Category Archives: Victimless Crimes

"Exciting" and "exhilarating" were the words going through my head when I attended this past Libertarian National Convention.

The convention, in a normal setting, is worth looking forward to, but the recent events in the world made this one for the history books. The Libertarian Party was the very first party in history to nominate the presidential and vice presidential candidates via an online convention, using Zoom video conferencing.

I had the honor of presiding as the chair of the Oregon delegation, which consists of 14 other Oregon Libertarians. We connected in real time with over 1,000 other Libertarian delegates to the convention from across the country, and with the Oregon delegation by Slack, an online messaging tool. The convention is continuing in person next week in Orlando when we meet to ratify the nominations, elect party officers and edit and adopt our platform and bylaws.

While the mechanics of the convention were interesting enough, it was the result that was so exciting. The Libertarian Party is the third-largest party in the country and expects to be on the ballot in all 50 states again, as it has for the last three presidential elections. Our slogan is that we are the "Party of Principle" because we stand strongly on our principles, the primary one of which has been described as "Dont hurt people and dont take their stuff."

Libertarians strongly oppose any government interference into personal, family and business decisions. Essentially, we believe all Americans should be free to live their lives and pursue their interests as they see fit if they do no harm to another.

This year, we nominated Jo Jorgensen as the partys presidential candidate. She is a senior lecturer in psychology at Clemson University and was the Libertarian Party vice presidential nominee with Harry Browne in 1996. She wants to bring home our military and stop military aid to foreign governments, eliminate trade wars and tariffs, repeal arbitrary quotas on the number of people who can legally enter the U.S. to work, visit or reside, and slash federal spending, making government much smaller, and let you keep what you earn.

Her vice presidential running mate is Jeremy "Spike" Cohen. Cohen started a web design company in 1999 and retired from that three years ago to promote libertarian ideas full time. His aim is to make people more familiar with voluntary solutions and property rights.

Libertarians select their slate differently than the two major parties, in that the presidential nominee does not select her running mate: delegates do. We selected Cohen because he was the most articulate and had brought more new members to the party than the other candidates. He had been running with a satirical candidate so you may have seen him touting those goals online: a Waffle House on every corner and free cheesy bread. His candidacy is serious, though, and his positions include ending qualified immunity, demilitarizing the police, making officers pay for their own abuse settlements, reducing and eliminating sentencing for victimless crimes and ending the failed war on drugs.

If these ideas interest you, consider coming to the next meeting of the Lane County Libertarians. We meet on the first Tuesday of every month at 6:30 p.m. at the Oregon Electric Station.

Carolyn Wade is the chair of the Lane County Libertarians and secretary of the Oregon Libertarian Party.

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Guest View: Tired of the other two parties? - The Register-Guard

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) Former Baltimore journalist and The Wire creator David Simon spoke to CBS New York about policing in America and the war on drugs.

I think the demonstrations are necessary, Simon said, who was a reporter for 15 years at The Baltimore Sun.

I want to start here David with your take on whats going on right now in society, people in the streets, more police killings it seems by the week. What are you seeing? asked CBS2s Maurice DuBois.

The thing that has changed in a profound way and necessarily for the better is the power of the cell phone, of the smart phone, with its camera, with its video camera, said Simon. The fact that everyone has one. The city is awash in visual imagery, in an immediate agency.

Simon is best known for creating the hit HBO TV series The Wire, a drama about drugs plaguing Baltimores neighborhoods thats told from the perspectives of the cops and drug dealers. Simon believes the war on drugs is at the root of the problems were facing today and it leads police to arrest Black and brown men for petty crimes and minor offenses.

A lot of people are saying you know what, people of color and poor people are being over-policed, said Simon.

To the people who say look, drugs are destroying African-American and Latino communities across the country, youre almost saying its a victimless crime. What do you mean by that? asked DuBois.

It absolutely is a victimless crime. Its a medical condition, said Simon. The drug war is effectively a war on the poor. Its a means of using social control on people of color and people in poverty by the ruling class. Thats all it has ever been. Im not here to defend drugs. Drugs do an inordinate amount of damage.

Read more of Simons interview on CBS New York.

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Demonstrations Are Necessary: The Wire Creator David Simon On Policing In America - CBS Baltimore

R.J. Larizza, the incumbent state attorney for the judicial circuit covering Volusia and three other counties, said he wants to continue reducing crime and offering services to help people with mental health or drug-abuse issues.

His challenger, longtime defense attorney Don Dempsey, on the other hand, said there are a number of problems with how Larizzas goals are implemented.

Chiefly, Dempsey said, he thinks the resources of the State Attorneys Office should be reallocated, with less energy devoted to getting people long sentences for victimless crimes.

