The first problem with understanding crime is that measuring it is harder than it sounds. The Department of Justice approaches the problem in two ways. The F.B.I.’s Uniform Crime Reporting Program, or U.C.R., solicits data from about twenty thousand law-enforcement agencies around the country. Simultaneously, the Bureau of Justice Statistics’ National Crime Victimization Survey, or N.C.V.S., interviews about a hundred and fifty thousand nationally representative citizens, asking them whether they have been victims of a crime.
Both datasets have problems. An obvious one is that there’s no consensus about what counts as criminal activity. In some jurisdictions, only offenses worthy of incarceration are considered crimes. In others, fined infractions also count. (Is speeding a crime? What about manspreading, for which one can be fined seventy-five dollars in Los Angeles?) Because the U.C.R. draws its data from investigators, and the N.C.V.S. relies on victims, they can present starkly different pictures of crime. According to the U.C.R., the incidence of rape nearly doubled from 1973 to 1990. The N.C.V.S., by contrast, shows that it declined by around forty per cent during the same period. Researchers at Vanderbilt University looked into the discrepancy; they found that the upward trend in the U.C.R. data correlated with upticks in the number of female police officers, and with the advent of rape crisis centers and reformed investigative styles. It could be, in short, that a modernized approach to the policing of rape drastically increased the frequency with which it was reported while reducing its incidence. But coherent stories like these only sometimes emerge from the conflicting data.
The two leading progressive candidates for the Democratic presidential nomination on Wednesday pushed back publicly against efforts to alter New York's new bail law.
Sens. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren posted to Twitter that it would be a mistake to roll back the law, which ended cash bail for misdemeanor and non-violent felony charges.
"Cash bail is an unreasonably punitive and financially burdensome system that disproportionately victimizes Black and Brown communities," Warren wrote. "Rolling back these reforms would blatantly disregard the voices of New Yorkers who voted to end it."
Sanders pledged to enact a national cashless bail law as president.
If you could get buses to run more miles in an hour, by speeding up boarding without fare collection, plus eliminating cash and credit card processing costs, it would cost the authority zero dollars -- but it would mean job losses -- and lead to schedule alterations that might be unpopular due to faster buses.
Instead, the administration appears to be complying with the wishes of the trucking industry, which has called for a new national nitrogen dioxide regulation to override states that could otherwise implement their own, tighter rules. On that front, the E.P.A. rule is likely to open a new battle in Mr. Trump’s long-running war with California over environmental regulations and states’ rights. California is already moving ahead with stringent state-level standards on nitrogen dioxide pollution from trucks that could be replicated by other states.
One of the ideas that Ward Stone suggested some time ago was a requirement that anybody involved in the criminal justice system be tested for lead poisoning. ☠️ I think this is a very good idea, especially if treatment for lead exposure was a standard part of criminal justice system. It could save a lot of money in the long run, by reducing criminal recidivism.👮
It’s 2020. What are the chances that New York Interstate 99 will connect to Pennsylvania Interstate 99 within the decade?
It could happen if they complete the Interstate 99 and Interstate 80 interchange outside State College which has been bid out. But they’d also have to sign interstate 180 to Williamsport as Interstate 99 and that’s rather out of the way.
I think the official plan is close the 12 mile gap between Jerseyshore and Williamsport but making that section limited access will be fairly expensive due to the many houses along it and the number of cross roads. Indeed, I think the capital plan calls for safety upgrades to US 220 which wouldn’t bring it up to the Interstate standards. They would have to also complete the Lockhaven interstate 80 and US 220 interchange but that’s probably a few million as it’s partially built. But there is nothing in the PennDOT capital plan for either purpose.
I really like driving Interstate 99 because except for Altona it’s very light on traffic. But it’s confusing as there aren’t many signs along it to direct motorists from New York Interstate 99 and Pennsylvania Interstate 99. And that gap between Jersey Shore and Williamsport is a lot like driving New Jersey 17 minus the traffic and much more rural.
I guess a lot depends on how much Appalachian Regional Commission funding they can shake loose.