MetaFilter posts tagged with crimes

The Many Faces of Crime

terranova — Sat, 06 Dec 2008 13:13:24 -0800

In one of the largest jewelry heists in history, robbers -- at least two wearing women's wigs and dresses -- relieved a Harry Winston boutique of $108 million worth of diamond rings, necklaces, and watches. Despite criminal investigation teachings that robbers "have better things to do with their money than to buy an array of masks and disguises" and will opt for functional attire, many thieves express themselves creatively and impractically through costumery, dressing as Dracula and Black Father Christmas, a tree, Greek prime ministers, clowns, and ghosts, while others cover their faces with duct tape, cookie dough, drywall, and baking-flour-and-ketchup. Minimalists just wear men's underwear and women's thongs on their heads.

Tis the Season for Shoplifting

terranova — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 19:47:31 -0800

Tis the season for Shoplifting, when the unemployed, teens, professionals, kleptos, and political shoplifters jack, rack, nick, and stroke holiday gifts. The BBB anticipates a rise in light-fingered merchandising, but notes that on average, shoplifters get pinched only "once for every 48 times they steal." Retailers are fighting back in unusual ways. Wal-Mart, the oft-target of political shoplifters, aggressively guards its merchandise, while across the pond the Dutch approach the problem with bemusement.

A work in progress...

elgilito — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 08:19:04 -0800

The Online Encyclopedia of Mass Violence is a scholarly database of case studies focusing on massacres and genocides of the 20th century, both transnational and national. It also includes theoretical papers. Unfortunately the site doesn't provide the full list of papers (clicking on the case studies links can be frustrating as many papers are not yet available and marked as "work in progress"), but the search function can be used to find available topics.

oh what tangled webs we weave....GOP Rep McHenry's roomies, and more

amberglow — Fri, 28 Sep 2007 14:14:13 -0800

McHenry and his "roommates" -- GOP Rep Patrick McHenry (NC), co-owner of a DC home with Scott G. Stewart, former chair of the College Republican Nat'l Cttee (and bilker of many senior citizens), received a DC home-ownership reduction improperly. McHenry's actual home in North Carolina was apparently also home to quite a collection of young men: (convicted fraudulent voter) Michael Aaron Lay, Neil Everett Capano, Matthew Allen Hamilton, and (multiple violations, including "death by vehicle") Jason Jent Deans. Also, McHenry's 04 consultant Ralph Gonzales was one of the men involved in a recent FL murder/suicide, and links to Robert Drake, the killer (political work in NC and escort service connections), are still being documented. Stay tuned! There's other same-sex homeowner news too--Condi Rice and Randy Bean (they also share a line of credit). Under Don't Ask, Don't Tell, same-sex home ownership is enough to get a DADT investigation/witchhunt going. Ralls said on September 14 . "SLDN is aware of cases where servicemembers have been investigated for owning a home with a person of the same gender." McHenry is a staunch supporter of the policy that prohibits openly gay or lesbian Americans to serve in the nation's armed forces. Big big roundup on McHenry here at Pam's House Blend (much much more dirt and crimes)== Untangling the latest GOP gay scandal with Mike Signorile

Teen does 10 years for oral sex

b_thinky — Thu, 25 Jan 2007 10:02:05 -0800

Why is Genarlow Wilson in Prison? Genarlow Wilson sits in prison despite being a good son, a good athlete and high school student with a 3.2 GPA. He never had any criminal trouble. On the day he was to sit for the SAT, at seventeen years old, his life changed forever. He was arrested. In Douglas County he was accused of inappropriate sexual acts at a New Year’s Eve party. A jury acquitted him of the allegation of Rape but convicted him of Aggravated Child Molestation for a voluntary act of oral sex with another teenager. He was 17, and she was 15.

On July 1st, the new Romeo and Juliet law went into effect in Georgia for any other teen that engages in consensual sexual acts. That change in the law means that no teen prosecuted for consensual oral sex could receive more than a 12 months sentence or be required to register as a sex offender. But since the law was not changed retroactively, Genarlow Wilson must serve his mandatory sentence of 10 years in prison, without parole.