The two will square off in the general election Tuesday, Nov. 3, with the winner holding the office for the next four years. All registered voters in Volusia County can vote in this race.

In separate interviews with The West Volusia Beacon, the candidates outlined their platforms and explained why they are running.

The State Attorneys Office is responsible for all criminal prosecution in the 7th Circuit. The state attorney administers and manages the agency, including supervising more than 200 employees.

Larizza said during his stint as state attorney, crime has gone down every year throughout the 7th Judicial Circuit, which includes Flagler, Putnam and St. Johns counties in addition to Volusia.

We have been very successful in my 12 years as state attorney in terms of the crime-reduction rate, Larizza said. I want to continue that trend.

But Dempsey sees the need for reform in the criminal-justice system. For instance, he said, Larizzas office is too quick to seek lengthy sentences, especially for first offenders and those convicted of minor or victimless crimes, such as drug possession.

A lot of people are getting lengthy prison sentences, Dempsey said. My complaint isnt with law enforcement, but once a case gets to the State Attorneys Office.

Dempsey said prosecutors are pressured to ask for longer sentences because it enhances the State Attorneys Offices conviction rate. Prosecutors, also, are encouraged not to drop cases, such as the cases of people who go through Veterans Court, a diversionary program to help veterans accused of relatively minor crimes.

More people should be cut a break so their lives are not destroyed, especially first-time offenders, Dempsey said. But prosecutors wont do it unless they get approval from their supervisor, and that goes against their stats on conviction rates.

Because judges are often bound by minimum-mandatory-sentencing laws, Dempsey said, change is up to the State Attorneys Office.

Prosecutors, basically, have sole discretion, Dempsey said.

Dempsey would like to see resources allocated differently; for example, to an economic-crimes bureau to investigate cases where the victims are elderly or where business people rip off their partners.

But Larizza said there is a fraud unit working economic crimes, and he intends to keep it. He also said his agency is training local police departments and works with them to deal with those kinds of crimes.

Larizza made no bones about being tough on hardened criminals, but he does believe in being compassionate when its appropriate, he said.

Sometimes good people make bad decisions, and sometimes the criminal-justice system lets them down, he said.

Dempsey, though, argues that the State Attorneys Office could do more to reduce the sentences of some people who have been convicted, especially older inmates who have been locked up for far longer than they should have been.

The State Attorneys Office needs some kind of Second Look system to review cases to see if some sentences can be lowered, Dempsey said.

Another of Larizzas focuses is on combating domestic violence.

One out of four murders in the circuit are domestic-related, and they are some of the most difficult cases to prosecute, he said. We are working with domestic-abuse councils in every county, and I have been funneling funding out of my budget to help them. Im trying to get more funding from the state for them.

Larizza said specific prosecutors are working with the councils to try to reduce incidents of domestic violence, with the ultimate goal of eventually reducing the number of homicides.

Dempsey didnt address domestic violence in his interview. Rather, he focused on ways to reform the system and be more compassionate, especially with first offenders and those serving lengthy prison sentences.

Its not being soft on crime; its reprioritizing, Dempsey said. Instead of spending resources on victimless crimes such as minor drug offenses, for example, why not spend more time and money on white-collar crimes against business owners and exploitation of the elderly crimes where there are real victims.

R.J. Larizza, 62, was first elected state attorney in 2008. Before that, he was in private practice in St. Augustine for six years, after spending six-and-a-half years as a prosecutor in Daytona Beach and St. Augustine.

He was a probation-and-parole officer for 13 years before becoming a prosecutor.

Larizza lives in St. Johns County with his wife and two children, and has five grandchildren.

Donald B. Dempsey Jr., 54, was a prosecutor for three years before opening a private law practice in DeLand 27 years ago, specializing in criminal defense.

He is married to County Judge Angela Dempsey, who has been transferred to hear civil cases so there is no conflict with his candidacy. (She will stay on the civil bench if he wins the election, Don Dempsey said.)

Don and Angela Dempsey have a 7-year-old son and a 3-year-old daughter, and he has a 30-year-old son from a previous relationship. The Dempseys live near DeLand.

According to Florida law, heres what the Office of State Attorney is supposed to do: "The State Attorney or designee, shall appear in the circuit and county courts within the Seventh Judicial Circuit, and prosecute or defend, on behalf of the State, all suits, applications, or motions, civil or criminal, in which the State is a party, unless otherwise provided by law. We shall seek justice by fairly and diligently representing the interests of the people of the Seventh Judicial Circuit and the State of Florida."

The state attorney currently supervises 205 employees, including 78 attorneys, who work to accomplish this mission in the four counties of the 7th Judicial Circuit: Volusia, Flagler, Putnam and St. Johns.

