems by equipping all systems of care with the tools to respond effectively to victims of crime. This approach ensures young victims and families are set on a path toward healing.

“Healing happens when systems of care offer coordinated treatment and create the opportunity to make positive social-emotional connections and provide for self-determination,” said Judge Ramona Gonzalez, chair of the Linking Systems of Care Steering Committee and NCJFCJ president-elect. “This is what Linking Systems of Care is – the chance to build capacity within communities. Building this capacity is my responsibility and commitment to my community.”

The Linking Systems of Care project website provides a wealth of information on child and youth victims of violence. It contains:
- resources that can be used when writing or speaking about child maltreatment and victimization;
- videos and online trainings;
- profiles of the four demonstration sites in four states; and
- a toolkit to help guide efforts for coordinators to help replicate the process from the demonstration sites in their community. From project planning, community engagement, victim identification and referral, and legal considerations, the toolkit provides a step-by-step guide to linking systems of care.
Montana, Virginia, Illinois and Ohio were chosen as demonstration states for the strength of their applications in a competitive federal award process. These sites highlighted statewide collaborations, diversity of their youth populations and stakeholders, and long-term commitment to modeling change.

In each of the states, a lead grantee organization is building a Linking Systems of Care network of stakeholders and partners; assessing underserved populations and service gaps; developing concrete strategies, techniques and tools for meeting victim needs; and linking child and youth victims to an expanded array of support services. Subject to adequate participation and performance, each demonstration project has the possibility of up to six years of ongoing project support through OVC.

“Putting the needs of child and youth victims and their families is the core principle of this project,” said Judge John J. Romero Jr., NCJFCJ president. “It’s important for this vulnerable population to have access to prevention and intervention services without obstacles or challenges in order to begin the process of healing as soon as possible.”

About the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges (NCJFCJ):
Founded in 1937, the Reno, Nevada-based National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges is the nation’s oldest judicial membership organization and is focused on improving the effectiveness of our nation’s juvenile and family courts. A leader in continuing education opportunities, research and policy development in the field of juvenile and family justice, the 2,000-member organization is unique in providing practice-based resources to jurisdictions and communities nationwide.

PR Contact:
Chrisie Yabu, APR
KPS3
chrisie@kps3.com

Source: NCJFCJ
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February 15, 2019
NCJFCJ Announces a Record $12.9 Million in Awards in 2018 to Improve Outcomes for Children and Families

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Key focuses on firearms, domestic violence, abuse and neglect, animal cruelty, juvenile justice, diversity and research

Press Release
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updated: Jan 28, 2019

RENO, Nev., January 28, 2019 (Newswire.com)
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The National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges (NCJFCJ) announced today that it has received a record 34 new and supplemental awards providing more than $12.9 million in additional funding – the highest amount in the organization’s 81-year history. The NCJFCJ is devoted to ensuring justice and improving outcomes for families and children in courts nationwide.

The NCJFCJ is the nation’s oldest judicial membership organization, providing judges with ongoing education, training and technical assistance to make the best possible decisions for children and families in our courts.

The $12.9 million in funding will support NCJFCJ projects focused on a multitude of areas that include: domestic violence; child protection and custody; child welfare and foster care; teen dating violence; tribal and state courts collaboration; juvenile justice; trauma-informed justice; research and data; and more.

Highlighting the upcoming year, the NCJFCJ received funding from the U.S. Department of Justice, Office on Violence Against Women for a multi-year project to assist up to 10 diverse communities to improve their implementation of domestic violence firearms laws to prevent abusers’ access to firearms and allow for better protection of victims, children and their communities. The NCJFCJ also received funding to analyze its home state of Nevada’s juvenile justice system and develop recommendations for change in partnership with the Division of Child and Family Services. The Nevada Center for Juvenile Justice Innovation connects professionals and stakeholders to information about effective programs and practices to reduce recidivism and improve outcomes for juvenile justice involved youth.

“The variety and diverse projects and initiatives funded this year reflect the expansive work the NCJFCJ does for juvenile and family courts nationwide,” said Judge John J. Romero Jr., NCJFCJ president. “The NCJFCJ continues to be at the forefront and remains proactive in addressing the multitude of issues that affect the lives of children, families and those affected by violence.”

