October 4, 2015


News Clips For The Day


http://www.cbsnews.com/news/israel-bars-palestinians-jerusalem-old-city/
Israel takes historic measures against Palestinians
CBS/AP
October 4, 2015

Photograph -- A Palestinian woman looks out of a bus window during clashes between Palestinians protesters and Israeli troops in the occupied West Bank city of Hebron October 4, 2015. REUTERS/MUSSA QAWASMA
Photograph -- palestinians Dome of the Rock
A member of the Palestinian scouts raises a baton during a ceremony commemorating the birth of Prophet Mohammed, known in Arabic as 'al-Mawlid al-Nabawi' outside the Dome of the Rock in the Al-Aqsa mosque compound, Islam's third holiest site, in the old city of Jerusalem on January 3, 2015. AHMAD GHARABLI/AFP/GETTY IMAGES


JERUSALEM - In an unprecedented measure, Israeli police barred Palestinians from Jerusalem's Old City on Sunday in response to stabbing attacks that killed two Israelis and wounded three others, as Israel's prime minister vowed a "harsh offensive" to counter rising violence.

Tensions have flared in recent weeks over an Old City holy site sacred to Muslims and Jews, a series of so-called "lone wolf" attacks on Israelis and a security clampdown, which on Sunday saw Israeli troops launch a bloody arrest raid in the West Bank.

The violence comes as diplomatic relations between Israel and Palestinian officials appear to be reaching a new nadir. Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said last week at the U.N. that he would no longer be honoring his signed agreements with Israel.

Abbas -- citing among other things the clashes in the Old City -- called the state of affairs in Israel "unacceptable," and he repeatedly slammed Israeli leaders for breaking promises "as an occupier." As a result, Abbas said, the Palestinian people will no longer recognize any agreements they have signed thus far with them.

"They are not listening to the truth," Abbas said.

The latest spike in violence comes at a time when many Palestinians no longer believe statehood through negotiations with Israel is possible. Israeli commentators raised the possibility of a third uprising, though Abbas has so far prevented major outbreaks of violence despite his growing friction with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

In response to the recent violence, Israeli police said they would prevent Palestinian residents of Jerusalem from entering the Old City for two days during a Jewish holiday. Palestinians who live, work and study within the Old City, as well as Israelis and tourists, will be allowed in.

"This is a drastic measure that's being taken in order to make sure there are no further attacks during the Jewish festival where you can see thousands of people visiting the Old City," Israeli police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said.

Israel captured the Old City and east Jerusalem in the 1967 Mideast war, and later annexed the areas. Palestinians claim east Jerusalem as the capital of their hoped-for state.

Some 300,000 Palestinians live in Jerusalem, making up about a third of the city's population. They live in the predominantly Arab eastern district and have residency status in the city, but do not hold Israeli citizenship.

They are usually free to enter the Old City in east Jerusalem, where major Muslim, Christian and Jewish holy sites are located. Jerusalem expert Danny Seidemann said it is the first time since Israel captured the Old City in 1967 that it has prevented Jerusalem's Palestinians from entering.

In the latest attack, Israeli police say a Palestinian teenager stabbed and moderately wounded a 15-year-old Israeli early Sunday morning in Jerusalem before being shot dead by Israeli police.

Israeli TV showed footage of the alleged assailant walking along the city's light rail tracks as bystanders screamed, "Shoot him!" In the video, a police car arrives on the scene, multiple gunshots are heard, and the attacker is then seen lying on the ground.

The attack came hours after a Palestinian teen fatally stabbed two Israelis in the Old City and wounded the wife and toddler of one of the slain men, before the attacker was shot dead by an Israeli police officer. Israeli officials identified the victims of Saturday's attack as Aharon Banita, a 21-year-old soldier, and Rabbi Nehemia Lavi, a father of seven who was a rabbi at a seminary in the Old City's Muslim Quarter.

