News of the Day, Wednesday, January 3, 2007

Technocorrections speeds along, some of it on a speedway from Japan. Toyota is developing steering wheels with sensors that will pick up any excessive alcohol consumption through the driver's sweat and either keep the car from starting or shut it down if the driving is weird. Uh . . . two things. One, gloves (does skin have to touch the wheel? like in Denver right now?). Two, some of these characters will drive with their knees. Or think they are. But, still, this could make a tremendous difference. (Wait, three. The car's shutting down in traffic????) . . . Something to be proud of--"Arizona Key Gateway for Pot" . . . wait. Could there be a link with tying LA for worst state for education? Two states well-known for their investments in social capital . . . wait. . . . Elsewhere in the West, "Report says Denver major distribution center for meth." And, surprise, here's a story on mental illness and Denver jails. Not a good story, but it is educational, not completely in a BSDM way. (Have no idea what that means. I promise.) . . . Let's move East, where we find calls for serious correctional reform in DE. . . . Across the sea (the other way), HA is seeing lower registrations for medical marijuana. It's semi-predictable that novelty will lessen the impact on this over the years. We'll keep track. It's an interesting story on this, though. . . . If Newsweek starts covering the increases in violent crime rates, does that make them real? Well, it's real in Cincinnati (h/t Real Cost of Prisons). But think what it would have been if NYC and LA hadn't actually been dropping that way. . . . This really isn't a corrections sentencing piece, but it does deal with the development of genetic testing in ways that we might not originally predict, which is, of course, the test that we'll be applying to genetics and corrections sentencing. . . . Here's another story on that true gateway drug, called alcohol. Binge-drinking or binge-toking? Which seems to be the biggest problem right now? . . . Back in my old stomping grounds, Baltimore's police commissioner has thrown his cap into the call for $30 m. more funding for drug treatment. Baltimore is a good city but its heroin and coke problems are truly "Homicide" for the place. Here's hoping the new governor (and former mayor) can get the job done. . . . Finally, more completely baseless policy proposed for sex offenders. MS thinks castration will get the message across. This is a classic area for what I talked about the other day, for us to think that what would work on us would work on people not like us. If sex is the point of sexual abuse, maybe castration would work. Would work on me. But if it's something else, like power or domination or sadism, you really think offenders can't find other ways to do that? Things that, in some ways, could actually be worse. But it'll impress the guys at the bar and allow some good chest-thumping, top criteria for policy acceptance. Good luck down there. AZ and LA might like the company.