Crime
LR mayoral candidates address priorities at southwest city forum
This article has been updated and slightly edited since Oct. 6, 2022. Three of the four candidates for Little Rock mayor answered questions about crime, affordable housing and community youth programs at a forum at the Southwest Little Rock Community Center Wednesday night. Mayor Frank Scott Jr. said he expects to work with a new […]
Federal prisons ‘riddled with mismanagement’ probed by U.S. Senate panel
WASHINGTON — Members of the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee in a Thursday hearing grilled the top leader of federal prisons on how the agency would address staffing shortages and reports of abuse of incarcerated people. “The Bureau (of Prisons) has been riddled with mismanagement and, sadly, with scandal,” said the chair of the committee, Illinois […]
Tribal law enforcement boosted under bill proposed by members of Congress from the West
A bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers re-introduced legislation Thursday to provide more resources for tribal law enforcement, an issue they say has become more urgent as Congress begins to consider how to respond to a July Supreme Court case that complicated state-tribal criminal jurisdiction. The bill, introduced in the House by U.S. Rep. Ruben Gallego […]
Justice Department funds to aid tribal law enforcement and help Indigenous victims of crime
The U.S. Department of Justice announced it will provide more than $246 million in grants to Native American and Alaska Native communities for improvements in law enforcement and justice. The well-received announcement was made in Anchorage on Wednesday at the start of the federal government’s annual tribal consultation conference on violence against women. Allison Randall, […]
Tribal leaders testify before Congress about sovereignty in legal systems
Sovereignty on Native American land is being attacked by the United States’ highest court, leaders from various tribal nations told members of Congress this week. The Supreme Court’s ruling in Castro v. Huerta earlier this year allows state prosecutors to take over criminal prosecutions for crimes that occur on Indigenous nations, and it’s causing confusion […]
U.S. government failed to properly count deaths of people in prisons and jails, Senate report says
WASHINGTON — The Department of Justice did not properly count nearly 1,000 deaths of incarcerated people in jails and prisons, according to a bipartisan report released Tuesday by a U.S. Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs subcommittee. The 10-month investigation by the U.S. Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, chaired by Georgia Sen. Jon Ossoff, found […]
U.S. Justice Department to appeal Trump special master order
The U.S. Justice Department will appeal a Florida federal judge’s ruling this week appointing an independent arbiter to review thousands of sensitive materials the FBI seized from former President Donald Trump’s Palm Beach residence, the department notified the court Thursday. Government prosecutors are also asking U.S. District Judge Aileen M. Cannon not to force them […]
Congressional panel debates federal role in preventing youth incarceration
WASHINGTON — Members of a U.S. House Education and Labor Committee panel on Thursday questioned experts and leaders of youth rehabilitation programs about how the federal government could invest in programs to prevent kids from becoming incarcerated. “Although the juvenile justice system is intended to rehabilitate—not punish—young offenders, data shows that the more a young […]
Employment records show past problems, successes of 3 Arkansas officers in viral arrest
One of the officers involved in the now-viral beating of a suspect in northwest Arkansas was fired or forced to resign from two nearby law enforcement agencies over domestic problems. Another was counseled on two occasions for being too aggressive with inmates at the Crawford County jail, including a reprimand for striking an inmate in […]
Convicted ex-Arkansas senator’s request for new trial rejected by federal panel
A three-judge panel of the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Wednesday upheld a lower-court ruling rejecting former Arkansas state Sen. Jon Wood’s request for a new trial after his conviction in a bribery and kickback scheme. Woods, who is serving an 18-year, four-month sentence, argued that he should receive a new trial based […]
Crawford County sheriff says deputy received concussion in melee
Crawford County Sheriff Jimmy Damante on Thursday said one of his deputies suffered a concussion Sunday during the arrest of a suspect that was filmed by a bystander. The citizen video doesn’t show deputy Levi White being injured, but it did capture White, deputy Zack King and Mulberry police officer Thell Riddle striking the suspect […]