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Opening Statement
March 26, 2015
Edited by Andrew Cohen
Opening Statement is our pick of the day's criminal justice news. Not a subscriber? Sign up. For original reporting from The Marshall Project, visit our website.

Pick of the News

“We have been depending on inmates." The looming closure of the private federal prison in Willacy County, Texas, has local officials wondering what will happen to the local economy once their biggest moneymaker — a source of jobs and federal stipends — shuts down. NPR

The 1033 workaround. Turns out police militarization under the Pentagon’s hardware-sharing 1033 program is harder to restrict than many states expected. Why? Because local law enforcement officials can and do deal directly with the Pentagon in acquiring the equipment they say they need. Stateline

Spring is the registry season, after all. Utah governor signs “white-collar” registry designed to alert consumers to “scam” artists. Salt Lake City Tribune Related: Michigan weighs pros and cons of a “murderer registry.” Michigan Live More: In Illinois, a mother’s push to expand sex offender registration coverage. Patch And finally: In Oregon, a church dedicated to God, the community, and its members, all of whom are registered sex offenders. Daily Beast

The Law Enforcement Alliance of America is “among the most mysterious and successful” political organizations in the nation. When the secretive group targets your legal or political candidacy, you know it. But very little is known about the law enforcement professionals, crime victims, and others who run LEAA. Center for Public Integrity

The Seal Beach massacre continues to claim its victims. How Orange County’s worst mass shooting turned into one of the most disastrous murder prosecutions in recent memory. OC Weekly

N/S/E/W

A 10-year-old Florida boy was shot to death Tuesday night when he was struck by a stray bullet as he was bouncing a basketball on his front stoop. Miami Herald

Is “radical” parole reform coming to Alabama? AL.com Related: You be the judge — to parole or not parole? Five cases, five answers. Al.com Related: In Alaska, bipartisan reform moves forward on parole, probation, and sentencing. Alaska Dispatch News

Is this the end of the “Sodomite Suppression Act” in California? State’s Attorney General seeks court waiver so her office won’t have to provide an official title and summary of a proposed (and obviously unconstitutional) ballot measure that would authorize killing gays and lesbians in the Golden State. Los Angeles Times

New facts and allegations emerge in conflict between Mississippi trial judge and a county public defenders’ office. The core question: How far can a judge go to interrupt the relationship between lawyer and client? Read the defenders’ brief, filed Wednesday. Mississippi Supreme Court More: Read one of the judge’s Wednesday filings. Mississippi Supreme Court

In Georgia, a private probation company offers a defense of the “offender-funded” model of debt collection: “[W]e see our contribution as a necessary component for enforcing fines that might otherwise be neglected.” CBS News

Remote jailing — the practice of sending short-term prisoners to faraway detention — is a problem in Washington and a growing number of other jurisdictions. NPR

New statistics: Police in Omaha, Nebraska handed out 565 tickets to middle school and high school students in 2013 alone. The youngest child ticketed was eight years old. Omaha World-Herald

Commentary

“We must not allow so many members of our community to languish in prison without the chance for intellectual development.” Why inmates make the best students. The Washington Post

Sotomayor v. Scalia. At the Supreme Court, a case about a mentally ill woman shot five times by the police illustrates the extent of the justices’ divide on law, order, and, evidently, disabilities. Slate

Don’t bet against Sheldon Adelson. The legal fight over online gambling isn’t over. In fact, it’s just heating up. Reason

Put it to a vote. Our police mishandle so many mentally ill suspects because (so far, anyway) there is no popular will to ensure that cops have the education, training and experience they need to de-escalate confrontations. The Atlantic

Time to unshackle Connecticut’s children. “Mommy, what’s on Derek’s legs?” the little girl asked about the shackles on her teenage brother as he was led into a Connecticut courtroom for getting into a fight in high school. Connecticut Mirror

Etc.

Cop of the Day: In the latest installment of our “Asked and Answered” series, a New York City police officer tells us the day he got sworn in was the best day of his life. The Marshall Project

Decision of the Day: No, rules a federal appeals court, the family of a prison guard shot in his home cannot successfully sue cell phone service providers because inmates may have used cellphones to order the shooting. 4th U.S. Circuit Court

Profile of the Day: Meet the man who wants you to love the Koch brothers (or at least heed their priorities on criminal justice issues). Yahoo

Video of the Day: What is it like to witness an execution by firing squad? Let reporter Jennifer Dobner tell you. Huffington Post

Demolition of the Day: The house where the Newtown shooter Adam Lanza once lived is no more. Danbury New Times