GovBlog: UC Berkeley » Crime

State Measures to Balance FY 2010 Budgets

Susana Hinojosa — Thu, 07 May 2009 20:00:54 +0000

The National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) released on May 4, 2009, State Measures to Balance FY 2010 Budgets, a report that in a series of tables documents the measures (proposed and enacted) that states are taking to close budget gaps. These measures include actions to cut budgets and also generate new revenues. Budget areas or topics include: Criminal Justice, Education, Employee Actions (for example furloughs and layoffs), and Other Actions (purchase freezes, delayed capital projects, agency consolidation, etc.).

United States Congressional Serial Set Now Available through LexisNexis Congressional

Jesse Silva — Tue, 05 May 2009 17:38:56 +0000

UC Berkeley has recently acquired full-text access to the United States Congressional Serial Set (1789-1969) through LexisNexis Congressional. The Serial Set contains the legislative history of United States, and also includes many historic agency annual reports, House and Senate Reports, and many other official government documents (for a more complete summary of what is contained in the Serial Set, click here). Prior to this acquisition, citations to the Serial Set found in LexisNexis Congressional had to be searched in the Readex United States Congressional Serial Set database. With this purchase, you can now search LexisNexis Congressional for all your congressional research needs. Off-campus access to LexisNexis Congressional is restricted to current UCB student, faculty and staff, though anyone in the Library may access the database.

National Security Archive Posts Declassified Evidence Used in Fujimori Trial

Susana Hinojosa — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 20:39:42 +0000

The National Security Archive recently posted key declassified U.S. documents that were submitted as evidence in the former President Fujimori’s trial which began on December 10, 2007, in Peru. Fujimori was Peru’s president from 1990 to 2000 when he was forced to resign. The declassified records contain intelligence gathered by U.S. officials on the secret creation of “assassination teams” that were part of Fujimori’s counterterrorism operations. Six of the 21 declassified U.S. records are provided on the NSA website. These were originally obtained through the Freedome of Information Act (FOIA).

County Probation Camps and Ranches for Juvenile Offenders

Susana Hinojosa — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 20:55:00 +0000

California Assembly Member Jose Solorio, Chair of the Public Safety Committee requested this report of the California Research Bureau. The report examines the California county camps and ranches in terms of the recent reforms in the state’s juvenile justice system. Different models (wilderness, military, etc.) of camps are included and include information about length of stay requirements and treatment options.

New Database: LexisNexis Statistical Datasets

Jesse Silva — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 18:25:29 +0000

The Library has just subscribed to LexisNexis Statistical Datasets. The database provides fast and easy one-stop shopping to more than 5.3 billion (and growing) data points from licensed and public domain datasets. Sources of data include local, state and international governments and organizations. Datasets allows you to customize the data by selecting subjects, variable(s) of interest, and the ability to view your data in side-by-side tables, charts and even maps. Datasets also provides quick graphs and chats for statistics in the news, and when you download or print, you are given citation information from where the data originated. Anyone may access LexisNexis Statistical Datasets from the public computers in the Library, however, off-campus access to is restricted to current UCB faculty, staff and students through the proxy server or VPN.

Curious about the “Keating 5?”

Jesse Silva — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 22:25:47 +0000

The “Keating Five” were five United States Senators:

Alan Cranston (D-CA)
Dennis DeConcini (D-AZ)
John Glenn (D-OH)
John McCain (R-AZ)
Donald W. Riegle (D-MI)

These senators were accused of improperly aiding Charles H. Keating, Jr., chairman of the failed Lincoln Savings and Loan Association. This savings and loan was the target of an investigation by the Federal Home Loan Bank Board at the end of the 1980’s during the Savings and Loan scandal.

After a lengthy investigation and many hearings, the Senate Ethics Committee determined in 1991 that Cranston, DeConcini, and Riegle had substantially and improperly interfered with the FHLBB in its investigation of Lincoln Savings. Senators Glenn and McCain were cleared of having acted improperly but were criticized for having exercised “poor judgment.” All five senators served out their elected terms.Glenn and McCain ran for re-election and won. McCain has since called this time period “my asterisk.”

UC Berkeley has all the hearings from this scandal available electronically via the database LexisNexis Congressional. To find these hearings, search for Keating AND Lincoln and change the date drop-down for date to “Date is Between” then enter January 1, 1988 and December 31, 1991. Click search. In the results click on the link for “Hearings–Digital Collection” at the top of the page to access the list of full-text preliminary inquiry and the investigation hearings. UCB faculty, staff and students have access to this database from off-campus via the proxy server or the VPN. Anyone else may visit the Library to access these documents electronically or you may visit a Federal Depository Library near you to access the information.

Rice admits to White House Talks on “harsh interrogation methods”

Jesse Silva — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 19:21:10 +0000

According to an article in yesterday’s Los Angeles Times, Secretary of State Condolezza Rice participated in meetings at the White House from 2002-2003 to discuss the use of “harsh interrogation methods on Al Qaeda detainees.” This news comes from a written statement Rice provided to Senate Armed Services Committee investing the use of torture. Present at these meetings were Donald Rumsfeld, Alberto Gonzales, David S. Addington, the vice president’s counsel. According to the article, the State Department “would not comment on correspondence between Rice and members of Congress.”

California Homeless Youth Project

Susana Hinojosa — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 22:56:09 +0000

The California Research Bureau (CRB) and the California Council on Youth Relations (CCYR) have published this 62 page resource document on homeless youth, Homeless Youth: Bibliography and Resources, the California Homeless Youth Project (July 2008). Major research findings were presented during five public policy seminars for state and local policymakers held in 2007-08. The bibliography is annotated and covers topics such as: federal and state laws, education, housing, mental health, and criminalization and victimization. The report identifies research such as the CRB report, Voices from the Street: a Survey of Homeless Youth by Their Peers (March 2008). The report summarizes findings about homeless youth’s experiences, and ideas of support that would help them.

Reforming Inmate Education to Improve Public Safety

Susana Hinojosa — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 23:50:37 +0000

The recently published report, Reforming Inmate Education to Improve Public Safety: From Cellblocks to Classrooms, finds that California offers academic and vocational programs to only a small segment of the prison population. In addition the small number of inmate education programs that do exist have a number of problems limiting their effectiveness at reducing recidivism. This LAO report recommends reforms to increase performance, outcomes, and accountability.

New Jersey Death Penalty Repeal

Susana Hinojosa — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 22:51:46 +0000

The New Jersey Senate approved on Monday December 10th a bill (S-171) that would repeal the death-penalty and replace capital punishment with a criminal sentence of life without parole. The State Assembly is expected to vote on this legislation on Thursday December 13th. The New Jersey Democratic Legislature has put this death-penalty repeal on the fast track and Democratic Governor Jon Corzine has said he would sign the bill. This legislation would make New Jersey the first state to repeal the death penalty since its reinstatement more than 30 years ago. Several other states (Maryland, New Mexico, etc.) are also working on similar legislation.

The Death Penalty Information Center which advocates against the death penalty provides state-by-state information, fact sheets, recent legislative updates, and more.