Two new focus areas that the NCJFCJ received funding for this year include addressing animal cruelty and promoting diversity. With partner organization Animal Legal Defense Fund, the NCJFCJ will work with judicial officers to better understand this critical issue, including the link between the acts of violence towards humans and animal cruelty. In line with the organization’s commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion, the NCJFCJ received funding from the Jessie Ball DuPont Fund to host a summit comprised of organizations in the legal profession and court system to better reflect and to improve representation in the communities they serve.

The NCJFCJ received continuing funds for its Resource Center on Domestic Violence: Child Protection and Custody program. The resource center plans to expand the capacity of the domestic violence field including family violence prevention services grantees and survivors to effectively address the implications of domestic violence in child protection, child support and custody systems. In addition, the NCJFCJ will continue its collaboration between state and tribal courts on the implementation of the Indian Child Welfare Act.

“There has never been a more critical time for an independent and educated judiciary,” said Joey Orduna Hastings, NCJFCJ chief executive officer. “This year’s record-setting $12.9 million in awards reflects the hard work and dedication of the NCJFCJ’s staff, board directors and its membership to continuing our mission to provide judges, courts and related agencies involved with juvenile, family and domestic violence cases with the knowledge and skills to improve the lives of the families and children who seek justice.”

Contact:
Chrisie Yabu
KPS3
chrisie@kps3.com

Source: NCJFCJ

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January 28, 2019
National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges Applauds Updated Law to Modernize and Improve Federal Juvenile Justice System

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The Juvenile Justice Reform Act of 2018 reauthorizes and strengthens the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act

Press Release
–

updated: Dec 21, 2018

RENO, Nev., December 21, 2018 (Newswire.com)
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Today, President Donald Trump signed the Juvenile Justice Reform Act of 2018, which reauthorizes the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act (JJDPA) and supports state efforts to improve their juvenile justice systems, protect kids, and build safer communities.

“The National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges (NCJFCJ) thanks Senator Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Senator Susan Collins (R-ME), Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.), Rep. Bobby Scott (D-Va.), and Rep. Jason Lewis (R-Minn.) for their leadership and tireless efforts to ensuring the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act Reauthorization was signed into law,” said Judge John J. Romero, Jr., NCJFCJ president. “The NCJFCJ has supported the JJDPA since its original enactment and today’s monumental action reauthorizing this important law is a pivotal step forward to supporting local and state efforts to prevent delinquency, create safer communities, and improve the juvenile justice system.”

President Gerald Ford first signed the JJDPA into law on September 7, 1974; it was last reauthorized in 2002 and has been awaiting reauthorization for more than a decade. The law remains the only federal statute that sets out national standards for the custody and care of youth in the juvenile justice system and provides direction and support for state juvenile justice system improvements.

The NCJFCJ also applauds Congress for coming together and passing a much-needed update to the law and for including a provision, championed by the NCJFCJ, which allows federal grants to support training and technical assistance for juvenile court judges and personnel. This is a significant step to advance education and resources for the judiciary so we are properly equipped to carry out the four core requirements of the JJDPA.

The reauthorization measure also includes needed updates to help guide juvenile justice professionals in our work to apply trauma-responsive practices. With up to 90 percent of justice-involved youth reporting exposure to some type of traumatic event, the NCJFCJ has worked tirelessly to support a trauma-responsive continuum of programs to address the needs of at-risk youth and those who come in contact with the juvenile justice system. Research has shown the improved understanding of brain development in children and youth, and reveals the negative outcomes for low-risk children who are detained.

In 2017, the NCJFCJ passed a resolution in support of the reauthorization and strengthening of the JJDPA and elimination of the valid court order exception as it is in the best interest of our nation’s children and committees.

As originally enacted, the JJDPA required states to stop incarcerating young people for status offense behaviors such as running away from home or skipping school. An exception to this rule was added in 1984, which permits states to securely detain youth when these behaviors are in violation of a valid court order.

