Criminal

The Best and Worst of Drug Court

/ Matthew Clemente / Leave a comment

The Best and Worst of Drug Court

This week, I was able to attend the nationally recognized treatment court in Scranton, PA.  The program was very impressive, a stark contrast from a 2011 episode of This American Life about drug court judge in Georgia.  

Here is a description of the episode:

This week: A drug court program that we believe is run differently from every other drug court in the country, doing some things that are contrary to the very philosophy of drug court. The result? People with offenses that would get minimal or no sentences elsewhere sometimes end up in the system five to ten years 

The Ivory Tower Half Hour: Detroit’s Bankruptcy and Syracuse’s Murder Rate

/ Matthew Clemente / Leave a comment

The Ivory Tower Half Hour: Detroit’s Bankruptcy and Syracuse’s Murder Rate

 

Hosted by David Rubin, Dean of the Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University, this powerhouse panel of Bob Spitzer (SUNY Cortland), Tim Byrnes (Colgate University), Bob Greene (Cazenovia College), Tara Ross (Onondaga County Community College), and Kristi Andersen (Syracuse University) discuss the new face of the Detroit’s bankruptcy and Syracuse’s murder rate (although unfortunately the panel does not discuss Syracuse Truce).

Here is a description of the program:

 The panelists examine the challenge of bankruptcy facing Detroit—and perhaps Syracuse at some point down the road. They debate who was responsible for the fiscal problems and how best to dig out. Then the panelists offer advice to the Syracuse Chief of Police and the Mayor on how to combat the murder rate in the city, which is the highest for any city in the state.

 

This video runs approximately 27 minutes.

 

Anderson Cooper Interviews Zimmerman Juror

/ Matthew Clemente / Leave a comment

Anderson Cooper Interviews Zimmerman Juror

In a truly stunning interview, CNN’s Anderson Cooper interviewed a member of the Zimmerman jury.  The juror defends the acquittal decision. The interview is stunning both because of the juror’s answers and Cooper’s inability to ask obvious follow-up questions. Here is a sample of some of the more noteworthy quotes from the interview: 

  • In the second part of the interview, the juror told Cooper she thought Zimmerman’s “heart was in the right place” on the night he shot and killed Martin and the only thing he is guilty of is “not using good judgement.”
  • She said she thought he had “every right so carry a gun,” adding, “I think it’s everyone’s right to carry a gun. 

  • She reiterated that she did not think race played a role in the case. “I think if there was another person, Spanish, white, Asian, if they came in the same situation where Trayvon was,” she said, “I think George would have reacted the exact same way.” 

  • The juror hedged a bit when Cooper asked her whether she would feel comfortable having Zimmerman on “neighborhood watch” in her community saying it would be OK “as long as he didn’t go too far.” She eventually said she thought he’d “learned his lesson” and after the trial “would be more responsible than anyone else on the planet right now.”

Nurse Serial Killer Interviewed on 60 Minutes

/ Matthew Clemente / Leave a comment

Nurse Serial Killer Interviewed on 60 Minutes

Last night, 60 Minutes re-aired a segment titled “Angel of Death,” the story of Charles Cullen.  Cullen was a critical care nurse who has admitted killing up to forty people.  

Here is a description of the story: 

Tonight you’re going to come face-to-face with a serial killer, one of the most prolific in U.S. history. Serial killers don’t usually talk to reporters. In fact this story, which first ran in April, was the first time in the 45 years of 60 Minutes that we ever interviewed one.

 

Charles Cullen was a critical care nurse who admits to killing up to 40 people. Some suspect it was a lot more. The murders took place over 16 years in seven different hospitals. There were suspicions at nearly all of them that Cullen was harming patients, yet none of them passed that information on to subsequent employers. Newspaper headlines called him “The Angel of Death,” but as you will see, Charles Cullen was no mercy killer. Until we interviewed him four months ago, he had never spoken publicly about his crimes, never tried to explain why he did it, or even express remorse to the families of victims when he finally faced them in court.