Non-attorney employees of the office include support staff, investigators and victim advocates, for example. The number of employees varies; currently, the State Attorneys Office is operating under a hiring freeze, due to the unknown budgetary effects of the coronavirus pandemic.

The state attorneys annual salary is $169,554, plus a state benefits package, and the term of office is four years.

The race is a partisan one. Both R.J. Larizza and Don Dempsey are registered Republicans; however, Dempsey has opted to run with no party affiliation, or NPA.

I think criminal justice should be nonpartisan, Dempsey said. I dont think it should be a partisan issue. Nobody likes crime.

Had both men chosen to run as Republicans, the election would have been in a partisan primary, open to all voters, on Tuesday, Aug. 18. However, because they are running with different party affiliations, that pushes the vote to the general election Tuesday, Nov. 3.

All of Volusia County is within the 7th Circuit, so all registered voters in Volusia County may cast ballots in the race.

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ELECTION 2020: State Attorney's race features opposing views | News | beacononlinenews.com - The West Volusia Beacon

Guest Opinion By Donna Gundle-Krieg | July 4, 2020

Americans are finally seeing the need to reform the way our society enforces laws, as the issue of police force has been placed front and center before us.

The Libertarian Party has been ahead of the game for decades on the issues of reforming our criminal justice system.

Since the 1960s, we have advocated for getting rid of laws that create victimless crimes. We have long believed in holding police accountable. Last but not least, Libertarians believe that the job descriptions, policies, and procedures of the police departments need to be reformed.

In fact, back in 1969, Lanny Friedlander, founder of the leading Libertarian magazine, Reason, said, "The police of a free society, engaging in retaliatory force only, enforcing laws of a defensive nature only, would be bound by the same laws they enforced and would stand fully accountable for their actions.

Achieving this free society starts with getting rid of victimless crimes. In other words, we need to minimize the opportunity for the police to act against the public. This means fewer laws and less intrusive enforcement of the laws that we do have.

In 1971, the fledgling Libertarian Party called for the repeal of all 'crimes without victims,' such as the prohibitions on drug use that have driven so much of the escalation in aggressive police tactics.

Fifty years later, the Libertarian Party platform states: Government force must be limited to the protection of the rights of individuals to life, liberty, and property, and governments must never be permitted to violate these rights.

We favor the repeal of all laws creating crimes without victims, such as gambling, the use of drugs for medicinal or recreational purposes, and consensual transactions involving sexual services.

Voters in Michigan took a huge step toward repealing drug laws when they voted for recreational marijuana to be legal. According to Pew Research, in 2018, 40 percent of all arrests in the United States were for marijuana offenses. Making this drug legal certainly helps reduce the opportunity for the police to act against the public.

In addition to repealing victimless crimes, Libertarians favor holding government agencies and their employees accountable for their actions.

"We support full restitution for all loss suffered by persons arrested, indicted, tried, imprisoned, or otherwise injured in the course of criminal proceedings against them which do not result in their conviction," the Libertarian Party declared in 1979.

"Law enforcement agencies should be liable for this restitution unless malfeasance of the officials involved is proven, in which case they should be personally liable."

More recently, Grand Rapids Justin Amash, the only Libertarian in the U.S. Congress, introduced the first-ever tri-partisan bill, which would eliminate qualified immunity.

The Ending Qualified Immunity Act will restore Americans ability to obtain relief when police officers violate their constitutionally secured rights, stated Amash.

The brutal killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police is merely the latest in a long line of incidents of egregious police misconduct. This pattern continues because police are legally, politically, and culturally insulated from consequences for violating the rights of the people whom they have sworn to serve.

In addition to holding police officers accountable and eliminating victimless crimes, Libertarians believe that we must take back some of the tremendous power that society has given to police.

"Over the last 25 years, America has seen a disturbing militarization of its civilian law enforcement, along with a dramatic and unsettling rise in the use of paramilitary police units for routine police work," warned the Cato Institutes Radley Balko in his 2013 book,Rise of the Warrior Cop.

He explained that he was referring to Special Weapons and Tactics, or SWAT, teams. These types of teams perform no-knock raids, which so often end in tragedy when police kick in the wrong door, or when a suddenly awakened resident tries to defend against intruders.

This month, libertarian-leaning Senator Rand Paul introduced legislation to stop the use of no-knock warrants, an idea that Democrats are also pushing in their calls for police reform. The bill requires law enforcement officers to give notice of their authority and purpose before entering a home.

In addition to qualified immunity and ending no-knock warrants, there are many other reforms that need to happen. Nearly all Americans favor at least some level of change to the nations criminal justice system, according to a poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, which concluded that Americans overwhelmingly want clear standards on when police officers may use force and consequences for officers who do so excessively.

