Teachers and Sex Abuse: Be Wary of the ‘Witch Hunt’

By Kevin Kearon

Society has little tolerance for any form of sexual abuse of children, especially in a school setting. All the more reason to remember that the only thing worse than the sexual abuse of an innocent child is a false accusation of the sexual abuse of an innocent child.

Death of a Police Informer

By Jennifer Portman

The 2008 murder of a young Florida woman has provoked questions about how police use confidential criminal informants

Stopped, Frisked and Angry

By Perry Chiaramonte

While other cities are re-thinking the practice, New York argues its Stop, Question and Frisk policy is crucial to crimefighting.

The Minimal Coverage of Corporate Safety Crimes

By Robin L. Barton

The criminal conspiracy case tied to the deaths of 29 Massey Energy employees in a mine explosion hasn't gotten the kind of media attention it deserves.

The Justice Department as ‘Change Agent’

By Ted Gest

The Crime Report engages former Assistant Attorney General Laurie Robinson in a wide-ranging conversation on the country’s evolving and future criminal justice challenges.

Duped by Love

By Graham Kates

Romance scams and other online frauds swindled Americans out of nearly $500 million in 2011.

House Votes to Add Funds for Anticrime Grants, COPS Hiring

The House of Representatives has approved a Justice Department budget for the year starting October 1 that increases funding by $22.4 million for the Byrne...

Ex-Attorney General Katzenbach Dies; Headed LBJ Crime Panel

Nicholas Katzenbach, who served as U.S. Attorney General under President Lyndon B. Johnson has died at 90. Although Katzenbach was best known...

Cracking the ‘Blue Wall of Silence’

By Graham Kates

Former and serving NYC cops speak out on racial profiling and arrest quotas.

‘A Step Forward’ for Jobseekers with Criminal Records

By Glenn E. Martin

The mass incarceration of minority communities, and the resulting mass reentry and lifetime collateral consequences, have created the “perfect storm” to ensure that criminal record-based employment discrimination serves as a surrogate for race-based discrimination.

Laurie Robinson Named to Faculty at Virginia's George Mason University

Laurie Robinson, former Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Justice Programs at the U.S. Department of Justice, will join the faculty of George Mason University faculty this fall as Clarence J. Robinson Professor of Criminology, Law and Society. She will teach courses related to criminology policy and practice, as well as government. She was named a senior fellow with the university's Center for Evidence-Based Crime Policy.

At the Justice Department, Robinson oversaw a $2.5 billion criminal justice assistance program for states and localities, as well as research and statistics on to crime and justice. During two tenures at DOJ spanning 10 years, she led initiatives related to law enforcement, drug abuse, corrections, and evidence-based programming. Robinson formerly directed the University of Pennsylvania’s Master of Science Program in Criminology, and served as a distinguished senior scholar in Penn’s Jerry Lee Center of Criminology. She is not related to the late Clarence J. Robinson, a businessman and civic leader in Northern Virginia who funded the scholars program bearing his name.

Saving children from deadly abuse, one family at a time

By Natasha O’Dell Archer

The Jerry Sandusky sex abuse scandal focused national media attention on a dark fact of American life: the nationwide epidemic of child abuse, neglect and endangerment. Tragically, that case was just the tip of the iceberg.

Challenging the ‘Science’ of Arson

By Paul Bieber

A ruling in California adds new impetus to the national movement to overturn wrongful arson convictions.

Police Departments See More Budget Cuts; Overtime, Cars, Training Hit

A survey of local police departments conducted by the Police Executive Research Forum suggests that the economic crisis may be easing in a minority of cities, but most police budgets still are being cut. Of 416 agencies that responded to similar surveys in 2010 and this year, 51 percent reported budget cuts this year, compared with 78 percent two years ago. Forty percent of the agencies said budget cuts were planned in the next fiscal year, compared with 61 percent in 2010.

“The bad news is that most local police agencies are still suffering budget-cutting,” said PERF executive director Chuck Wexler. “However, there may be some good news in the fact that the budget-cutting that began as early as 2008 seems to have stopped in some departments." Wexler said that in places including Camden, N.J., and Oakland, "budget cuts are having a direct impact on violent crime, which is significantly higher.” Among other findings of the survey, 53 percent of agencies reported an increase in their contacts with persons with mental illness due to the economic downturn, 56 percent of departments believe they have seen an increase in domestic violence due to the economy, and budget cuts were made most often in overtime (reported by 48 percent of agencies); vehicle fleets (39 percent) and training (30 percent).

Crime and Justice Trends in America: How We Got Here; Where We Go Next

By Ted Gest

Eight of America's leading criminal justice scholars look back over four decades of analysis--and draw lessons for future policy and research.