Crime Victims

WASHINGTON -- Crime victims would be guaranteed the right to plead for tougher criminal sentences and parole boards wouldn't be able to stop families of victims from arguing against the release of murderers under legislation overwhelmingly approved by the Senate yesterday. The legislation "will help level the playing field for crime victims by finally giving them a voice in proceedings that so directly impact their lives," said Senator Jon Kyl, Republican of Arizona, who along with Senator Dianne Feinstein, Democrat of California, has been pushing for victims' rights legislation since 1996.

A brave young woman stood on the Bridgewater State University campus and, using a bullhorn, told her story of being raped. She was identified by name to about 200 fellow students who attended a "Take Back the Night" rally. The woman — who was also identified by name in a Facebook announcement about the event — was subsequently named in a story in The Comment, the Bridgewater State student newspaper. The article prompted protests from students and a request from Dana Mohler-Faria, the university president, that the newspaper take down the online version of the story.

Mexico's congress passed a law Monday to recognize and protect the rights of crime victims, a longstanding demand in a country where more than 47,500 people have died in 5 ½ years of drug-related violence, and thousands more have disappeared. The law covers the dead, wounded, kidnapped or missing whether they are ordinary civilians or are members of drug cartels and other crime gangs. It also would cover victims of other crimes, like extortion. The measure has now been approved by both houses of congress and must be signed into law by the president, who supports the move.

Mexico's congress passed a law Monday to recognize and protect the rights of crime victims, a longstanding demand in a country where more than 47,500 people have died in 5 ½ years of drug-related violence, and thousands more have disappeared. The law covers the dead, wounded, kidnapped or missing whether they are ordinary civilians or are members of drug cartels and other crime gangs. It also would cover victims of other crimes, like extortion. The measure has now been approved by both houses of congress and must be signed into law by the president, who supports the move.

Police in Utah say a vehicle was burglarized outside an Ogden store while its owners were being accused of shoplifting from the business. Police told the Standard-Examiner of Ogden and Deseret News that 36-year-old Eldon Alexander and 47-year-old Korin Vanhouten were released after being cited in the theft of small-ticket items worth about $25 from a WinCo Foods store. Police say the two then walked into the parking lot and discovered the theft of a stereo amplifier, drum machine and other items valued at about $60 from their vehicle.

WASHINGTON -- The nation's crime rate held steady last year at the lowest levels since the government began surveying crime victims in 1973, the Justice Department reported yesterday. The study was the latest contribution to a decade-long trend in which violent crime as measured by victim surveys has fallen by 55 percent and property crime by 49 percent. That has included a 14 percent drop in violent crime from 2000-2001 to 2002-2003. "The rates are the lowest experienced in the last 30 years," Justice Department statistician Shannan Catalona said in the report.

The Vermont office of the United States Attorney says it helped collect about $6 million in civil penalties and criminal fines in fiscal year that just ended. The office says it collected $3.9 million in civil judgments, with most of that coming from health care fraud cases. Another $830,000 was collected from criminal fines, special assessments and restitution. Assets forfeited to the federal government had an estimated total value of $1.5 million. Funds from criminal fines and special assessments, totaling almost $120,000 were deposited into the crime...

The governor of Puerto Rico signed four laws on Tuesday that he says will help track suspects and provide aid to crime victims as the island struggles with a record number of killings. One law requires those accused of murder, drug trafficking, weapon sales and domestic violence to wear ankle monitoring bracelets. It also states the suspects will pay for the bracelets themselves at a cost of up to $9 a day. A second law will make it harder for suspects to plead not guilty by reason of insanity.

The U.S. Attorney's Office in Maine says it collected nearly $2.4 million in connection with criminal and civil cases it handled in the past fiscal year. U.S. Attorney Thomas Delahanty II says about $554,000 was collected in criminal actions and $603,000 in civil actions. Another $1.2 million was collected in criminal and civil forfeitures. U.S. Attorneys' Offices are responsible for enforcing and collecting civil and criminal debts owed to the U.S. government, and criminal debts owed to crime victims.

