What were they? Back in the 1970s, Republican Governor Nelson Rockefeller, in an attempt to stem a drug-related “reign of terror,” got a series of laws passed that were the toughest in the nation at the time, and led to a controversial trend towards mandatory minimum sentencing. source
What were they? Back in the 1970s, Republican Governor Nelson Rockefeller, in an attempt to stem a drug-related “reign of terror,” got a series of laws passed that were the toughest in the nation at the time, and led to a controversial trend towards mandatory minimum sentencing.
Their effect The laws often forced judges to sentence even minor drug offenders with the same broad stroke, filling prisons with first-time offenders getting sent there instead of rehab, which would often have made a lot more sense considering the nature of their crimes. source
What were they? Back in the 1970s, Republican Governor Nelson Rockefeller, in an attempt to stem a drug-related “reign of terror,” got a series of laws passed that were the toughest in the nation at the time, and led to a controversial trend towards mandatory minimum sentencing.
Their effect The laws often forced judges to sentence even minor drug offenders with the same broad stroke, filling prisons with first-time offenders getting sent there instead of rehab, which would often have made a lot more sense considering the nature of their crimes.
Cost savings There’s a lot of reasons the laws are getting peeled back now, but the biggest reason is cost. Keeping prison in prisons isn’t cheap, and repealing this law would cut the prison population by thousands, making more room for inmates like Bernard Madoff. source
We have a very aggressive theory about our jurisdiction, but we don’t have a theory that gets us to London.
Andrew Cuomo • N.Y. Attorney General, on his plan to get the AIG bonuses back. Unfortunately, he doesn’t think he can legally get money back from AIG’s financial products division, which is based in London and was largely responsible for the credit-default swaps which got us in this mess. • source
Hey, priests should have laaaaaaadies, too! Amid all the hullabaloo around the retirement of Edward M. Egan, some spare comments he made about allowing priests to marry has relit the flame to a long-standing debate in the Catholic Church. Egan told an Albany radio station regarding celibacy, “I think that it’s going to be discussed; it’s a perfectly legitimate discussion.” Allowing marriage might help reverse the shortage of priests that’s been dogging parishes lately. This may not happen, though. The Church doesn’t back down very easily. source
He’s on CNN! The former governor of New York, forced out of office last year after a sex scandal with a prostitution ring, had an interview with CNN’s Fareed Zakaria which will air in full on Sunday. They’ll talk about Spitzer’s AIG whistleblowing. Key quote: “Back then I said to people, ‘AIG is the center of the web.’ The financial tentacles of this company stretched to every major investment bank.”
He’s on CNN! The former governor of New York, forced out of office last year after a sex scandal with a prostitution ring, had an interview with CNN’s Fareed Zakaria which will air in full on Sunday. They’ll talk about Spitzer’s AIG whistleblowing. Key quote: “Back then I said to people, ‘AIG is the center of the web.’ The financial tentacles of this company stretched to every major investment bank.”
He’s on Slate! Spitzer’s other sign of public life is in the form of a regular column he’s writing for Slate. In his most recent column, he discusses how the financial crisis affects governors. “Governors must deal with all the problems confronting our economy,” he says, “but they lack the federal government’s ability to run a deficit.” He may still have a political career yet.
7:20 a.m. Seven pounds. In Penn Station. Marie Boothe, in the subway station during rush hour, couldn’t wait any longer. “Forget the ambulance, forget everything else – I’m going to have the baby right here,” she recalled saying. So she started having it right there. Police officers on counter-terrorism duty were called in to help deliver Caesar Penn Boothe, whose name reflects the unusual circumstances of his birth. Aww, that’s the cutest thing we’ve ever heard related to the word terrorism! source
While I never promised a specific rate of return to any client, I felt compelled to satisfy my clients’ expectations, at any cost.
Bernard Madoff • Explaining why he created his Ponzi scheme during a courtroom monologue while pleading guilty. According to him, he wanted to keep giving out continually good rates of return because he wanted his investors to love him. (No word on how he felt about his penthouse.) • source