Crime
October 8, 2019 — Paul Mirengoff
It was bound to happen, and sooner rather than later. Joel Francisco, dubbed by authorities the crown prince of the Almighty Latin Kings gang, was released from prison thanks to the First Step Act. Now, he is now wanted for murder. Francisco was sentenced in 2005 to life imprisonment for trafficking in crack cocaine. The Fair Sentencing Act of 2010 reduced sentences for this crime, but not retroactively. The First
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October 6, 2019 — John Hinderaker
On September 30, the FBI released its annual report on crime for 2018. It showed that violent crime declined over 2017 in every category except rape, where a revised definition was applied. The number of homicides declined by 6.1%; the rate went down by even more than that, to 5.0 per 100,000. The FBI’s good news about crime got very little publicity, and I can’t find a single publication that
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October 3, 2019 — Paul Mirengoff
The “jailbreak” crowd, which includes far too many conservatives, likes to point to Texas as providing powerful evidence for the merit of releasing felons from prison early. Indeed, the usually sensible Sen. John Cornyn of Texas was a leader of the federal push for lenient sentencing. In support of his position, he liked to cite the Texas experience. That experience didn’t work well this weekend for Houston’s first Sikh officer,
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September 28, 2019 — John Hinderaker
A number of American cities are in crisis–San Francisco, Chicago, Seattle and Los Angeles come to mind–but Minneapolis is giving those better-known towns a run for their money. Violent crime in Minneapolis is rising alarmingly, and it is getting international attention as a result of an incident that was recorded by security cameras. In broad daylight, just outside the entrance to Target Field, where the Minnesota Twins play, a gang
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September 14, 2019 — John Hinderaker
Minneapolis once had the reputation of being a nice city. That seems, now, like a long time ago in a galaxy far away. These days, the reality is different. This sickening video of a gang of youths viciously brutalizing a man just outside Target Field, where the Twins play baseball, has gone national. It is visual proof of how feral downtown Minneapolis has become: More and more, violence intrudes on
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September 13, 2019 — Paul Mirengoff
Andrew McCabe, the former deputy director of the FBI, deserves to be prosecuted. His crimes, false statements to federal investigators, were documented by the Justice Department’s inspector general, Michael Horowitz, an Obama appointee. Andy McCarthy discusses the crimes here. McCabe is an enemy and fierce critic of President Trump. I always worry when enemies of the president face criminal prosecution. Sending political enemies to prison is a hallmark of authoritarian
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September 7, 2019 — Paul Mirengoff
Montgomery County, Maryland is taking criticism for enabling rapists. As I discussed here, at least seven illegal immigrants were arrested and charged with sexual crimes during a six week period this summer. Montgomery County enables rape and other crimes by illegal immigrants by refusing to cooperate with the federal government in removing criminal illegals. For example, Rodrigo Castro-Montejo, a Salvadoran national living in the U.S. illegally, was arrested in Montgomery
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September 3, 2019 — Paul Mirengoff
Recent mass shootings have prompted calls for new gun control legislation aimed primarily at rifles. However, most murders are not the product of mass shootings by people who want to make a statement, political or otherwise. They are committed on a small scale, with handguns, by ordinary criminals. At Conservative Review, Daniel Horowitz presents a seven-step plan to reduce homicides. I have distilled his seven steps to six, which are
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September 2, 2019 — Paul Mirengoff
Jason Hopkins of the Daily Caller reports that in Montgomery Country, Maryland, where I live, at least seven illegal immigrants have been arrested and charged with sexual crimes since July 25 of this year. In the latest case, Emilio Carrasco-Hernandez, a 37-year-old from Honduras, was arrested for allegedly holding a 15-year-old girl down and raping her. In other cases, illegal immigrants have been charged with raping an 11-year-old and a
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August 27, 2019 — Paul Mirengoff
I wrote here about Jared Kushner’s boast to big GOP donors that felons released from jail are registering to vote as Republicans. Kushner quipped, “I guess climate change is not their No. 1 issue.” The donors, all of whom are wealthy enough to protect themselves and their families from the crimes the released felons will likely commit, had a good laugh. No doubt, some ex-cons are registering as Republicans. The
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August 26, 2019 — Paul Mirengoff
According to Axios, Jared Kushner told Republican donors that felons are coming out of jail and registering as Republicans. “I guess climate change is not their No. 1 issue,” Kushner joked at a donor retreat in Wyoming. Right, avoiding punishment for criminal conduct is the No. 1 issue for many felons, which is one reason why they shouldn’t be allowed to vote. Kushner cited recent statistics he said he’d seen
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August 20, 2019 — Paul Mirengoff
Governor Greg Abbott of Texas has endorsed the “ban the box” initiative. “Ban the box” means prohibiting employers from asking job applicants about their criminal history. Abbott said: We want every man and woman in this state to have their own chance at the unique brand of economic prosperity that Texas offers. It doesn’t matter if you have an arrest record, we want you to have a job. Casting “ban
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August 15, 2019 — Paul Mirengoff
The news media reported relentlessly on all matters relating even remotely to the horrific murders in El Paso, Texas and Dayton, Ohio. Fair enough. But I haven’t heard much from the mainstream media about the shooting in Philadelphia of six police officers by a felon who wasn’t permitted by law to possess a firearm. Maurice Hill is believed to have fired more than 100 rounds during his standoff with police.
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August 14, 2019 — Paul Mirengoff
I wrote here about the assault case against rapper A$AP Rocky, who, while in Stockholm, beat up an immigrant to Sweden for the sin of following him around and disobeying instructions by the rapper’s body guard not to do so. Swedish authorities arrested Rocky and two members of his crew and held them in custody pending trial, pursuant to Swedish law. At the urging of Kanye West and his Kardashian
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August 11, 2019 — Paul Mirengoff
It’s quite amusing to watch Democratic presidential contenders respond to attacks on their record regarding crime. They have no defense to assert that would not hurt them with their Party’s base. Thus, they respond by attacking the record of the candidate who has attacked them. There is, of course, an excellent good answer to the question of why Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, Cory Booker, Amy Klobuchar, and Pete Buttigieg have
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August 10, 2019 — Steven Hayward
I’m having trouble taking the Jeffrey Epstein story with the seriousness it deserves, in part because of his links to to the most laughable public figure in American political history (Bill Clinton), who was and remains good for so many jokes. So among my posts on Twitter (which I mostly just use for jokes these days anyway): But seriously, folks. How does this happen? It is hard to credit mere
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August 7, 2019 — Paul Mirengoff
The left wants to discount the role of mental disturbance in mass shootings. By doing so, it can keep all of the focus on guns and “white supremacy.” In addition, allowing mental disturbance to enter the conversation might lead to a discussion of family breakdown and loss of religious faith. The left wants to steer clear of that discussion at all costs. Hence, we see dishonest news stories, like the
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