WASHINGTON -- The nation's crime rate was unchanged last year, holding at the lowest levels since the government began surveying crime victims in 1973, the Justice Department reported yesterday. Since 1993, violent crime as measured by victim surveys has decreased by 57 percent and property crime by 50 percent. That has included a 9 percent drop in violent crime from 2001-2002 to 2003-2004. The 2004 violent crime rate -- assault, sexual assault, and armed robbery -- was 21.4 victims for every 1,000 people age 12 and older.

Northwestern District Attorney David Sullivan is hosting two events to mark the National Crime Victims' Rights Week, including a moment of silence in downtown Northampton. On Tuesday, the New England Learning Center for Women in Transition will display its quilt project on Greenfield Common. The project promotes communication about healthy sexuality and relationships. On Thursday, there will be a moment of silence in downtown Northampton, followed by speakers, interactive activities and the Teen Clothesline Project.

WEST WINDSOR, N.J. - The widow and daughters of a Pakistani immigrant killed by a white supremacist in a 9/11 revenge attack became US citizens Friday in a ceremony that one daughter described as the fulfillment of their father's dream for his children. "Obviously, he's in our thoughts every day but especially today," Usna Hasan said about her father, Waqar Hasan, who was fatally shot at a Dallas convenience store four days after 9/11. "It was his dream come true today; it was his dream that became our dream, and it's an extreme sense of accomplishment, of overwhelming joy and gratitude.

LONDON - News Corp. executive James Murdoch acknowledged Wednesday that he could have done more to get to grips with the phone hacking scandal that has rocked Britain and threatened his place as the likely heir to his father's media empire. Murdoch's admission came in a seven-page letter written to British parliamentarians investigating the scandal. In it, the 39-year-old repeated his insistence that he didn't know the extent of the illegal behavior at his now-defunct News of the World tabloid newspaper, saying that the details had been hidden from him by members...

The governor of Puerto Rico signed four laws on Tuesday that he says will help track suspects and provide aid to crime victims as the island struggles with a record number of killings. One law requires those accused of murder, drug trafficking, weapon sales and domestic violence to wear ankle monitoring bracelets. It also states the suspects will pay for the bracelets themselves at a cost of up to $9 a day. A second law will make it harder for suspects to plead not guilty by reason of insanity.

Police in Utah say a vehicle was burglarized outside an Ogden store while its owners were being accused of shoplifting from the business. Police told the Standard-Examiner of Ogden and Deseret News that 36-year-old Eldon Alexander and 47-year-old Korin Vanhouten were released after being cited in the theft of small-ticket items worth about $25 from a WinCo Foods store. Police say the two then walked into the parking lot and discovered the theft of a stereo amplifier, drum machine and other items valued at about $60 from their vehicle.

WAUPUN, Wis. - A local funeral home offered flowers. The town's high school donated a wreath. The county found the cash to pay for the casket. Strangers came to mourn. Nobody here knows who she is, but everyone agreed on one thing: She deserved a proper burial. Three years ago, a slain girl's body was found partially submerged in a freezing creek. Despite years of investigative work, her identity is still a mystery, and sheriff's deputies and staff in the medical examiner's office have become a family of sorts.

HERMOSILLO, Mexico - An activist who accused police officers of kidnapping his teenage son was shot to death in an attack that has added fuel to Mexico's bitter debate over crime and corruption. Corrupt officials were being blamed yesterday by activists who worked with Nepomuceno Moreno in a national anticrime movement that has been calling for an end to organized crime, police abuse, and a military-led government assault on drug cartels. The prosecutor's office in the northern border state of Sonora told reporters, however, that Moreno had a criminal past and it was that, not activism,...

HERMOSILLO, Mexico - An activist who accused police officers of kidnapping his teenage son was shot to death in an attack that has added fuel to Mexico's bitter debate over crime and corruption. Corrupt officials were being blamed yesterday by activists who worked with Nepomuceno Moreno in a national anticrime movement that has been calling for an end to organized crime, police abuse, and a military-led government assault on drug cartels. The prosecutor's office in the northern border state of Sonora told reporters, however, that Moreno had a criminal past and it was that, not activism,...