CDs and DVDs Not Worth Stealing

It seems that in Britain, burglars aren’t bothering to steal CDs and DVDs.  Why?

The reason is the falling value of physical media products. The average price of a CD album in Britain fell from £10.77 to £7.32 between 2001 and 2010, according to the BPI, a trade group—almost a halving, in real terms. And the dishonest get their music and films free, via the internet. DVDs are under pressure not just from piracy but also from video-on-demand services.

Instead they’re stealing computers, purses, jewelry, and anything else that has greater value.  Technology has disrupted traditional thievery as well.

It’s Like Arraign on Your Wedding Day

Headline shamelessly taken from Radley Balko, but this case of an innocent man turning himself in to police is disturbing.

William Giraldo was threatened with deportation and thrown in the notorious Rikers Island prison in New York when he was mistaken for the ‘Brooklyn Groper’.

He was picked out of a lineup, arraigned on his wedding day and spent a month in jail until DNA evidence cleared him.

In Balko’s words, “Yep, they had the wrong guy. He now has a mountain of legal bills. Oh, and while he was in jail, the actual ‘serial groper’ struck again.”

Yes, you need a lawyer.

Medical Marijuana Coming Soon to NJ… Maybe

Gov. Christie is moving forward with NJ’s medical marijuana program because he believes that NJ’s program won’t fall afoul of federal law.

Christie has been criticized for the slow pace of the program’s roll-out,  but several dispensaries have been shut down in other states–despite their being in compliance with state law.  The NJ dispensaries will likely still be in violation of federal law, and DOJ has been unclear as to whether they will shut down these dispensaries.

The current guidance?

“It is likely not an efficient use of federal resources to focus enforcement efforts on individuals with cancer or other serious illnesses who use marijuana as part of a recommended treatment regimen consistent with applicable state law, or their caregiver,” the department said.

That’s not a promise to leave the NJ dispensaries alone.

Big Brother Leading to Acquitals

In San Francisco, defense attorneys are using the ubiquitous video cameras to support their clients’ cases.

They have also become a tool exploited by defense lawyers who often seek footage from the cameras to exonerate falsely accused clients. The footage is not monitored in real time, but can be reviewed upon request by attorneys, police and prosecutors.

Nearly one-third of 109 requests for footage made last year came from defense attorneys, according to data supplied by The City in response to a public records request by The San Francisco Examiner.

Criminal defendants have been cleared or had charges reduced when footage proved their alibis or disproved police or witnesses’ accounts of incidents.

Interesting use of technology; particularly one designed to assist the other side of the bar.

Parking Placard Plague Marches on In Perpetuity

In an only-in-New-York kind of story, the plague of parking placards continues unabated.  For those of you who aren’t familiar with the phenomenon, parking placards let people park in places where you’re not supposed to park.

In a place like Manhattan, where legitimate street parking is in short supply, placards can save you literally hundreds of dollars a month on tickets and garage parking.

The Daily News and Transportation Alternatives have found that a fake placard, created in under 30 minutes in Photoshop and laminated, was good enough to pass muster and get parking all over town.

h/t: Gothamist

So You Can Steal Live Wires Too

Thieves are now stealing live wires in Antioch, California off of the power lines… some of which were live.  So much for the original plans.

Pay Your Student Loans

… or the Department of Education SWAT team’ll get ya.

Well, maybe not quite. Reason.com is reporting that the raid was related to a criminal investigation.

Still, since when does the United States Department of Education have SWAT teams?!

Thought Experiment: Prison Vouchers

Interesting thought experiment over at the Volokh Conspiracy, “What would the world look like if, instead of assigning prisoners to particular prisons bureaucratically, we gave them vouchers, good for one incarceration, that they were required to redeem at a participating prison?”

The idea patterns itself after school vouchers.  Different students have different educational needs, and different prisoners may have different security and rehabilitation needs.

Prisons could adapt to different kinds of rehabilitation, including drug rehabilitation, religious emphasis, etc.

Craigslist Car Thieves

They steal a car, sell them to a second victim, get the second victim’s information, and steal the car again.

Because You Can’t Steal Live Wires (As Easily)

In a counter-intuitive move, the City of Sacramento, California is keeping its lights on all day to save money by deterring thieves from stealing the copper wire.

quotes:

The city now figures keeping them turned on will save money, by warding off copper thieves; keeping the lights on mean live wires, and the unlucky thief who doesn’t know better could be electrocuted.

.  .  .  .

“I believe these are 200 volts, and that would hurt,”

Maybe they could use LED lights or some other method to keep costs down.