Tensions have soared in recent weeks over a major holy site known to Jews as the Temple Mount and to Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary, the site of the Al-Aqsa Mosque. Israeli police and Palestinian demonstrators have clashed repeatedly there in recent weeks.

The unrest has spread to the West Bank, where at least 18 Palestinians were wounded in clashes with Israeli troops Sunday during an Israeli arrest raid. On Friday, an Israeli couple was killed in a Palestinian drive-by shooting in the West Bank.

Netanyahu said he would meet with security officials Sunday to decide on a "harsh offensive on Palestinian Islamic terror," according to a statement on his Facebook page. "We are in an all-out war against terror," Netanyahu wrote.

Israel's leading newspaper commentator, Nahum Barnea, called the recent violence the "Third Intifada," referring to Palestinian uprisings in the 1980s and the early 2000s. "Not calling it by name allows the political and military establishment to evade, repress, shirk responsibility," he wrote in the Yediot Ahronot newspaper.

But Hani al-Masri, a Palestinian political analyst, said it was not likely the start of a new Intifada. "Intifada needs a leadership and the Palestinian political leadership is against it," he said.

Relatives of the teen behind Sunday's attack identified him as Fadi Alloun, 19, from traditionally Arab east Jerusalem. On Saturday, he wrote on his Facebook page: "Either martyrdom or victory."

Muhannad Halabi, the 19-year-old Palestinian behind the deadly stabbing attack on Saturday, also wrote a post on Facebook before the attack: "What's happening to our holy places? What's happening to our mothers and sisters in the Al-Aqsa mosque? We are not the people who accept humiliation. Our people will revolt."

The sacred hilltop compound is a frequent flashpoint and its fate is at the core of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. It is known to Jews as the Temple Mount, site of the two biblical Jewish temples. Muslims revere it as the Noble Sanctuary, where they believe the Prophet Muhammad ascended to heaven in a night journey.

Non-Muslim visitors are only allowed to enter the site at specific hours and are banned by police from praying there. Many Muslims view Jewish visits as a provocation and accuse Jewish extremists of plotting to take over the site. Israel has promised to ensure the delicate arrangement at the site and insists it will not allow the status quo there to be changed.

In the West Bank, Israeli troops shot and wounded at least 6 Palestinians in an arrest raid in the Jenin refugee camp, a Palestinian hospital director said. The refugee camp was the scene of some of the fiercest fighting of the second Palestinian intifada.

Monther Irshaid, director of the Khalil Suleiman Hospital in Jenin, said the Palestinians were shot in the legs with live bullets and two suffered serious leg injuries.

Additionally, Red Crescent spokeswoman Arrab Fukaha said another 22 Palestinians sustained light injuries from live fire in clashes with Israeli forces at several other locations in the West Bank, while about 100 others were lightly hurt from rubber bullets.

The clashes broke out as troops surrounded the home of a Palestinian suspect. Witnesses said Israeli troops fired a "small missile" at the house to force the suspect out. The Israeli military said a few dozen Palestinians attacked troops with pipe bombs and that troops responded with "riot dispersal means."

Troops arrested two Palestinians suspected of "terror activity," the army said. One armed suspect barricaded himself inside a building and a fire broke out during the arrest, the army said without elaborating. The army said troops found explosive devices inside.