“Historically, some courts have rationalized the use of detention in these cases by way of the valid court order exception as a means to teach the child a lesson, or because there are no other readily identifiable intervention options,” said Joey Orduna Hastings, NCJFCJ CEO. “However, using the valid court order exception has been a topic of debate within judicial circles and the juvenile justice field and has received increasing criticism from outside experts and agencies interested in juvenile justice system reform. While we support language in the updated law that seeks to limit states’ use of the VCO exception as a means of last resort, more work needs to be done at the state and federal level to ensure necessary reform and handling of status offenders.”

A cadre of judges across the nation has embraced the understanding that detention should not be used with low-risk offenders, and have actively avoided use of the valid court order in status offense cases. In fact in 2010, the NCJFCJ reversed its more than 30-year support of the valid court order and passed a resolution calling for eliminating the valid court order exception with the next reauthorization of the JJDPA. This decision was based on the current fund of knowledge about brain development and negative consequences of congregate care. Additionally, fundamental policy and practice changes in many jurisdictions demonstrate courts can safely eliminate the use of detention of youth involved in status offending behavior.

Although this reauthorization did not include the phase out of the valid court order exception, the NCJFCJ will continue its efforts with members of Congress, judges, and specific jurisdictions to achieve elimination of the valid court order exception and stands ready to support state courts in phasing out the valid court order through training and technical assistance.

The Juvenile Justice Reform Act of 2018 will build upon these national standards by promoting the use of alternatives to incarceration and supporting the implementation of trauma-informed, evidence-based practices to help prevent juvenile delinquency. The bill also includes provisions that are designed to reduce the placement of youth in adult jails pre-trial, add more structure to the law’s requirement to decrease racial and ethnic disparities, eliminate dangerous practices in confinement, including eliminating the use of restraints on pregnant girls; improve conditions and educational services for incarcerated youth; focus on the particular needs of special youth populations such as trafficked youth and Tribal youth; and increase accountability.

For more NCJFCJ resolutions and policy statements, click here.

About the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges (NCJFCJ):
Founded in 1937, the Reno, Nev.-based National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges, is the nation’s oldest judicial membership organization and focused on improving the effectiveness of our nation’s juvenile and family courts. A leader in continuing education opportunities, research, and policy development in the field of juvenile and family justice, the 2,000-member organization is unique in providing practice-based resources to jurisdictions and communities nationwide.

Press Contact:
Chrisie Yabu
KPS3
chrisie@kps3.com

Source: National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges

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December 21, 2018
Private Practice Counselors Urged to Help the Overburdened Criminal Justice System

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Most offender treatment goes on in the private sector—and more services are needed that target specific offender groups.

Press Release
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updated: Apr 25, 2018

MEMPHIS, Tenn., April 25, 2018 (Newswire.com)
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Few people are aware that America averages over 10 million arrests each year. The vast majority of arrests are for the offenses of driving without a license, shoplifting, and various other misdemeanors. Nearly all of these offenders are quickly processed and released and eventually assigned to a short probation term. Relatively few court jurisdictions have programs for such offenders, but most jurisdictions want specialized programs available for such offenders. Since the mid-1990s several large, private probation companies have aimed treatment programs at some specific offender groups, such as shoplifting offenders. However, their services are primarily offered in larger metropolitan areas leaving rural areas and towns without services that specifically treat specialized groups of low-level offenders. In recent years, private counselors and mental health providers have begun offering specialized counseling groups to offenders as part of an emerging trend that allows such services to be available even in small jurisdictions. It’s a trend that needs to increase and is a needed service in local communities.

Dr. Greg Little, author of “How to Establish and Build a Private Counseling Practice With Criminal Justice Clients” (2016), wrote, “In essence, the governmental side of criminal justice is so swamped with offenders that it can’t provide all that is needed. In brief, it became clear that the future of offender treatment was going to be specialized and something that could and would be done outside the governmental criminal justice system. Today, the majority of offender treatment probably goes on outside the criminal justice system. It is usually a contracted service and often court assigned. Most of these programs are funded by the offenders themselves. Nearly all of the ‘private’ providers offering such services use focused, cognitive behavioral workbooks designed for specific types of offenses. These programs are nearly always done in groups.”

