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Unidentified man, white Chrysler, 3200 block of W. Lexington St.
Rodricks: "Why do they keep killing each other? Baltimore's most enduring question"
The Post has more on MD's Death Penalty limbo, and other states' methods
"Baltimore County Police are confirming the death of a man found inside his home in the 10200-block of Harrison Grant Drive"
Uptick in North Baltimore home burglaries/ robberies. (A detective told me that in the Northern they are up more than 20%)
2nd convict in the light rail rape & kidnapping case gets 40 years
We still haven't seen the last of lead-paint lawsuits
Labor dept. wins 11 unemployment-fraud lawsuits
On a LOLZ-ier note, how did "Doc" Cheatham get the idea that if Dixon's convicted, the governor "could appoint a white mayor" (or any mayor)? .. drum roll...
"... he heard an attorney on a radio program."
5 comments:
So, help me to understand: why are we only interested in the crime here when they are (Rodricks' column) 'killing each other'?
Why are we apparently so relieved when shootings are nonfatal ?
Why are we ok with the idea that Donald Rice broke into endless numbers of homes, but it sure was a shame when he got killed for it ?
How about asking the question:
why don't they got a life, and a job, and just stop this crap ? Why don't we pound the snot out of them (as perps, prisoners, and parolees) until they do so ?
Hmmmmmm. We learned last week that crime in the mysteriously-suspended commander's Southeast District had crime up in most categories (including murders to 21 from 8). Now we learn that part of the Northern has a big increase in burglaries. Wow.
Crime must really be down in all those other districts/areas.
Galt---actually most people are not really interested. They are interested in when their house gets broken into or they or someone they know gets robbed. The druggies carrying out their little "mutually assured violence" doesn't really affect most people in Baltimore--most of the time.
We're relieved at the nonfatals because most Baltimoreans don't like the murder count to be any worse than it already is.
They can't "get a life" or a job. Most of them are a mess; they only know street stuff. Job? It would have been extremely difficult for Donald Rice to get a job. Ever hear of Maryland Judiciary Case Search. Savvy employers check it before inviting you in for an interview. Got convictions; not get job.
Oh, and prisoners are not allowed to be beaten anymore.
Oh, I'm not referring to literally assaulting them.
Just arrest and incarcerate them... nonstop... so as to keep them off our streets.
As for employers unwilling to hire them... yeah. That's because their lawful wages have a price floor. Their economic worth is less than what we're allowed to pay them, thanks to government. But that's no authorization to commit crime. 'Street stuff' is not an option in a civilized city.
Why is the arrest and incarcerate solution so much more burdensome here than anywhere else?
Only because of the incredible density of hoodlums. Every small town has one ne'er do well. They arrest him and, voila, people can go on with their lives.
The only difference in Baltimore is the number of those who need arresting: not a needle in a haystack, but a vast not-quite-majority of the resident population.
Once you eliminate the criminally-inclined population of Baltimore (an admittedly big percentage), life can go on. Not before.
If it is economically burdensome to do so under the existing framework provided by Annapolis, you simply ratchet up the statutory penalties (with minimum sentencing, of course) until they start disappearing from your city. The confinement cost may rise, but the supervision costs and legal burden of endless rearrest will go down.
The only hard part is getting your elected officials to stop sheltering the hoodlums here, largely because paroled criminals and their families vote.
So, you deprive the criminals of the ability to vote and prosecute their families and associates whenever they aid or abet.
Many of the residents in inner-city areas here provide invaluable support to their criminal family/friends/lovers and do not pay the price for so doing. Bring the hammer down on them, and you'll be left with only relatively law-abiding folk to vote for the City delegation, who will then have to adopt an effective anti-criminal stance in the legislature.
At this time, they are largely pro-criminal.
Galt---the city police make thousand upon thousands of arrests each year. Before Bealefeld, the previous police administrations made even more arrests.
So many more, under the Frazier administration, that the numbers brought the newly-opened Central Booking to its knees.
As a result, the courts began to be unable to function, and the State's Attorney's office began the dubious practice of "abated by arrest". (Don't think that happens in any of the counties, but I doubt it). So, while it's true that the behavior was "abated by arrest", the message that was sent was that the miscreant is a "victim" of bad police practice, and what he did wasn't deserving of punishment.
As far as more serious crimes go, you surely are aware that successful prosecution needs evidence, particularly witnesses and physical evidence. So, a lot of these cases are lost in court or plea bargained.
And to top it off, the State of Maryland, the richest in the country, cannot afford to incarcerate in the manner you suggest; that is why there is time off for good behavior, and the evil diminution credits and parole.
No, employers are not willing to hire them because of your economic analysis and hit on the minimum wage. Employers are acting on the reasonable assumption that you are going to do in the future what you've done in the past. No employer wants a violent person, a thief, or recalcitrant member of a recidivist gang on their payroll. Some ethical employers will take a chance on an applicant in certain positions who presents well and whose record is not too serious or too recent.
But this particular depression has people who don't have records struggling to find jobs. (Oh, I forgot, the recession is over [if you're a big-shot trader]).
We can afford to incarcerate them all. Just stack them vertically in the cell.
Can we afford to jail them with extensive 'rights and privileges'? No. Don't want to, either. Bring back the chain gang.
Evidence and witnesses will get a lot easier once the bulk of these people are known to be behind bars to stay, so, yeah, it would be uphill for a while. I'd be willing to cancel just about every other program in the interim.
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