“In an unprecedented measure, Israeli police barred Palestinians from Jerusalem's Old City on Sunday in response to stabbing attacks that killed two Israelis and wounded three others, as Israel's prime minister vowed a "harsh offensive" to counter rising violence. Tensions have flared in recent weeks over an Old City holy site sacred to Muslims and Jews, a series of so-called "lone wolf" attacks on Israelis and a security clampdown, which on Sunday saw Israeli troops launch a bloody arrest raid in the West Bank. …. The latest spike in violence comes at a time when many Palestinians no longer believe statehood through negotiations with Israel is possible. Israeli commentators raised the possibility of a third uprising, though Abbas has so far prevented major outbreaks of violence despite his growing friction with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. In response to the recent violence, Israeli police said they would prevent Palestinian residents of Jerusalem from entering the Old City for two days during a Jewish holiday. Palestinians who live, work and study within the Old City, as well as Israelis and tourists, will be allowed in. …. Some 300,000 Palestinians live in Jerusalem, making up about a third of the city's population. They live in the predominantly Arab eastern district and have residency status in the city, but do not hold Israeli citizenship. They are usually free to enter the Old City in east Jerusalem, where major Muslim, Christian and Jewish holy sites are located. Jerusalem expert Danny Seidemann said it is the first time since Israel captured the Old City in 1967 that it has prevented Jerusalem's Palestinians from entering. …. The unrest has spread to the West Bank, where at least 18 Palestinians were wounded in clashes with Israeli troops Sunday during an Israeli arrest raid. On Friday, an Israeli couple was killed in a Palestinian drive-by shooting in the West Bank.”

This sounds more like criminal activity than war. Two separate assaults by teenagers using the weapon of choice, knives and an armed Palestinian opposition to a “bloody arrest raid” by Israelis in the West Bank. At least one Palestinian militant stated that they will try to avenge the offensive and disrespectful behavior by the Israelis. However, as Hani al-Masri, a Palestinian political analyst, said, "Intifada needs a leadership and the Palestinian political leadership is against it.” It does come after diplomatic relations recently broke down between the two groups. It’s like the Hatfields and the McCoys. According to Wikipedia, the governor of Kentucky intervened with the result that 10 people were wounded and “nearly a dozen” were killed. The US Supreme Court made a final decision, causing 7 to be given life in prison and one was hanged.

The real problem in these kinds of things is that hatred on both sides runs rampant, and there is no respect for law or peace. It’s all about vengeance. I don’t know from the article what the “bloody arrest raid” was about; to me “arrest” means that the action is for a specific crime by specific suspects, not just a general desire to go bash some Palestinian heads in. Even with those “arrests,” there is too much of the generally undisciplined “tit for tat,” and eye for eye and tooth for tooth in it. It looks like something a court of law should solve. I wonder if there are any ordinary prisons for criminals over there? To me, this is a criminal matter.





http://www.cbsnews.com/news/syria-president-bashar-assad-i-would-leave-office-if-it-would-help/

Assad: I would leave office if it would help
CBS/AP
October 4, 2015

Photograph -- Syria's President Bashar al-Assad in Damascus, Syria, in this handout photograph released by Syria's national news agency SANA on August 25, 2015. REUTERS
Play VIDEO -- Obama: Russia will get bogged down in Syria


BEIRUT - Syria's President Bashar Assad said Sunday he would be willing to step down if he thought it would help.

Assad was speaking in an interview with Iran's Khabar TV, parts of which were aired Sunday.

President Assad, approaching the five-year mark in Syria's civil war, which began with protests against his family hegemony over the country's politics, has publicly resisted calls to step down. His message to Iranian TV was couched, however, in language that blamed the West for "supporting terrorism," and he said so long as that continues, he will not step down.

In the interview, Assad also said the air campaign by Russia against terrorists in his country must succeed or the whole region will be destroyed.

He said that Russian campaign has the potential to succeed because it is supported by Iran and has international, if not Western, support. He called on countries that support the armed opposition to stop, which would increase the chances of the campaign to succeed.

Assad's comments are the first since Russia launched an intensive air campaign against rebel positions in Syria Wednesday, saying it is targeting the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and other terrorist organizations. Some of the airstrikes hit Western-backed fighters.

Syria's foreign minister made similar comments at the U.N. on Friday, saying that airstrikes against ISIS group "are useless" unless they are coordinated with the Syrian government, as the international community scrambled to respond to Russia's airstrikes in his country.

