Bill-Gates

screen shot taken from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LNAwUxZ5nfw

When asked about ‘lessons’ learned after meeting with Jeff Epstein, Bill Gates says: “Well, he’s dead”

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On Wednesday, September 22nd, billionaire Microsoft founder and philanthropist Bill Gates appeared on PBS’s “NewsHour” where he was questioned about lessons learned from his previously admitted “mistake” of meeting with now-deceased convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Anchor Judy Woodruff said:

“You had a number of meetings with Jeffrey Epstein, who, when you met him 10 years ago, he was convicted of soliciting prostitution from minors. What did you know about him when you were meeting with him, as you’ve said yourself, in the hopes of raising money?”

Gates responded by saying:

“You know, I had dinners with him. I regret doing that. He had relationships with people he said would give to global health, which is an interest I have. Not nearly enough philanthropy goes in that direction. Those meetings were a mistake.”

He added:

“They didn’t result in what he purported and I cut them off. You know, that goes back a long time ago now. So, there’s nothing new on that.”

In a follow-up response, Woodruff said:

“It was reported that you continued to meet with him over several years and, in other words, a number of meetings. What did you do when you found out about his background?”

Gates answered by saying:

“I said I regretted having those dinners and there’s nothing, absolutely nothing new on that.”

Woodruff pressed and said, “Is there a lesson for you, for anyone else looking at this?” Gates responded and said:

“Well, he’s dead, so you know, in general, you always have to be careful. And you know, I’ve very proud of what we’ve done, very proud of the work of the foundation. That’s what I get up every day and focus on.”

Back in May, the Daily Beast reported that Gates would spend time at Epstein’s Manhattan mansion, allegedly seeking refuge from his marriage and talking with the sex offender’s circle of high-profile dinner guests about philanthropy. 

According to one former Gates Foundation employee, Gates hoped the well-connected sex offender could help him secure the Nobel Peace Prize. 

The person also said that members of the foundation’s communications team were alerted to Gates’ relationship with Epstein and were told it “was a maneuver to try to get himself a Nobel Peace Prize.”

They said the tech mogul had even kept some employees on call on prize day in years past just in case he was awarded the distinction. The former employee said:

“We were aware of things that were potential reputational risks for the foundation and the co-chairs, Bill and Melinda. Even back then, people knew this guy wasn’t squeaky clean.”

The staffer added:

“He [Gates] thought that Jeffrey would be able to help him, that he would know the right people or some kind of way to massage things, so he could get the Nobel Peace Prize, which is what Bill wants more than anything else in the world.”

A spokesperson for Bill Gates denied the billionaire philanthropist was seeking Epstein’s help in obtaining the award. The spokesperson said in a statement:

“While a Nobel Prize would certainly be a great honor, it is false to state that Bill Gates was ‘obsessed’ with the honor, set it as a goal, or campaigned for it in any way.

If Epstein had a plan or motivation to insert himself into any processes related to any awards or honors on behalf of Gates, neither Gates nor anyone he works with was aware of his intentions and they would have rejected any offers for assistance.”

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MANHATTAN, NY- According to reports, the Metropolitan Correctional Center (MCC) where Jeffrey Epstein was infamously found dead has been shuttered by the Department of Justice (DOJ).

The closure is reportedly temporary while the Board of Federal Prisons (BOP) scrambles to fix up the jail in an effort to make it a “safer” environment for inmates. The decision to close comes just weeks after Deputy Attorney General Lisa O. Monaco visited the jail.

After getting a “firsthand” look at the conditions of the jail and its operations, she decided to shut it down. Its current population of 233 inmates, most of whom are awaiting trial, will be moved to other facilities.

Over the years, the jail has accommodated other major criminals, including “El Chapo” Guzman, the Mexican drug lord, and John Gotti, the boss of the Gambino crime family. On Thursday, August 26th, a DOJ spokeswoman said:

“That the department was committed to ensuring that every facility in the federal prison system is not only safe and secure, but also provides people in custody with the resources and programs they need to make a successful return to society after they have served their time.”