Thankfully, Americans are finally agreeing with Libertarians and implementing many of the reforms and policy changes that we have been fighting for decades.

The Libertarian party might have the deck stacked against it during elections. However, we have always been the first and often the only party to fight the battle against abusive government power.

Donna Gundle-Krieg is a Real Estate Broker in Mancelona. She is the Political Director of Northwest Michigan Libertarians, and will be on the ballot in November as a Libertarian candidate running for Mancelona Township Trustee. Contact her at dokrieg@gmail.com, or see http://www.nwmichiganlibertarians.org.

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Libertarian Solutions to Reforming Police State | Opinion | Northern Express - northernexpress.com

The Declaration of Independence, signed 244 years ago this weekend, purports to be a model for people seeking to free themselves from tyranny.

But nearly two and a half centuries later, this is not yet a nation where all people enjoy the same unalienable rights life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Ongoing protests against racism and police violence offer an important reminder the dream of freedom has not been realized for Black and brown Americans.

When governments fail to protect our fundamental rights, the Declaration prescribes, the people have the right to alter or abolish oppressive systems, pursuant to their safety and happiness. With inspiration from the Black Lives Matter movement, Iowa has an opportunity to start correcting these historic injustices.

The coronavirus is disproportionately affecting communities of color. People who are Black and Latino are being infected and dying of the disease at a higher rate than their white counterparts. Some of the reasons behind this divide are racial discrimination in health care and that people of color are more likely to work as essential workers.

In Iowa, Gov. Reynolds refusal to close meat packing plants and issue a stay-at-home order has compounded this divide, needlessly sacrificing the lives of Iowans. Now as restrictions are lifted statewide, cases are surging. Iowa needs a more comprehensive and adequate response to the pandemic that addresses these disparities instead of profiting from them.

Its often been said that public education is a ticket to opportunity available to all Americans. But Black Americans looking across the education landscape see too many gaps and too much inequality.

In Iowa, according to the National Assessment of Education Progress and other assessments, achievement gaps persist and may be widening. In 2019, Iowas white fourth-graders topped their Black peers by 31 percentage points, compared to a 25-point gap in 1996.

The New Statewide Assessment of Student Progress showed continuing large achievement gaps in Cedar Rapids and other districts. The district has set a goal to reduce the gap by 20 percent by 2022.

In Iowa City, an investigative report by a high school journalist, Nina Lavezzo-Stecopoulos, found that Black students in the Iowa City district are more than twice as likely as whites to be suspended from school. These disciplinary discrepancies are found across Iowa and push too many Iowa students from the path to an education and into the criminal justice system.

In Iowa, Black women are six times more likely to die from childbirth than white women. The causes of this problem are manifold, from access to health care to racism among doctors and nurses.

But our state is only making a bad problem worse with policies that have hallowed out Medicaid reimbursement programs. According to the University of Iowa, Medicaid reimbursed its hospital about a third of what commercial insurance plans did for services like ultrasounds and deliveries last year.

In Iowa, a quarter of families live in a child care desert, and child care does not even come close to meeting the national definition of affordable. Because of this crisis, the Iowa economy loses more than $1 billion each year due to a lack of child care.

And now, as Iowans are returning to work without access to safe and affordable child care and school districts moving to a hybrid model, parents are being forced to choose between their livelihoods and their children. From better paid leave policies to well-funded schools, more needs to be done to support Iowa parents.

Government zoning regulations and bank lending policies last century conspired to racially segregate cities in Iowa.

When the New York Times last year published its 1619 Project examining lasting effects of the North American slave trade on modern America journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones wrote about growing up in Waterloo, where a racist lending scheme known as redlining created stark white and Black neighborhoods.

While lending and housing discrimination are officially illegal, the racial lines between neighborhoods in Iowa cities havent withered much since the federal Civil Rights Act and Fair Housing Act were passed in the 1960s. Analysts say Waterloo still is one of the most racially segregated cities in America.

Achieving equitable housing will require robust economic empowerment programs for Black families, but also a thorough rethinking of zoning policy by local governments.

One motivation behind the American Revolution was No taxation without representation the idea that people should not be subject to rules they have no part in making. Yet, Iowa still practices a form of this injustice.

Because of Iowas badly outdated law, nearly 10 percent of Black Iowans are barred from voting, according to the Sentencing Project. Iowa is the only state in the nation that permanently disenfranchises felons after they have completed their sentences, and minorities are disproportionately subject to felony charges.

Released felons work, pay taxes and contribute to society in many other ways. Keeping them away from the ballot box only serves to further ostracize former prisoners, making them second-class citizens. Gov. Kim Reynolds should act swiftly on her promise to issue an executive order automatically restoring voting rights, and she should refrain from imposing extra conditions or barriers.