Addressing the summit of world leaders at the U.N. General Assembly, Walid al-Moallem said Russia's decision to start bombing targets was based on the Assad government's request and is effective because it supports Syria's efforts to combat terrorism.

"Terrorism cannot be fought only from the air, and all of the previous operations to combat it have only served its spread and outbreak," al-Moallem said.

The United States, which opposes Assad and conducting its own airstrikes against extremists in Syria, has questioned Moscow's assertion that it is targeting Islamic terrorists there, saying the areas hit close to Homs are strongholds of the Syrian opposition to Assad. Allies in the U.S.-led coalition have called on Russia to cease attacks on opposition forces and to focus on fighting Islamic State of Iraq and Syria militants.




“His message to Iranian TV was couched, however, in language that blamed the West for "supporting terrorism," and he said so long as that continues, he will not step down. In the interview, Assad also said the air campaign by Russia against terrorists in his country must succeed or the whole region will be destroyed.”

“… and other terrorist organizations. Some of the airstrikes hit Western-backed fighters.” One of my favorite sayings is “One man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter.” That’s exactly what is going on here, and the US is again opposing Russia in, as the article calls it, a “proxy war.” Tactically, one could say it is necessary, as the competition for oil, land use for military purposes, and overall status ranking are involved in the Middle East as they are in Ukraine. Russia is willing – perhaps eager – to bomb ISIS into surrender if they can. Putin has stated that he wants to stop them before they get to Russia, and the US had better be thinking about that, also. I can only hope that that Russian and US forces will succeed in soundly defeating them, as ISIS is very much like a rabid dog. It needs to be destroyed.

I would very much prefer peace in the area, but the prevalent hatreds there make that impossible, so I will take victory. We should at least get in some good licks against ISIS, if we are to claim any of the spoils. I hope we can do that without coming to blows directly with Russia. We have done better by cooperating with them in areas such as the space program and WWII against Germany, Italy and Japan. We should not forget, also, that Russia is just a few hundred miles across the Bering Strait from Alaska, and has already put out a quirky claim on Arctic waters with a Russian flag dropped to the bottom of the sea there. They also have “mischievously” come close to some of our cities and military planes in the last couple of years, which is annoying to me if not frightening. I have a combination of hope and dread for the events of the next ten or so years. The more economic and cultural matters become problematic the more likely that some kind of hot war may break out somewhere. I am reminded that Jesus says, somewhere in the Bible, “there will be wars and rumors of wars,” and when I look back at world history from the very beginning to the present, that dark statement is the exact truth. I pray and hope for peace, but it is usually short-lived and incomplete.




http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2015/10/04/445773358/doctors-without-borders-kunduz-airstrike-was-war-crime

Doctors Without Borders: Kunduz Airstrike Was 'War Crime'
Scott Neuman
OCTOBER 04, 2015

Photograph -- The burned Doctors Without Borders hospital is seen after explosions in the northern Afghan city of Kunduz, on Saturday. Doctors Without Borders says 12 staff members and 10 patients were killed in the attack and 37 others wounded.
AP


NATO in Afghanistan says it will lead an investigation into an airstrike in Kunduz this weekend that hit a Médecins Sans Frontières hospital, killing 22 people — an attack that the humanitarian organization, also known as Doctors Without Borders, has called "a war crime."

A U.S.-led airstrike on the northern Afghan city was carried out on Saturday but the circumstances surrounding it remain murky. NATO acknowledges only that the raid occurred near the charity's hospital.

As we reported yesterday, a spokesman for U.S. forces in Afghanistan released a statement saying that the strike "may have resulted in collateral damage to a nearby medical facility."

The NATO coalition says it "has directed a preliminary multi-national investigation known as a Casualty Assessment Team." It says that an initial investigation would be complete in "a matter of days."

"Additionally, the U.S. military has opened a formal investigation, headed by a General Officer, to conduct a thorough and comprehensive inquiry," it said in a statement.