And, as part of that effort, the BOP has:

“Assessed steps necessary to improve conditions at the MCC and in an effort to address them as quickly and efficiently as possible the department had decided to close the jail at least temporarily, until those issues have been resolved.”

The BOP did not state where the other inmates would be moved to, but potential facilities include the Metropolitan Detention Center (MDC) in Brooklyn and the federal prison in Otisville. 

David Patton, the attorney in chief at Federal Defenders of New York, which represents thousands of indigent inmates in the Five Boroughs, stated that the MCC has been a “longstanding disgrace,” adding:

“It’s cramped, dark and unsanitary. The building is falling apart. Chronic shortages of medical staff mean that people suffer for long periods of time when they have urgent medical issues.”

One retiring federal judge also recently complained about the conditions of the two federal facilities. In April, Judge Colleen McMahon of Federal District Court in Manhattan,  who had just stepped down as chief judge, said that during the sentencing of a defendant:

“The single thing in the five years that I was chief judge of this court that made me the craziest was my complete and utter inability to do anything meaningful about the conditions of the M.C.C., especially at the M.C.C. as well as the M.D.C.”

She stated that they were “run by morons” and added:

“There is no continuity, there is no leadership, there is no ability to get anything done. They lurch from crisis to crisis, from the gun smuggling to Jeffrey Epstein”

The New York Post reported that the two former correction officers who were supposedly watching Epstein, later pleaded guilty to fudging documents the night Epstein killed himself. The officers dodged prison time in a deal with federal prosecutors.

In December 2020, a former MCC correction officer was sentenced to three years after pleading guilty to abusing an inmate while he worked at the facility. 43-year-old Colin Akparanta was accused of abusing up to seven women at the facility, but pleaded guilty to just one count.

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Bombshell research shows prison populations fell dramatically as violence skyrocketed across America

August 17th, 2021

Violent crime and serious violent crime started to increase by 28 percent in 2015 which ran concurrent with decreasing correctional populations.

What follows are federal statistics documenting the decrease in correctional populations and the rise in violent crime.

Correctional Populations In The US-Bureau of Justice Statistics-New Data

At year-end 2019, an estimated 6,344,000 persons were under the supervision of adult correctional systems in the United States, about 65,200 fewer persons than in 2018.

The adult correctional system includes persons incarcerated in prisons and jails and persons supervised in the community on probation and parole.

This was the first time since 1999 that the correctional population dropped to less than 6.4 million. The correctional population declined by 1.0% in 2019 and has declined an average of 1.3% each year since 2009.

Details

In 2019, the number of persons supervised by U.S. adult correctional systems (6,344,000) decreased (down 65,200 persons) for the twelfth consecutive year.

The 1.0% decline in the correctional population during 2019 was due to decreases in the community supervision (down 0.9%) and incarcerated (down 1.7%) populations.

Since 2009, the correctional population decreased by 12.4% (down 895,200 persons), an average of 1.3% annually.

At year-end 2019, about 2,480 per 100,000 adult U.S. residents were under correctional supervision, the lowest rate since 1991.

By the end of 2019, the community supervision population had dropped to 4,357,700, its lowest level in the last two decades.

All of the decrease in the community supervision population during 2019 was due to a decline in the probation population (down 47,100).

In 2019, the incarcerated population fell to 2,086,600, its lowest level since 2003.

The decline in the incarcerated population during 2019 was primarily due to a decrease in the prison population (down 33,600).

From 2009 to 2019, the parole population grew by 6.6% and was the only correctional population with an overall increase during that period, Bureau Of Justice Statistics.

Characteristics of Prison Inmates-Most Are Violent-Bureau Of Justice Statistics

More than half of sentenced males (58%) and more than a third of sentenced females (38%) were serving time in state prison for a violent offense. If you added criminal history, the percentage would increase considerably.