The criminal justice system is fraught with racial disparities, but jailing people for victimless drug crimes presents a uniquely disturbing affront to racial justice.

Iowa holds an embarrassing position as a leader in arresting Black people for marijuana charges. Black Iowans are 7 times more likely than white Iowans to be arrested for marijuana possession, according to an ACLU report this year, making Iowa the 5th-worst in the country.

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The drug war is part of a larger system that victimizes communities of color, which are over-policed and where officers often use drugs as a pretext to rack up other charges. To address these disparities, state and local governments should decriminalize drugs and radically reoriented police enforcement strategies to focus on community service.

(319) 398-8262; editorial@thegazette.com

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Black Iowans have been denied right to life, liberty and pursuit of happiness - The Gazette

All Lives Matter

Its 3.17am and I am writing after waking several times with family, friends, a particular radio DJ and the insidious blight of systemic racism on my mind. Growing up on a council estate, I also attended a multicultural school in North West London, and have lived a life where my friends and family are those because of who they are, and not because of the colour of their skin. I recognise since studying however, Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic people are disproportionately represented in prison, which now troubles me greatly.

Did you know in the UK, Black men are 225% more likely to be arrested than white men? And if charged, the odds of receiving a custodial sentence are 53% higher still. For Asian men its 55% higher and other ethnic minority groups are 81% more likely to receive a custodial sentence for an indictable offence at Crown Court than a white man, even when factoring in higher not-guilty plea rates. Furthermore, a quarter of the prison population are BAME and according to the Lammy Report, commissioned in 2018, if the prison population were to reflect the make-up of England and Wales, 9,000 less BAME men and women would be behind bars. Now I am not saying that all BAME convictions are unsound but that total is 36 Grendon sized prisons, which is probably why Im awake at 3am writing this article. We need to start talking about this subject properly. Not next year or when the Coronavirus crisis is over but now.

For me, there are a lot more white drug dealers and weapon carrying violent criminals in prison than Black men with the same charge, yet the focus appears to be on Black men instead.

Living in a multicultural society in the 21st century as a white prisoner, oppression for a convict is real I can vouch for that. To experience subtle or blatant oppression for the colour of your skin however (racism), I cannot even begin to understand how that feels. I want to understand though, because my life is a fuller, richer and brighter experience than it ever would have been without the people of colour I know and care about. Yet I have learned things recently from watching the disgusting scenes in America that racism is still prevalent here too. Having discussed this at length with my neighbours Im doing lockdown alongside they dont expect special treatment; they just want equality.

Listening to the radio recently, DJ Ace a 1XTRA presenter described watching the repeated scene on live television of unarmed black man George Floyd being killed by a white police officer in the US. A deeply traumatic experience for anybody watching, yet I doubt if George was white, the same footage would have aired on breakfast television here. A poignant example of British television executives ignorance I think. Growing up, Ace and his brother agreed that if one hit the other, the argument wasnt over until the other had hit back. Once retaliated, the disagreement was settled, and it felt even. For Ace however, watching the lynching of an unarmed black man by a group of white police officers only further compounded the realities of today. He describes his personal harassment from institutions like the police as being hit but never being able to hit back. Ace described the multiple times police pulled him over, whilst driving, for suspected drug dealing. Though having never been arrested, and despite explaining he was a presenter for the BBC, he felt as though he had no way to hit back. And that, he describes, is how it feels for him as a Black man living in London today. He cannot hit back at a system which disproportionately targets his section of the community. A community which is divided because of a larger problem than gang violence or drug dealing alone; problems which some media and sections of the criminal justice system label as the cause for so many of the issues facing our society.

Implementing tangible change will meet with real scrutiny and resistance because it will mean holding a mirror up to institutions that currently are comfortable in denial.

In truth though, it is because of the very real problems of socio-economic inequality and poverty, and therefore educational attainment, work prospects and health outcomes, which has its roots not in the colour of our skin but the size of our bank accounts. Yet because BAME people are predominately from poorer backgrounds, millions of which it is now evident are essential key workers such as nurses, carers, cleaners, delivery drivers and the like, then how can we justify continually allowing these social injustices to occur?

On the occasions I have been a free man, clubbing outside London came with a guarantee my Black friends or cousins will experience a search on entry. It was as though the colour of their skin was an indication of criminality. This can only come from a persons beliefs. If people are not used to meeting people from BAME communities (which sounds absurd), then where on earth do these beliefs about profiling come from? For me, there are a lot more white drug dealers and weapon carrying violent criminals in prison than Black men with the same charge, yet the focus appears to be on Black men instead.