Death sentence for online gamer

Trik — Wed, 08 Jun 2005 14:34:02 -0800

Death sentence for online gamer SHANGHAI: A Shanghai online gamer who murdered another player because of a dispute over a "cyber-weapon" was given the death sentence with a two-year reprieve yesterday at Shanghai No 2 Intermediate People's Court. Qiu Chengwei's death penalty will be commuted to life in prison if he behaves well in jail, and no other crimes relating to him are uncovered.

Not to condone the murder, but is cyber theft or isn't it? Acording to the DMCA if I download a song or movie from cyberspace I am commiting a crime. Yet if someone steals your item in a cyberworld and sells it for real world cash your left without recourse. I feel China had a chance to establish new law and balked. (more inside)

Damning leak for Blair / Bush!

insomnia_lj — Sun, 01 May 2005 13:21:33 -0800

Damning leak for Blair / Bush! A leaked transcript of a senior British government meeting indicates that the Bush administration viewed war with Iraq as "inevitable" as of July 2002, even though the rationale for war was "thin" and that "Saddam was not threatening his neighbours, and his WMD capability was less than that of Libya, North Korea or Iran." It further states that the desire to bring about regime change was "not a legal base for military action", and that the only legitimate reason to declare war was with UNSCOM approval. Most disturbingly, it indicates that there were "strategies for dealing with Libya and Iran. If the political context were right, people would support regime change."

HRW report

bumpkin — Sat, 23 Apr 2005 16:47:59 -0800

A year after the Abu Ghraib photos were widely circulated, and a few days after most of the low-ranking officers blamed were let off, Human Rights Watch releases a report clearly implicating the entire chain of command, and strongly urges the investigation of Donald Rumsfeld and George Tenet. (Full report here) Just some bad eggs, eh?

to export violence to the four corners of the globe

milkwood — Mon, 18 Apr 2005 11:02:36 -0800

Now here's an interesting story. And well worth the read. It mentions some disturbing facts - he reloads and starts shooting again - but is still sympathetic to our hero. Of course if you compare it with this... "nothing to see here folks, keep moving right along!" Oh, and is "frought" a word?

Don't hang up on Texas!

wfrgms — Tue, 07 Dec 2004 19:34:12 -0800

Have a good day Ms. Beyer! "Before you are rude to another telemarketer, you should keep in mind that he or she has your phone number and your address." Texas Telemarketer sends a threatening letter to a hanger-upper.

President George W. Bush arrested upon arrival in Canada

327.ca — Mon, 29 Nov 2004 14:22:22 -0800

Canadian authorities have arrested US President George W. Bush and charged him with offences under Canada's War Crimes Act. Says (Canadian Prime Minister) Paul Martin: “This decision was not made lightly. But, it was also a decision that was impossible not to make. The United States is not outside the rule of law, and cannot expect to get an unlimited “free pass”. This decision puts a grave strain upon both our nations, and I urge calm and restraint from our American neighbours, as well as from Canadians. I have met with the cabinet, and with our colleagues in the House. This is a time of great crisis for us as a nation. But as people, we will survive this test. Earlier I enacted the Emergency War Powers Act. This is necessary to guarantee our domestic security. This is not a time for panic, for lawlessness, for anything other than a responsible and sobre focus on what lies immediately ahead.”

just disgusting

amberglow — Tue, 12 Oct 2004 19:20:13 -0800

Illegal RNC trashing Democratic registrations in Vegas -- Employees of a private voter registration company allege that hundreds, perhaps thousands of voters who may think they are registered will be rudely surprised on election day. The company claims hundreds of registration forms were thrown in the trash. ... The out-of-state firm has been in Las Vegas for the past few months, registering voters. It employed up to 300 part-time workers and collected hundreds of registrations per day, but former employees of the company say that Voters Outreach of America only wanted Republican registrations. Two former workers say they personally witnessed company supervisors rip up and trash registration forms signed by Democrats. ... The company has been largely, if not entirely funded, by the Republican National Committee. Similar complaints have been received in Reno where the registrar has asked the FBI to investigate.

Correctional Evolution

lightweight — Fri, 03 Sep 2004 03:13:09 -0800

New Behaviour Correction - The North American penal systems are outdated. If we look to the UK, evidence of specific punishment points to a new method of behavior correction. The current NA system seems incredibly unspecific when we punish a host of crimes by sending people to the same cage.