An estimated 14% of sentenced state prisoners were serving time for murder or non-negligent manslaughter (177,700), and another 13% were serving time for rape or sexual assault (162,700).

About 16% of sentenced state prisoners were serving time for a property offense (199,700), and 14% were serving time for a drug offense (176,300) at the end of 2018, Bureau Of Justice Statistics.

President Biden Pledged To Cut The Prison Population In Half

During the campaign, Mr. Biden stated that he wanted to release half of all prison inmates or reduce the US correctional population substantially through other means.

If the strategy is release, 700,000 mostly violent offenders could potentially be removed from prison. Release from prison is a priority of most (all?) correctional advocacy organizations.

Another way to reduce the prison population by half (or a substantial amount) is to dramatically change the way violent offenders are sentenced.

“Would you commit to cutting incarceration by 50%?” Albert asks Biden. “More than that. We can do it more than that,” he responds, President Pledges To Cut Prison Population

Violent Crime Started Increasing in 2015

We have a 28 percent increase in all violent crime (including simple assaults) per the National Crime Survey (2015-2019) with increases in serious violence.

We have a tripling of violent crime per Gallup, endless media reports of vastly increasing urban violence in 2020-2021 after the lockdowns and riots, a rise in homicides and aggravated assaults in 2019 and 2020 per the Major Cities Chiefs Association, a considerable and recent rise in homicides, aggravated assaults and robberies after the lockdowns by the University of Missouri, and considerable increases in homicides and violence by COVID and Crime.

Per FBI preliminary statistics for all of 2020, there was a 25 percent increase in homicides, overall violent crime increased by 3.3 percent, and aggravated assaults increased by 10.5 percent, Violent Crime Increases in 2020.

Major American cities saw a 33% increase in homicides last year as a pandemic swept across the country, millions of people joined protests against racial injustice and police brutality, and the economy collapsed under the weight of the pandemic — a crime surge that has continued into the first quarter of this year, Rising Urban Homicides-CNN.

Fear of crime is at its highest level in years. Firearm and security sales are skyrocketing. Per media accounts, people are leaving cities.

Early indications for 2021 suggest that violence continues to grow.

The focus of violent crime increases seems to be concentrated in American cities, US Crime Rates.

Recidivism Statistics From The Bureau Of Justice Statistics

During the five-year follow-up period, an estimated 1.1 million arrests occurred among the approximately 408,300 prisoners released in 2012.

During a nine-year follow-up in 2018, the 401,288 state prisoners released in 2005 had an estimated 1,994,000 arrests during the 9-year period, an average of 5 arrests per released prisoner.

Five out of six released offenders were rearrested; 83% were arrested within 9 years.

Prisoner arrests and incarcerations declined over time (2012-2017).

Massive rearrests on the part of released prisoners is indicative of a serious problem as to crime control. Police chiefs blaming repeat offenders are correct, Massive Arrests.

State Probation Arrests

Within 3 years 43% of state felons on probation were rearrested for a felony. Half of the arrests were for a violent crime (murder, rape, robbery, or aggravated assault) or a drug offense.

Results showed that within 3 years of sentencing, 62 percent either had a disciplinary hearing for violating a condition of their probation or were arrested for another felony.

In addition, within 3 years, 46 percent had been sent to prison or jail or had absconded.

Who is on probation? Per the Bureau of Justice Statistics, felony cases went from 50 percent of the probation population in 2005 to 57 percent in 2015, which means that probation is handling a more challenging workload, Offender Recidivism In The US.

Federal Probation-Parole Arrests

Within 3 years, nearly twice as many offenders (35%) had been arrested at least once. And, within 5 years, approximately 2 in 5 of the offenders (43%) were arrested at least once, although the type of arrests while on supervision varied by federal and nonfederal (i.e., state and local) charges, Offender Recidivism In The US.