Much rehabilitative literature Ive read is written by predominately white middle-class people, with minimal BAME culture in mind. This does not excuse peoples individual crimes. Murder is murder, robbery is robbery, and no crime is victimless, but to rehabilitate (to support change) an offender surely needs to have a model of what to change into based on more than individual risk management alone. I believe this is where we need to redress the balance in the prison system too. Actually discussing this subject, learning about the ways in which rehabilitation can address the issues of a culturally diverse society, therefore giving Black and Asian people, my friends, realistic and achievable objectives and role models to strive to become. Im convinced a great deal of my BAME friends, when faced with the concept of change, struggle because they dont want to change into the unconscious, oppressive, passively racist role models many are presented with through the criminal justice system from childhood. Now this isnt to say people dont want to change, who wants to suffer with prison time? But giving people a real tangible road to hope surely has to become part of the solution.

We have an equalities group at Grendon which organises a multitude of team led events all year round. They cover all equality and diversity subjects including Black history, religious education, mental health awareness and LGBTQ too. It is a committee which goes beyond the standard reactive practice of the wider prison estate, where the only time problems of racism are officially addressed is when a man has no option other than to complain via the DIRF system. This proactive approach is a start, but by no means addresses the whole issue. What I have learned in my time here in therapy though is that when times are tough, quite often anger can arise, and I tend to want to focus that anger somewhere. At the moment, with lockdown and much trauma and hardship across the system, it would be easy to direct our anger towards those around us. I believe this is a mistake.

Aggression and violence never solved anything and wont do now, if anything it will just take attention away from the importance of our argument. But talking about peoples experience can begin to shed light on all the discrimination which continues to occur. Until people learn about this type of silencing systemic racism, without dismissing it then nothing will change! And my friends will continue to suffer psychologically, emotionally and aspirationally; which is unacceptable. I want to learn what its like for them so I can help to be part of a solution, and not continue to consciously or unconsciously add to a deeply shameful subject, whose roots began in colonial Britain and still penetrate language, beliefs and societal policy today, whether people care to acknowledge it or not.

Implementing tangible change will meet with real scrutiny and resistance because it will mean holding a mirror up to institutions that currently are comfortable in denial. People who are happy with the way things are, officially, who take things very personally every time questions about their imagined diverse attitudes arise. To change things would mean everybody having the courage of sharing their honest experiences. Please write about them, and send letters to our friends at the Prisoner Policy Network c/o Prison Reform Trust, 15 Northburgh Street, London EC1V 0JR. They want to help us all seriously. If we can build an honest picture of the subtle, though mostly blatant ways racism affects people every day on our prison wings then we can start to build a plan of education and change.

Black Lives Matter, Asian Lives Matter, damn it its the 21st century all of our lives matter man!

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A journey through the therapy looking glass insidetime & insideinformation - InsideTime

What we have here is some information on victimless crimes, wherein we put forth the definition of this concept and also discuss its types with some examples, so as to make it easier for you to understand the same.

When Russia legalized homosexuality for a brief period following the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution, it was based on the idea that if there was no victim, there was no crime.

That the United States has the highest prison population rate in the world for more than a decade now, is a well-known fact. What most people dont know, is that over 80 percent of these inmates are incarcerated for victimless crimes, i.e., crimes that defy societys prohibition of certain activities. So is there actually something called victimless crime or crime where there is no victim? While the term may not boast of popular usage, the statistical data, which states that over 80 percent of people in the prison are convicted for such crimes, does speak volumes in itself.

As the name suggests, victimless crimes are those crimes wherein there is no apparent victim, as such a person or property is not harmed physically. An apt definition will be illegal behavior which does not violate or threaten anyones rights. The person may either act alone (e.g. drug abuse or gambling), or two or more people can be involved in a consensual act (e.g. prostitution).

Example: Lets take the example of prostitution for instance. In the United States, offering sexual favors in lieu of money is considered a criminal act, wherein both parties can be arrested for violating public decency laws. If, however, both of them have given their consent to the act, then neither of them can be considered a victim.

It is worth noting that such crimes usually happen in confined spaces, and therefore, other people are unlikely to take of note of them. As nobody is watching and nobody is victimizedthose involved do not consider themselves victimsthere is no complainant in such cases. Instead, the police have to take action on their own. As a result of this, it is a lot more difficult to detect and prosecute victimless crimes compared to crimes wherein there are victims.

As these crimes have the consent of those people involved, they are sometimes known as consensual crimes. In a true sense though, consensual crimes are crimes involving more than one participant, all of whom give their consent.