But MSF's General Director Christopher Stokes, saying in a statement that the group operates "[under] the clear presumption that a war crime has been committed," insisted that anything less than a fully independent probe of the incident would be unacceptable.

"Relying only on an internal investigation by a party to the conflict would be wholly insufficient," Stokes said.

"We reiterate that the main hospital building, where medical personnel were caring for patients, was repeatedly and very precisely hit during each aerial raid, while the rest of the compound was left mostly untouched. We condemn this attack, which constitutes a grave violation of International Humanitarian Law," Stokes said.

In an interview on Sunday's Weekend All Things Considered, MSF Executive Director Jason Cone, said it has been the "darkest couple of days in our organization's history."

Speaking with WATC host Michel Martin, Cone reiterated Stokes' description of the attack as "a war crime."

"This was a known structure, and for that reason we have to presume until otherwise that this act is both a grave violation of humanitarian law, and can rise to the level of a war crime until we have an independent investigation that tells us otherwise," he said.

Answering an earlier claim by the Afghanistan's interior minister that "terrorists" had been taking refuge in the hospital, Cone fired back:

"We do not run hospitals around the world allowing combatants to enter our facilities and militarize them," he tells NPR. "That would be a red line for us. It puts both our patients and our staff at risk and we would never accept that under any circumstances."

Kunduz, which briefly fell to the Taliban last week before a government counteroffensive, is reportedly experiencing a growing humanitarian crisis. Even so, MSF says it has all but abandoned its Kunduz hospital in the wake of the attack.

"All critical patients have been referred to other health facilities and no MSF staff are working in our hospital," Kate Stegeman, the communications manager for MSF, was quoted by The Associated Press as saying.

"Some of our medical staff have gone to work in two hospitals where some of the wounded have been taken," she said.




“A U.S.-led airstrike on the northern Afghan city was carried out on Saturday but the circumstances surrounding it remain murky. NATO acknowledges only that the raid occurred near the charity's hospital. As we reported yesterday, a spokesman for U.S. forces in Afghanistan released a statement saying that the strike "may have resulted in collateral damage to a nearby medical facility." …. It says that an initial investigation would be complete in "a matter of days."
"Additionally, the U.S. military has opened a formal investigation, headed by a General Officer, to conduct a thorough and comprehensive inquiry," it said in a statement. But MSF's General Director Christopher Stokes, saying in a statement that the group operates "[under] the clear presumption that a war crime has been committed," insisted that anything less than a fully independent probe of the incident would be unacceptable. …. "We reiterate that the main hospital building, where medical personnel were caring for patients, was repeatedly and very precisely hit during each aerial raid, while the rest of the compound was left mostly untouched. We condemn this attack, which constitutes a grave violation of International Humanitarian Law," Stokes said. …. Answering an earlier claim by the Afghanistan's interior minister that "terrorists" had been taking refuge in the hospital, Cone fired back: "We do not run hospitals around the world allowing combatants to enter our facilities and militarize them," he tells NPR. "That would be a red line for us. It puts both our patients and our staff at risk and we would never accept that under any circumstances."

I don’t see it in this article, but on NPR in my car this morning I heard the statement that even if the hospital had “allowed” insurgents to enter and shelter there, a hospital, church, mosque, or other similar place of refuge is considered safe haven for everyone who is within it, at least to the limit that military assault on the building is a war crime. I must say, I don’t believe our soldiers or bombers would have purposely bombed the hospital, but the report today also stated that our forces were well aware of the location of the hospital, so they should have been sufficiently careful to avoid an attack, especially a prolonged attack as the organization claimed. Gross negligence is grounds for claims to be brought against us as well as intention. There has been no clear-cut statement that the attack came from our forces at all, however, so I think we need to wait to hear more.





http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2015/10/04/445763565/life-ring-from-missing-cargo-ship-recovered-coast-guard-says

Flotsam In Area Where Cargo Ship Went Missing, Coast Guard Says
Scott Neuman
October 4, 2015

TWITTER -- U.S. Coast Guard ✔ @uscoastguard
MIAMI – Coast Guard search and rescue crews have located multiple objects in the water in the search area for the El… http://pier.me/6mG
12:20 PM - 4 Oct 2015


The Coast Guard says it has located several objects floating in the water near the spot in the Bahamas where a 790-foot cargo ship and its crew of 33 went missing last week after issuing a distress satellite notification amid hurricane-force winds and waves.