In essence, the governmental side of criminal justice is so swamped with offenders that it can’t provide all that is needed. In brief, it became clear that the future of offender treatment was going to be specialized and something that could and would be done outside the governmental criminal justice system. Today, the majority of offender treatment probably goes on outside the criminal justice system.

Dr. Greg Little, Author

Little mentions shoplifting, underage drinking, driving without a license, and a host of other offense categories as being treatment areas that counselors and local mental health agencies should target. Services for Veterans are especially needed in rural areas. He adds, “By using evidence-based program materials, you can apply the very best treatment strategies to ensure that you are likely to reduce the chances that the offenders will re-offend. But it’s essential to first gain the trust and confidence of the local jurisdiction. You need to use what works.”

The first implementation of Little’s shoplifting program was in Nashville, Tennessee nearly a decade ago. “It was a huge implementation and has since been replicated at many sites,” Little stated. “It has been hugely successful. Counselors and local agencies should make efforts to serve the needs of their community by offering the key services that your local criminal justice simply can’t provide.” Such services should include programs for shoplifting offenders, those arrested for underage drinking, driving without a license, failure to provide child support, petty theft, anger management, trauma treatment, and services for Veterans.

Source: Advanced Training Associates, LLC

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April 25, 2018
Top Canadian Law Firms’ Courtroom Performance Revealed by Legal Analytics Software

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Press Release
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updated: Sep 19, 2017

MIAMI, September 19, 2017 (Newswire.com)
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A Miami-based software firm is causing ripples in the Canadian legal sector with the release of its free Canada Courts Report 2017, which ranks the nation’s top lawyers and law firms based on their courtroom performance. Although data from the courts analyzed in the survey, which range from the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal (CHRT) to the Territorial Court of Yukon, has been publicly available for many years, Premonition is the first company to create a comprehensive, searchable archive of these records. The Canada Courts Report ranks the most successful litigators in each court according to the percentage of their cases won over the past three years, providing the public with a taste of the deeper analysis available to Premonition clients.

“What we’re talking about here is translating the performance of lawyers and firms into hard statistics,” says Premonition CEO and Co-Founder Guy Kurlandski. “For literally centuries, legal services have been a credence good—buyers make their best guess based on a firm’s marketing and reputation, and win or lose, never really know whether they made a good purchase or not. We aim to put an end to this unfair system.”

“The rankings you see in the Canada Courts Report are fairly basic,” continues Premonition’s other Co-Founder and CIO Toby Unwin. “All they tell you is who has won the highest percentage of their cases in a given court. Once you dig a little further into the numbers though, you start to get a picture of why certain attorneys win more than others.”

One of the value propositions Premonition mentions over and over again in their materials is the centrality of the relationship between a lawyer and a given judge. The impact of judicial preference on Canadian court decisions has long been anecdotally testified to, but quantitative research has been limited by the sheer scale of data involved. Now, with a few keystrokes, Premonition can identify outlier attorneys who massively over- or under-perform before certain judges. Internationally, the company has claimed this lawyer-judge dynamic accounts for a 30.7% skew in case outcomes.

“If a modest investment in the legal ‘scouting’ we provide can turn a corporate client’s litigation portfolio from a 50/50 proposition to an 80/20, that represents a potential savings in the millions,” Unwin notes.

Canada is Premonition’s most recent national expansion, joining operations in the United States, United Kingdom, India, Australia and more. Per its report, the firm is currently seeking a Canadian representative. Thanks to the controversial response its previous domestic rankings have provoked among attorneys who don’t find themselves listed, local partners like Premonition UK’s Ian Dodd often find themselves making industry headlines.

“There were a fair number of upset barristers when we released our first Courts Report for the UK,” says Dodd, “but before long I was taking calls every day from firms with clients who demanded performance data before putting money on the table. Now it’s ‘the new black,’ and Premonition’s right in the thick of it.”

Premonition’s Canada Courts Report 2017 is available now as a free download at https://www.premonition.ai/reports.

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Contact:

Nathan Huber
Premonition L.L.C.
Business Development Director
nh@premonition.ai
(615) 364-0924

Source: Premonition L.L.C.

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September 19, 2017