Politics, Moderate
/Politics
Art Imitates Life -- Inside the Insidious World of Elder Guardianships
Given that this is a crime and justice column, it is pretty safe to say this will likely be the only time I do a movie review. But considering the subject matter of the 2021 movie "I Care a Lot," this film is right up my alley.
As longtime readers may remember, I have frequently written about the nationwide evils of exploitative elder ...Read more
Online Censorship Cancels the Right of Free Speech
There is an astonishing trend afoot, and if something isn't done to stop it in its ugly tracks, your right to freely express an opinion is in jeopardy.
Former President Donald Trump may be one of the most reviled people in the United States, but the moves to silence him in the public square -- and others who have espoused similar ideologies -- ...Read more
The Boy Scouts' 'Perversion Files' Tell the Tale
There are now nearly 90,000 men who say they were sexually violated as young boys while participating in Boy Scouts of America programs. The absolute shame of it comes with the realization that, with a little vigilance, the ranks of victims would never have gotten that massive.
Back in the 1920s, the organization began keeping a "red flag" or "...Read more
Social Media Censorship -- Fact-Checking Your News Source
There are no laws to shield people from misinformation. So, as the nation chugs toward the final stretch of the presidential campaign season, Americans need to take a good look at where they gathered the information that forms their political opinions.
If your news flows primarily from social media sources such as Facebook, Twitter or YouTube, ...Read more
Where Is Everybody?
There is too much financial uncertainty, political conflict and random violence these days.
We were already feeling frustrated with the prolonged isolation of the COVID-19 pandemic when waves of outrage began to spark. There were widespread civil rights protests following the tragic deaths of African Americans Breonna Taylor in Louisville, ...Read more
Whose Child Does This?
It was approaching dusk outside the St. Francis Medical Center in Lynwood, California. As the sun set and the air filled with the scent of devastating nearby wildfires, ambulances raced to the hospital's emergency room bearing two grievously wounded LA County sheriff's deputies.
The ambushed pair had been shot in the head while sitting in their...Read more
Teaching Toxic Topics on the Taxpayer's Tab
It is clear we have real racial problems in this country, problems that need to be worked through as we try to restore some semblance of harmony and understanding among the population.
National healing starts with meaningful conversations, devoid of angry rhetoric and criminal reactions, and needs to include everyone studiously listening to ...Read more
The Double-Edged Sword of Facial Recognition Technology
On the television crime drama "FBI," Special Agent Jubal Valentine brusquely orders an underling to run a photograph through facial recognition to identify a suspect. Boom! After a rocket-speed search, the computer spits out a name and address. Field agents get to work, and in no time, the bad guy is under arrest.
I'm here to tell you it is not...Read more
Let's Think About a Different Kind of Prison System
Show of hands: How many readers believe that the U.S. prison system truly works to rehabilitate convicts before releasing them back into society?
I'm betting not many hands went up.
A quick history of America's correctional-industrial complex shows that up until the late '60s, the goal really was to rehabilitate prisoners so they could have ...Read more
Police Can Legally Lie to You -- In Most States
How many times have you seen these scenarios play out on TV crime dramas? The savvy detective tells a scared kid in the interrogation room that if he will just confess, then the cops can promise leniency. Or the investigator tells the juvenile that his buddy in the other room has spilled his guts. To save himself, the suspect is told, he needs ...Read more