U.S. Coast Guard pilots searching for a third day for the El Faro - a roll on, roll off container ship — found life jackets, containers and an oil slick on the water.

A statement issued by the Coast Guard said that "[the] objects have not been confirmed to be from the El Faro at this time." In an earlier statement, however, the Coast Guard said that a life ring was recovered earlier and that it verified to be from the ship.

The statement said that two HC-130 Hercules, the Cutter Northland and an MH-60 Jayhawk were involved in the search.

The El Faro, built in 1975, is variously described as 735-feet and 790-feet in length. It left Jacksonville, Fla., on Sept. 29. On Oct. 1, authorities received a satellite notification saying the vessel had lost propulsion and was listing in hurricane conditions off Crooked Island, Bahamas. The message said that the ship had been taking on water but that all flooding had been contained.

The ship has a crew of 33, 28 of them Americans.




“The Coast Guard says it has located several objects floating in the water near the spot in the Bahamas where a 790-foot cargo ship and its crew of 33 went missing last week after issuing a distress satellite notification amid hurricane-force winds and waves. U.S. Coast Guard pilots searching for a third day for the El Faro - a roll on, roll off container ship — found life jackets, containers and an oil slick on the water. A statement issued by the Coast Guard said that "[the] objects have not been confirmed to be from the El Faro at this time." In an earlier statement, however, the Coast Guard said that a life ring was recovered earlier and that it verified to be from the ship. …. It left Jacksonville, Fla., on Sept. 29. On Oct. 1, authorities received a satellite notification saying the vessel had lost propulsion and was listing in hurricane conditions off Crooked Island, Bahamas. The message said that the ship had been taking on water but that all flooding had been contained. The ship has a crew of 33, 28 of them Americans.”

As you can imagine, there is consternation and grief in Jacksonville today, as most or all of the crewmen were residents here. The ship went out at a time that the storm had not reached hurricane strength, but I still think they should have waited and watched the storm, or followed another route to carry it farther out to the East and away from the storm area. The Island where the ship’s contents were found, Crook Island, was shown on news footage yesterday under very stormy conditions of wind and rain. Hurricanes, and even tropical storms, are never exactly “safe,” as many who decided to stay home and shelter in place have found. They also are never fully “predictable,” though our storm watching abilities have improved tremendously since I was young. Watching them has been a part of my life forever, as I come from North Carolina which gets hit at least a glancing blow nearly every year, and sometimes with considerable devastation. I hope these sailors will return safe by some miracle.





http://www.npr.org/sections/itsallpolitics/2015/10/03/445309516/heres-1-thing-washington-agreed-on-this-week-sentencing-reform

Here's One Thing Washington Agreed On This Week: Sentencing Reform
Carrie Johnson
October 3, 2015

Photograph -- A cell at El Reno Federal Correctional Institution in Oklahoma, which President Obama visited in July. The Sentencing Reform and Corrections Act would apply only to federal crimes and federal prisons, which house a shade over 200,000 inmates — a tiny fraction of the population detained in jails and state facilities.
Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images


It's wonder enough in sharply-divided Washington that nine Democrats and Republicans in the U.S. Senate came together this week to do anything, let alone touch the once politically charged arena of crime and punishment.

But groups as different as the ACLU and Koch Industries had joined this year in a coalition to press for change, and so too did senators as different as Iowa Republican Charles Grassley and Illinois Democrat Richard Durbin.