Conclusions

Violent crime and serious violent crime started to increase in 2015 (after a twenty-year decline) which ran concurrently with decreasing correctional populations. The declines in the correctional population predated increases in violence.

Additional releases from prisons and jails during the pandemic were common.

There is no way of “proving” that the decrease in correctional populations contributed to the increase in violent crime.

As any criminologist will tell you, correlation does not equal causation.

But recidivism (new arrests and incarcerations) are massive and it seems probable that offenders released or in the community are contributing to increased crime and violence.

As The National Institute of Justice recently observed, “One observed change over time, the researchers found, was that participants endorsed fewer beliefs about the benefits of desistance (editor’s note, stopping criminal activity) from crime and had less belief in their independent ability to control whether they would refrain from crime going forward,” National Institute Of Justice.

In other words, offenders seemed to lose faith in their ability to resist crime.

Every police chief in the country is pointing to repeat offenders as to contributing to increased violence and crime. Statistics from the federal government suggest that they are correct.

Advocates rail against the numbers incarcerated and on those on community supervision as inhumane. I’m guessing that the victims of violent crime would disagree.

But also note that I interviewed (via radio and television shows) hundreds of successful offenders released from prison who lead crime-free lives and significantly contribute to their communities and our understanding of recidivism. Most on probation have successful (although imperfect) outcomes.

We need to remember that some offenders make the decision to change. They should be supported.

Activist sheriff declares inmates will now be called ‘residents’ to ‘humanize’ and destigmatize them

MADISON, WI – The Dane County Sheriff announced that his staff will no longer refer to prisoners as “inmates” and will instead call them “residents” or “those within our care” to “humanize” them.

The Dane County Sheriff’s Office held a press conference Monday morning to announce the move. Dane County Sheriff Kalvin Barrett said he made the decision after talking to staff, community members, and incarcerated persons in the Dane County Jail:

“As we serve, we want to maintain dignity and respect for all who are involved in our criminal justice system.

“We will no longer refer to our incarcerated community members as ‘inmates’. Their new title will be ‘resident(s)’ or ‘those within our care.'”

During the press conference, Sheriff Barrett said that his agency considers titles as important, such as preferring peace officer rather than law enforcement officer:

“I view this change in name as a way to humanize those who are within our care.”

The Sheriff said he attended a session with Nehemiah, a Madison-based organization for those re-entering society from jail. He said the session taught him how the word inmate can have a negative meaning to both the public and the incarcerated:

“As your sheriff, I believe our philosophies, policies, and practices should be proactive and not reactionary like many other areas of our criminal justice system.

“The Dane County Sheriff’s Office is a national leader in appropriate progressive reform, and many follow our lead.”

Sheriff Barrett said the change is a “small step” toward reducing barriers and could help reduce recidivism by changing how society views incarcerated people and how they view themselves.

There is no formal rule requiring staff to make the change or to use specific terms, but the Sheriff said he will work with jail leadership to create an official policy.

Sheriff Barrett was joined at the press conference by other community leaders, including Dane County Board Chair Analiese Eicher, Dane County Supervisor Maureen McCarville, and State Representative Sheila Stubbs.

Dane County has joined a growing list of prisoner advocacy groups calling for the end of the use of the term “inmate.” In New York, Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed legislation replacing the word “inmate” with “incarcerated individual” on August 2.

State Sen. Gustavo Rivera, who sponsored the bill, said he met with incarcerated individuals when he served as ranking member of the Senate Crime Victims, Crime and Correction Committee. He said prisoners told him, “I’m a person. I’m not an inmate. I’m not a convict. I’m not a prisoner.”

Rivera said he had learned from his experience:

“That education actually led to this moment. I want to thank each and every one of them for educating me on that subject.”

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MADISON, WI – The Wisconsin Law Enforcement Memorial ceremony to pay tribute to those officers who gave their lives upholding the law was interrupted by Black Lives Matter protesters shouting through a megaphone to disrupt the solemn service.