Depending on the area of jurisdiction, the lengthy list of victimless crimes includes drug abuse, prostitution, gambling, public drunkenness, homosexuality, vagrancy, obscenity, riding a bike without a helmet, or driving a motor vehicle without a seat belt, as well as more serious crimes like abortion and suicide. In the United States, for instance, illicit drug abuse, prostitution, and gambling are considered victimless crimes.

In a broad sense, these crimes can be grouped into different types. For example, there are moral crimes, wherein the particular illegal act has something to do with the morality or norms set by the society. Homosexuality between consenting adults, for instance, is considered a victimless crime on the grounds that it violates common decency laws. Other examples of such crimes include sodomy, public drunkenness, and even vagrancy. Then there are crimes against the state, such as tax frauds, not carrying an ID, carrying a gun without license, etc., which also fall in this category.

Adultery was considered a victimless crime at one point of time, but has since been removed from the list.

Many people call for outlawing laws which prohibit victimless acts. They argue that it hampers the individuals freedom, as he is at the receiving end despite his consent. Additionally, some people are of the opinion that incarceration of people convicted for such crimes puts immense pressure on the already crowded prison system. As opposed to this, those in favor of victimless crimes being punished argue that the representatives of the majority have the right to prohibit and punish anyone who indulges in any act that offends the majority of the population, even if there is no direct victim.

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The Definition, Types, and Examples of Victimless Crimes ...

by: WFXRtv.com Digital Desk

ROANOKE, Va. (WFXR) The Criminal Investigation division of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced Tuesday a Roanoke federal grand jury indicted a Virginia man Friday for charges of evading payment of employment taxes and attempting to obstruct the IRS.

According to the IRS news release about the indictment on Tuesday, June 23, Jeffrey Tharpe the owner and operator of Shearin Construction, Inc. in Charlotte County allegedly caused payroll taxes to be withheld from his employees wages from 2002 through 2013 and failed to fully pay them over to the IRS.

However, in order to make it appear that he had no ownership interest in the company or its funds, the IRS says Tharpe allegedly put the company and its assets under his wifes name.Therefore, when the IRS tried to collect the outstanding payroll taxes from Tharpes wife, Tharpe allegedly caused his wife to transfer her real property interest to him and then covered the property with fake debts to keep it out of the IRS reach, according to authorities.

Officials say the indictment alleges Tharpe owes more than $940,000 in employment taxes, interest, and penalties.

IRS-CI places a high investigative priority on attempts to evade or circumvent the duty to withhold, account for and pay over employment taxes, says IRS-CI Special Agent in Charge Kelly R. Jackson. Working with our civil partners in the IRS, CI ensures these crimes are fully investigated. These are not victimless crimes and may create unwelcomed problems for employees who believed taxes were paid on their behalf when it comes time to file for social security.

The indictment was returned on Friday, June 19, but it only alleges that crimes have been convicted, officials say. However, if convicted, the IRS says Tharpe faces a maximum prison sentence of five years for tax evasion, as well as three years for obstructing the IRS. In addition, Tharpe reportedly faces a period of supervised release, restitution, and monetary penalties.

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Roanoke grand jury indicts Virginia man for employment tax evasion, attempted obstruction of the IRS - WFXRtv.com

ST. JOHN'S, N.L.

Tara Bradbury

The Telegram

tara.bradbury@thetelegram.com

@tara_bradbury

Justin Wiseman is no stranger to the courtroom, but he cried in the prisoner dock in St. John's Tuesday as he told the judge his crimes had always seemed quite victimless to him until he came face to face with a woman he had traumatized.

Every time Ive ever walked into a courtroom I pleaded guilty. I never had a chance to hear the testimony of a victim of my crimes, Wiseman told Justice Robert Stack of Newfoundland and Labrador Supreme Court, saying he had worked to hold back tears last year while listening to the testimony of the convenience store clerk he had robbed. I can see that she has been truly affected and forever changed by this invasion in her place of work and for that my heart is filled with an overwhelming shame and remorse that Ive never felt in my whole life.

Wiseman, 28, was convicted last November of robbing a Mount Pearl Maries Mini Mart in March 2018 while disguised and armed with a knife, making his getaway in a stolen pickup truck. The store clerk had testified she had been working alone around 8:30 a.m. when a man dressed in black and wearing a bandanna over his face entered with a knife. She was frightened, she said, but didnt think he would hurt her.

"He was talking to me, telling me that he was sorry, right from the beginning. He told me that he was sorry, that no one was helping him out. He told me numerous times that he was sorry he was doing this, but it was something he had to do," the woman testified.

The robber Wiseman made off with $418 in cash and just over $1,200 worth of tobacco products, but not before the woman recorded the licence plate number of the grey pickup in which he left the scene. Police discovered the truck had been stolen and when officers spotted it on the road three hours later, they followed it to a home on Jersey Avenue.

