Prosecutors Support U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Effort to Provide Mental Health Records to National Instant Criminal Background Check System
6/19/13The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHS) proposed a change to federal privacy rules last week that would allow state mental health agencies to report mental health records to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS).
As legislative efforts to expand the existing NICS system recently failed in the United States Senate, the DHS rule change is part of a series of executive orders issued by President Obama in January to expand and provide additional resources to the background check system.
“Prosecutors respect the right to privacy of health records, but in the wake of the recent mass shootings by perpetrators with previous warning signs of severe mental illness, the right balance should be struck in order to keep guns and ammunition out of dangerous hands,” said David LaBahn, President of the Association of Prosecuting Attorneys.
| June’s Final Friday’s webinar: The Connection between Bestiality and Human Sex Offending
6/12/13Please join us for June’s Final Friday’s webinar, The Connection between Bestiality and Human Sex Offending, to be held on Friday, June 28th from 3:00-4:00pm (EDT). While the link between animal abuse and interpersonal violence is well documented, less research has been done regarding sexual offenders. This webinar will cover the investigation, prosecution and psychology related to the crime of bestiality and the link with other sex offenses. Detective Jeremy Hoffman from Fairfax County Police Department, Assistant Attorney General Michelle Welch form the Virginia Attorney General’s Office and Dr. Mary Lou Randour, Ph.D. from the Animal Welfare Institute will provide an overview of this emerging subject as well as advice for the investigation, prosecution and supervision of this group of sex offenders. This training is open to all prosecutors, law enforcement, court personnel and other allied criminal justice partners. 1 substantive CLE credit has been applied for from the Virginia State Bar. If you would like to download a flyer click here. **Please click HERE to register**
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National Institute of Justice Releases Gun Safety Technology Report
6/19/13The Office of Justice Programs’ National Institute of Justice (NIJ) released, A Review of Gun Safety Technologies this week. The report is an assessment and market survey of existing and emerging gun safety technologies of interest to law enforcement, criminal justice communities and others interested in gun safety.
FULL REPORT
| Feds charge 3 in Ohio slavery case
6/18/13A mentally disabled woman and her child were held in an Ohio apartment for two years, forced to perform manual labor and threatened with dogs and snakes to keep them compliant, federal authorities said Tuesday. The people accused of holding the woman and child captive in the Ashland, Ohio, apartment collected the woman's government benefits and beat her in order to get painkillers for themselves, federal prosecutors announced. All three have been charged with forced labor, with one of them facing an additional count of tampering with a witness.
| District Attorney Launches Campaign Against Animal Cruelty
6/14/13LAS VEGAS -- The Clark County District Attorney's animal cruelty campaign launched Thursday has a strong message: Hurt your pets and pay the price. The campaign was launched a day after a Berkeley law student pleaded guilty to a felony charge for beheading a bird at the Flamingo resort on the Las Vegas Strip. The campaign focuses on caring for pets during the summer when temperatures reach the triple digits. The extreme heat can be a killer for pets, but the district attorney's campaign says, the defenseless animals don't have to get hurt by the heat. District Attorney Steve Wolfson is making sure the public pays attention through a public service announcement that started running Thursday. "As temperatures outside climb into triple digits, remember leaving an animal in a parked car or without shelter and water is neglect and it is a crime," Wolfson says in the public service announcement video. "Every year, officers respond to over 5,000 animal cruelty calls in southern Nevada."
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