News about crime, criminal justice, and the courts often tends towards the gloomy, so I’m going to start this week with some positive news. The Carolina Journal has a story noting that “[c]rime in North Carolina public schools is down for the third consecutive year, dipping 6.6% . . . according to . . . the NC Department of Public Instruction.” Unfortunately, “incidents involving assault on school personnel and bomb threats increased,” and crime levels remain higher than they were prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. DHS funding may soon run out due to stalemate over ICE reforms. A partial government shutdown was averted this week, but funding for the Department of Homeland security was extended by just a couple of weeks. The idea was that Democrats and Republicans in Congress would use that time to agree on a longer-term funding measure that would include reforms to the practices of Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers. However, yesterday the Associated Press ran this story, reporting that the parties are at odds over potential reforms. Democrats have a list of ten changes they’d like to see in ICE’s operations, including prohibiting officers from wearing masks, “a requirement for judicial warrants, better identification of DHS officers, new use of force standards and a stop to racial profiling.” Republicans see at least some of the proposals as “unrealistic” and as an overreach by Democrats. DHS is currently funded until February 14. If a new funding bill does not pass, the agency would need to curtail operations [...]
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