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Tag: convicted
Homeland Security Head To Review Release Of Immigrants Convicted Of Crimes

Homeland Security Head To Review Release Of Immigrants Convicted Of Crimes

By Brian Bennett, Tribune Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON — Under pressure from lawmakers, Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson said Thursday he was reviewing the release from jail of thousands of immigrants in the country illegally who were convicted of crimes and faced deportation.

The Department of Homeland Security last year released 36,007 such immigrants who had been convicted of crimes, according to federal data. Among those, 193 had homicide convictions and 426 had sexual assault convictions. Nearly all of those released still face deportation and are required to check in with authorities as a condition of their release.

Johnson told members of the House Judiciary Committee on Thursday that he asked for a “deeper understanding” of the releases. In many cases, Johnson said, the individuals were released under an order from an immigration judge that included some type of supervision and monitoring.

“I’ve seen some pretty serious criminal convictions on that list, including homicide,” Johnson said. “I want to ensure we are doing everything we should be doing.”

The chairman of the committee, Rep. Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., criticized the administration’s policies, saying the releases “needlessly endanger Americans’ lives.”

Since 2011, the Obama administration has tried to focus immigration agents on deporting recent border crossers, repeat immigration violators and people who pose a threat to public safety. In March, Obama asked Johnson to review the department’s deportation policies to see if expulsions can be done in a more “humane” way.

This week, the White House asked Johnson to delay announcing the results of that review until August to avoid angering House Republicans who are considering a series of bills on immigration reform. Johnson told lawmakers on Thursday that he saw a need to clarify instructions given to immigration officers about which individuals should take priority for deportation.

“Whatever we do to revise our enforcement policies, however, is no substitute for comprehensive immigration reform passed by Congress,” Johnson said.

Johnson added that the estimated 11.4 million people living in this country illegally are “not going away.”

“As a matter of homeland security, we should encourage these people to come out of the shadows of American society, pay taxes and fines, be held accountable, and be given the opportunity to get on a path to citizenship like others,” he said.

Photo: ndlon via Flickr

A Pardon For War Hero Convicted Of Being Gay

A Pardon For War Hero Convicted Of Being Gay

Alan Turing was a brilliant mathematician and also a genuine war hero, not because he fought in combat, but because he did crucial work for the British government during World War II. Turing broke a number of German codes, including communications that had been scrambled by the Enigma machines. In 1945, King George VI awarded Turing the Order of the British Empire.

In the following years, Turing made numerous contributions to knowledge, including the domain of pattern recognition. Many people consider him the father of computer science. Since 1966, the Association of Computing Machinery has awarded the Turing Award, perhaps the highest distinction in all of computer science, for contributions “of lasting and major technical importance to the computer field.”

Turing was gay, and in 1952, he was convicted of the criminal offense of “gross indecency” for a sexual act with a man. Upon conviction, he was asked to choose between imprisonment or probation, with the latter conditioned on acceptance of hormonal treatment, which would reduce his sex drive. He chose the latter. He lost his security clearance and his consulting position with the UK government. In 1954, he died, almost certainly of suicide.

This week, Queen Elizabeth II pardoned Turing. Justice Minister Chris Grayling, who requested the pardon, said, “Turing deserves to be remembered and recognised for his fantastic contribution to the war effort and his legacy to science. A pardon from the Queen is a fitting tribute to an exceptional man.”

In every decade, it is tempting to look back on previous practices and to wonder how good people could have acquiesced to, or even approved of, a wide range of cruelties and injustices. We tend to marvel at how far we have come. As 2014 begins, and Turing finally stands pardoned, it isn’t so easy to resist that temptation.

But here is an irony and a warning: There is no question that in 1952, many good people acquiesced to or supported Turing’s conviction while also marveling about how far they had come — how the obvious cruelties and injustices of previous ages had been eradicated, and how many of their contemporary questions were difficult ones, without clear answers.

In much of the world, same-sex relations remain a criminal offense. Just last week, the Ugandan legislature passed a law that would impose life imprisonment for homosexual activities. It wasn’t until 2003 that the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that same-sex acts couldn’t be criminalized. Most states continue to forbid same-sex marriages. In other domains, even democratic nations authorize practices that will be seen a few decades from now as cruel and unjust, prompting future generations to ask: How could they have done that?

This week’s long-overdue pardon was a good way to pay tribute to Alan Turing. An even better way would be to scrutinize our own practices with that question in mind.

(Cass R. Sunstein, the Robert Walmsley University professor at Harvard Law School, is a Bloomberg View columnist. He is a former administrator of the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, the co-author of Nudge and author of Conspiracy Theories and Other Dangerous Ideas, forthcoming in March 2014.)

Photo of Alan Turing statue via Wikimedia Commons

The Art Of Celebrating Blago’s Demise

Former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich was convicted on 17 out of 20 federal corruption charges yesterday, including conspiring to sell Obama’s old U.S. Senate seat. It closes a “sordid chapter”–as two different Illinois politicians, U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D) and State Senate Minority Leader Christine Radogno (R) put it in their statements responding to the verdict–in recent history.

The other current U.S. Senator from Illinois, Mark Kirk (R), merely referred to it an “unfortunate chapter.” Or maybe it a “long, embarassing chapter?” That was from the State Treasurer Dan Rutherford, who also added that Blagojevich “deserves everything he’s going to get.”

Blago’s successor, Governor Pat Quinn (D), said that his old boss had “deceived everyone” but allowed himself a moment of reflection. “I’ve known his wife for many years. She’s a very good person,” he said about Patti Blagojevich (who once was caught yelling, “Hold up that [expletive] Cubs [expletive],” as part of a rant implying that the Tribune should fire its editorial writers in order to get help.)

The Senate President called it both “sad but necessary” and “another sad event for Illinois,” while a reform advocate called Blagojevich a “pox on the Illinois political system.”

But there was also joy in Springfield–Comptroller Judy Baar Topinka, his 2006 Republican opponent, said that she was “personally pleased to see him [Blagojevich] held responsible.”

And then there was the ex-Governor’s response, which no one else — except for maybe his wife — shared. “Frankly, I am stunned,” he told the press after the verdict was handed down. [Chicago Sun-Times]