Twisted Reality 0.1 Beta

jopreacher — Tue, 29 Jun 2004 12:26:04 -0800

Policing Virtual Reality. Wired reports on Sociolotron(NSFW). A MMORPG that allows gamers to rob, rape, and kill other players. Being a gamer, I understand that actions in an MMORPG aren't "real" but how far can you take it?

"Lord Foucault is an admitted rapist. He does it on impulse -- for the thrill of it and for the feeling of control he has over his female victims." Is this any different than running around and killing dwarves?

Discussion 33250

mcgraw — Sat, 22 May 2004 10:47:40 -0800

Box of Snakes 'Linked to Death' Little Rock, Ark. Police are investigating a link between a mysterious box of veno mous sna kes and the death of a business traveler whose body was found in a rental car last week.

Criminalized self exploitation...

soulhuntre — Sat, 03 Apr 2004 14:31:58 -0800

A 15 year old girl has been charged with several counts related to "child pornography" for sending out pictures of herself to several people she chatted with. As more and more teens use webcams for all sorts of things from keeping in touch with friends, getting strangers to buy them things from their wishlists and making some $$$ this has caused a little discussion. As she did not "force" herself, how does this intersect with recent attempts to criminalize "virtual" child porn as both situations have at their heart whether the primary issue is coercion/harm or the concepts images themselves. At the risk of "Newsfiltering", I am interested in opinions from a less histrionic group (thats you) than some others who are discussing it.

Innocent: Don't pass go, but you still owe.

thomcatspike — Wed, 17 Mar 2004 08:38:29 -0800

Blunkett charges miscarriage of justice victims ‘food and lodgings’ We locked you up in jail for 25 years and you were innocent all along? That’ll be £80,000 please.

Hey!

Ufez Jones — Fri, 09 Jan 2004 14:13:20 -0800

Hey! A thirteen year-old kid gets suspended for three days for using a DOS command to send a one-word message to all 80 computers on his school's network. Even more charming is that the computer teacher of his school apparently doesn't know much about the computicatin' machines.

mugshots

crunchland — Tue, 30 Sep 2003 20:00:41 -0800

The largest collection of mugshots on the Internet. From famous celebrities to old gangsters.

Rap Not Music to Whitey's Ears

turbanhead — Tue, 19 Aug 2003 13:05:17 -0800

Rap Not Music to Whitey's Ears A group of alleged white extremists facing treason charges in South Africa has complained about being forced to listen to "black" music while on remand in prison.

sentence pun here

serafinapekkala — Wed, 16 Jul 2003 08:04:36 -0800

Man sentenced to read "To Kill A Mockingbird." For spitting at a cop and disorderly conduct, a PA man is jailed and required to read and write a report on Harper Lee's classic. What other books might be fit punishment for certain crimes? (via Obscurestore)

Go To Jail

Ron — Tue, 15 Apr 2003 09:16:29 -0800

Sixth-grader goes to jail for stomping in a mud puddle. Police called it a proper arrest.

Quonsar, it's been nice knowing you

jonson — Fri, 28 Mar 2003 23:09:31 -0800

Use a misleading domain name, go to prison. A new bit of pending legislation (warning: PDF) called the "Child Abduction Prevention Act" (and really, who WOULDN'T vote for that?) has made the use of misleading domain names for sites of "purient interest" punishable by a sentence of up to two years in prison. Seriously. This is going to be very troubling to the White House. No, this White House.

Arson in South Korean subway

antimarx — Tue, 18 Feb 2003 02:19:02 -0800

More senseless killing, boys and girls: an Arson in a South Korean subway. "With 135 people injured, many seriously, and at least 90 people listed as missing, officials say they expect the death toll to rise much higher." This will, no doubt, help in stabilizing the region.

BC Politics Continues to Amuse

five fresh fish — Mon, 13 Jan 2003 13:04:05 -0800

Our drunk-driving premier has refused to resign because it "was on personal time." What kind of standards does your state or province demand of its leaders? Do your politicians get to sleep around, drunk drive, snort coke, cheat on their taxes, and so on? (Or, rather more to the point, are they allowed to continue in office once caught?)