Prison populations will not drop significantly until we start asking how we can punish violent offenders more intelligently and less severely. -- John Pfaff, Fordham Law School

Lawmakers called their new bipartisan bill a "landmark" in the area of criminal justice and said it represents a major retrenchment from tough mandatory sentencing laws adopted in a wave of drug-fueled violence during the 1980s and 1990s.

Marc Mauer, executive director of The Sentencing Project, put it this way: "The Sentencing Reform and Corrections Act is the most substantial criminal justice reform legislation introduced since the inception of the 'tough on crime' movement and is the best indication we have that those days are over."

All drug dealers are committing 'serious' crimes whether they are armed, physically violent, or not. -- Jon Adler, Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association

Criminal justice experts and prisoner advocates offered a sense of cautious optimism, with caveats. For one, the bill would apply only to federal crimes and federal prisons, which house a shade over 200,000 inmates, a tiny fraction of the population detained in jails and state facilities.

Second, the plan seeks to limit solitary confinement for juvenile offenders and offers them a pathway to expunge their criminal records. But experts say the federal system incarcerates fewer than 50 juveniles, and an even smaller number is believed to be held in isolation.

The number of current and future prisoners the legislation would touch is hard to define. But people who have been pushing for change told NPR one of the most important elements of the bill would make retroactive 2010 changes that reduce the disproportionate punishments between people sentenced to prison for crack cocaine offenses and people sentenced to shorter terms for crimes involving powder cocaine. A key author of the bill, Iowa's Grassley, said that fix alone would apply to 6,500 people behind bars now.

Other provisions would reduce mandatory life without parole sentences for people who have committed three drug crimes to 25-year prison terms, and reduce mandatory minimum 20-year sentences for two drug crimes to 15-year mandatory terms.

"The bill isn't the full repeal of mandatory minimum sentences we ultimately need," said Julie Stewart, president of Families Against Mandatory Minimums. "But it is a substantial improvement over the status quo and will fix some of the worst injustices."

In fact, the legislation creates a small number of new mandatory minimum penalties for certain domestic violence and terrorism crimes. But experts said in practice, those penalties would apply to "almost no one," in the words of Fordham Law School Professor John Pfaff.

Pfaff said he had a bigger problem with how lawmakers had drawn the lines about which inmates would be eligible for sentencing breaks. "Prison populations will not drop significantly until we start asking how we can punish violent offenders more intelligently and less severely," Pfaff said. "Super-long sentences for violent offenders do not give us any extra deterrent effect and they over-incarcerate in that even violent offenders generally age out of aggressive behavior."

The president of the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association raced to disagree. Jon Adler, whose group represents 28,000 active and retired federal law officers, said he doesn't consider drug dealers "non violent" criminals.

"I remain concerned that the bill underestimates the impact of drugs and violence on victims by playing with the definition of what is considered a 'serious' offense," Adler said in a statement. "Because the poison that they deal kills people every day, all drug dealers are committing 'serious' crimes whether they are armed, physically violent, or not."

The Federal Law Enforcement Association threw its support behind other parts of the bill, such as a proposal that would offer lower risk, nonviolent prisoners who graduate from classes and drug treatment programs credits towards early release. That measure is the result of a bipartisan push from Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas and Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I.

An analyst at Human Rights Watch has concluded the bill as it stands now "may be the best policy reform available from the Senate."

And then, there's the even more politically fractious U.S. House of Representatives, where Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte R-Va. intends to introduce justice overhaul legislation in a piecemeal fashion.

President Obama, who's made criminal justice reform a big part of his legacy, said he wants a bill on his desk to sign by the end of the year. Not even the Senate bill's sponsors would venture a guess as to whether that's in the realm of the possible in today's Washington.