After learning Wiseman was inside the home and refusing to come out, police surrounded it. Wiseman remained in the residence for the next six hours, as smoke and a strong smell of burning plastic emanated from the chimney. Police stormed the home and arrested Wiseman when they saw smoke coming from a window.

Wiseman was located in the basement while three fires burned on the main floor: one in the bathroom, one on the mattress in the main bedroom and one in the kitchen, where a stove burner had been turned on and a paint can and plastics placed on top of it.

Firefighters extinguished the fires, but were called back to the home a few hours later when the home started burning again. A charred knife was found amongst debris inside the residence, and the store clerk, upon seeing a photo of Wiseman in The Telegram and hearing his voice on NTV news, identified him as the man who had robbed her.

In addition to the armed robbery, Wiseman has acknowledged his guilt to an arson charge. He has been in custody since his arrest two years ago.

At his sentencing hearing, prosecutor Kathleen OReilly submitted a total jail sentence of between eight and nine years for Wiseman, noting he was on parole at the time of his offences for having committed a previous armed robbery. She stressed the seriousness of the arson, which she said would have been terrifying for neighbours and put the lives of firefighters, police and Wiseman himself at risk.

OReilly spoke of the fear experienced by the store clerk and of Wisemans history of serious crimes.

The fact of the matter is, when he was out, he was a risk to the public, she told the judge, acknowledging Wisemans participation in counselling for mental-health and addictions issues, but noting he had participated in the same many times in the past as well.

A pre-sentence report deems him at a high risk to reoffend, OReilly said.

Defence lawyer Karen Rehner suggested a jail term of between five and six years for her client, whom she said was experiencing a mental-health crisis at the time of the offences.

Its trite that one of the ways that we predict future behaviour is to look at past behaviour, but past behaviour is also one of the key ways that individuals learn, she said.

Rehner called Sam Martin, a psychologist at Her Majestys Penitentiary, to the witness stand, where he described Wiseman as being engaged in counselling and displaying symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder and mental fatigue. Martin said Wiseman has taken to reading psychology and self-help books, something not common for inmates to do.

Wiseman told the judge about a traumatic childhood that included abandonment and abuse, saying he finally understands the role his own anger and fear plays in his actions, and the realization is causing him to be consumed by shame and remorse.

My Lord, I could have been anyone or anything in this life, but I stand in shackles before the hand of justice, awaiting my fate, he said. Im ashamed of my criminal lifestyle, Im ashamed of hurting and victimizing people in my community while on drunken escapades and dangerous crime sprees."

Though she wasnt in the courtroom to hear it, Wiseman also directly addressed the store clerk.

Im so very sorry for subjecting you to the terror you felt that day and continue to feel today, he said I will always be the man that robbed you and you will always be the woman that I robbed.

"I want you to know that Im sorry and that I respect you for the bravery you showed for standing up to me for what you knew was right. You taught me that my actions affect the people I encounter and I dont ever want to leave the impression I left on you on someone else.

Stack will deliver his sentencing decision Aug. 5.

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'I will always be the man that robbed you' - SaltWire Network

Four people are facing fraud charges after NWT RCMP say over $23,000 was deposited at banks through allegedly forged cheques.

According to a Tuesday press release, a cheque issued to an individual by the North Slave Correctional Complexs (NSCC) inmate trust fund an inmates bank account while incarcerated was allegedly reproduced, altered and deposited 36 times into various bank accounts.

Police believe the total amount deposited was $23,407.92 between December 2019 and February 2020.

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Defrauding the government or financial institutions is not a victimless crime, Constable Landon King from the NWT RCMPs financial crimes unit was quoted as saying. Financial losses directly affect the GNWTs ability to deliver services to citizens of the NT, and defrauding the banks result in higher fees for everyone.

RCMP say the fraud was discovered through a partnership between banks and auditors from the territorial government.

After receiving a report in January 2020, NWT RCMP says its financial crimes unit launched an extensive investigation which included orders to obtain documents from four different financial institutions. Police say the investigation found that up to 15 people may have been involved in cashing forged cheques some unknowingly.

RCMP have charged Aaron Nitsiza, 22, and Molson Romie, 31, from Yellowknife, and Tyleen MacKenzie, 19, and Amanda Lamouelle, 29 from Behchok, with fraud and uttering a forged document. The charges against them have not been proven in court.

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A warrant for arrest has been issued for Nitsiza. The three other accused have been released and are scheduled to appear in court on August 25.

Correction: June 23, 2020 19:12 MT. A previous version of this article misspelled the names of Aaron Nitsiza and Amanda Lamouelle. Their names have since been corrected.

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Four charged after $23K deposited through allegedly forged NSCC cheques - Cabin Radio