The protesters tried to drown out the honored speakers by shouting things like, “We have a right to protest” and “Black Lives Matter.”

Video of the ceremony showed attendees and speakers trying to ignore the disruption to continue the ceremony with the protesters’ shouts heard in the background.

A male protester could be heard in the background shouting as one speaker stepped away from the stage. The man shouted:

“This is a megaphone. By the way, this is not a gun, this is a megaphone.”

The protesters’ actions continued during a moment of silence in honor of the fallen officers, and the video camera turns to the man shouting at an official in the crowd.

“Can you show me how I am breaking the law by asking a question. How am I breaking the law by asking a question!”

The unidentified official appeared to be trying to get the protester to follow him away from the ceremony, but the protester became more upset:

“I decide to stand right here. I think this is a public place, I pay taxes. I get to stand here.”

The protester then set the megaphone on the ground and raised his hands over his head:

“Let me set this down before any assuming, firearm-carrying civilian decides to shoot me.”

The protester then stepped toward the official and shouted at him while rap music with lyrics like “f*** the police” was playing in the background:

“You’ve got tears coming out of my eyes. You know why? Because I have faith in people, and you’re totally disrupting my f**king balance right now. I’m begging you m*********ers to stop killing people that look like me.”

The protester was eventually led away by two uniformed officers.

Despite the protesters, the ceremony continued.

The ceremony on May 7 was held to honor those officers who have been killed in the line of duty. The pandemic prevented the ceremony from proceeding last year, so the officers added to the honor roll included 2020 and 2021.

In total, six officers’ names had to be added to the memorial located on Capitol Square in Madison. C.O.P.S. President Jo Ann Mignon said:

“For the 285 names on the wall, we tell them we will not forget you, we will never forget what you gave up for us and we will never forget everyone gathered here today.”

The officers included on the 2020 Honor Roll are:

  • Darlington Police Department Chief William McGinty, who died on May 25, 1933.
  • Pepin County Sheriff’s Office Traffic Officer Starre A. Miles, who died on Nov. 5, 1945.
  • Milwaukee Police Department Officer Matthew J. Rittner, who died Feb. 6, 2019.
  • Racine Police Department Officer John D. Hetland, who died June 17, 2019.

The officers included on the 2021 Honor Roll are:

  • Milwaukee Police Department Officer Mark S. Lentz, who died on Sept. 18, 2019.
  • Dane County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Richard Treadwell, who died on Aug. 22, 2020.

According to the Officer Down Memorial Page, Deputy Treadwell died after contracting COVID-19 in what is presumed to be an on-duty exposure.

Deputy Treadwell served with the Dane County Sheriff’s Office for 25 years and was assigned to the Dane County Law Enforcement Training Center. He is survived by his wife and three children.

Beginning in early 2020, thousands of law enforcement officers like Deputy Treadwell and other first responders throughout the country contracted COVID-19 during the pandemic due to the requirements of their job. Many of these first responders have died as a result of COVID-19 and continue to do so.

The Wisconsin ceremony was conducted in correlation with National Police Week.

In 1962, President John F. Kennedy proclaimed May 15 “National Peace Officer’s Memorial Day” and National Police Week as the calendar week which encompasses May 15. National Police Week 2021 is from May 9 until May 15.
 

 

 

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About The Author

Jenna Curren, Ed.D., is an assistant professor in criminal justice studies. As chair of a CJ advisory board, Jenna actively partners with members of the community to integrate current students into internships and prospective law enforcement careers. Prior to working in academics, Jenna held various custody and treatment positions and was a lieutenant for the CT Department of Correction. Throughout her tenure, she supervised men, women, youth and mental health offenders. A C.E.R.T and honor guard member, as well as a training officer, Jenna has 10 years of experience in the criminal justice and human services fields.

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