“Lawmakers called their new bipartisan bill a "landmark" in the area of criminal justice and said it represents a major retrenchment from tough mandatory sentencing laws adopted in a wave of drug-fueled violence during the 1980s and 1990s. Marc Mauer, executive director of The Sentencing Project, put it this way: "The Sentencing Reform and Corrections Act is the most substantial criminal justice reform legislation introduced since the inception of the 'tough on crime' movement and is the best indication we have that those days are over." …. Criminal justice experts and prisoner advocates offered a sense of cautious optimism, with caveats. For one, the bill would apply only to federal crimes and federal prisons, which house a shade over 200,000 inmates, a tiny fraction of the population detained in jails and state facilities. Second, the plan seeks to limit solitary confinement for juvenile offenders and offers them a pathway to expunge their criminal records. But experts say the federal system incarcerates fewer than 50 juveniles, and an even smaller number is believed to be held in isolation. …. A key author of the bill, Iowa's Grassley, said that fix alone would apply to 6,500 people behind bars now. Other provisions would reduce mandatory life without parole sentences for people who have committed three drug crimes to 25-year prison terms, and reduce mandatory minimum 20-year sentences for two drug crimes to 15-year mandatory terms. …. In fact, the legislation creates a small number of new mandatory minimum penalties for certain domestic violence and terrorism crimes. …. . "Super-long sentences for violent offenders do not give us any extra deterrent effect and they over-incarcerate in that even violent offenders generally age out of aggressive behavior." …. "I remain concerned that the bill underestimates the impact of drugs and violence on victims by playing with the definition of what is considered a 'serious' offense," Adler said in a statement. "Because the poison that they deal kills people every day, all drug dealers are committing 'serious' crimes whether they are armed, physically violent, or not." The Federal Law Enforcement Association threw its support behind other parts of the bill, such as a proposal that would offer lower risk, nonviolent prisoners who graduate from classes and drug treatment programs credits towards early release. That measure is the result of a bipartisan push from Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas and Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I. ….

The wrangling between the House and Senate may not produce a bill that the President can sign by the end of the year as he hopes, but this work is much needed, especially as lots of the offenders are young and personally immature, with the possibility of changing with help into healthier and more reliable citizens who can come out of prison and get a job. There are already job programs for newly released people and I think there should be halfway houses and mental health help for them as well. In fact I’m sure it’s mainly a matter of guiding them into a psych clinic, 12 Step Program, halfway house, etc.

If it’s like coming off of drugs or alcohol, the first year or so “clean and sober,” is the most difficult. People who are living rough lives on the street are very, very often addicted to multiple substances, and really breaking a habit like that requires a support system. I always praise AA and NA because they are free of charge and composed of fellow addicts who ALL are in it together – “peers” and not patients.

I think strictly psychiatric programs, except for the purely mentally disturbed, do not give the personal support of a friendship with a more experienced group member who can talk to you daily if needed and give their “experience, strength and hope,” as well as a trusting talking relationship. A psychiatrist is helpful for an addict in recovering from their active drug use habit, but addiction is not a purely psychiatric illness. It is lack of hope, bad personal habits, lack of good healthy friends who are not pursuing a criminal life, etc. They need daily helpful contacts.

I hope that these Congressmen and Senators in their wisdom, will try to set some of these things up for every person who comes out of prison, because they will have a rough voyage to travel from prisoner to good citizen, and that is the only acceptable goal. Signing in once a week with a parole officer, who probably has no personal interest in them anyway, just can’t meet these people’s needs. It’s good, but it’s not sufficient. Recidivism is likely to occur without a good peer group program, and avoiding it will require daily, weekly, monthly personal support. So many of these prisoners end up going back to their old habits and getting incarcerated again. It’s a sad thing to see, and it’s not simply that they are “bad” people, either. There are crimes that I think deserve life or more than just a few years in prison, but it’s mainly rape, aggravated assault, family violence, robbery, murder of course, and other vicious crimes. I don’t consider doing some drugs to be “vicious,” nor even many cases of selling drugs either. If a dealer beats up someone who can’t pay what he owes, that’s vicious.