News and Blogs Together, Friday, April 6, 2007

• Matthew Bowen at Prevention Works reminds us of the importance of community involvement in crime prevention, especially in this age of meth houses and "grow houses" and such. I've done the Neighborhood Watch thing, and it's not an imposition in an active community. Much of the corr sent problem could be taken care of if we all took on the obligations instead of waiting for bad things to happen and then letting the government take action. But it's a whole lot easier, isn't it?
• Research out of NC indicates that seeing plays that show the effects of alcohol and drug abuse leads folks to want to volunteer more in prevention activities in their communities and homes. Again, following the theme above, the more we take care of ourselves, the less we get caught in the messes we've created. Theater, anyone?
• Show-off researchers at IA State U have three related studies out on the impact of violent video games on children and adolescents. [Hint: not good.]
• A while back I lamented the sentence to prison of a woman I worked with in WI, ostensibly for throwing a state contract. I've thought about her a lot as I’ve heard more about the efforts to use federal prosecutions to sway the 2006 elections. She was a quiet and respected person who never belonged in prison, even if guilty of something. Well, now it turns out she was never guilty of anything illegal. Her recompense? In a statement, [her attorney] said the government should accept responsibility for its actions, although he said there was no legal redress Thompson could take at the state or federal level. "The government charged Thompson with conduct that did not constitute a crime," he said. "It cost Georgia her job, her life savings, her home and her liberty, and it cost Georgia her good name." The Department of Justice.