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Cosa Nostra

Cosa Nostra

La Cosa Nostra in the United States


La Cosa Nostra, or the Mafia is the most organized criminal threat In America. The name is literally translated as “this thing of ours.” The organization relies on a national alliance of criminals that are either linked by familial ties or by conspiracy. Unlike organized crime in Italy, La Cosa Nostra is an Italian organization that is founded in the United States. This quality is shared with the Neapolitan Mafia, Calabrian Mafia, and the United Sacred Crown.
According to the FBI, La Cosa Nostra consists of several different groups or families that are most commonly arranged by location who are engaged in organized racketeering actions. La Cosa Nostra has a strong presence throughout the United States, particularly in New York, Philadelphia, along with southern New Jersey. However, they are also active in other areas of New England, Detroit, Chicago, as well as other locations internationally.
Organized crime families such as La Cosa Nostra evolved over thousands of years due to different periods of exploitation and invasions of Italy. Throughout these events, Sicilians soon became much more clan based and began to rely heavily on family and other strong ties for protection, safety, justice, and survival. They created groups that that initially acted as resistance fighters who would exact vigilante justice and profit at the expense of the oppressor. 
These groups eventually developed into the Mafia. In the beginning of the 20th century, many of these head figures of organized crime groups illegally immigrated to the United States where they established the American Mafia, or La Cosa Nostra. This began with Charles Luciano, who was a Sicilian Mafioso. He came to the United States and is credited for structuring La Cosa Nostra, which was based off the structure of the Sicilian Mafia
Some of the most historically influential actions of La Cosa Nostra involved labor racketeering, which was manipulating, controlling, or dominating the labor movement in order to somehow affect the industries and businesses related, potential resulting in economic losses by the insurer, consumer, business, or workers, as well as the potential loss of worker’s rights. Some examples of La Cosa Nostra’s involvement in labor racketeering include: 
• Members of La Cosa Nostra falsely listing their employment as labor or labor-related at the 1957 Apalachin conference in New York.
• Systematic racketeering in the International Brotherhood of Teamsters as well as the Hotel Employees & Restaurant Employees International Union.
• Exposure in 1986 by the President’s Council on Organized Crime dinficating that five major unions being dominated by La Cosa Nostra.
• Paul Castellano, the former Gambino family boss saying the job of La Cosa Nostra was to run the unions.

Cartels

CartelsCartels and Their Role in the Market



A cartel is an explicit or formal agreement among firms that are in competition with each other. By creating a cartel, it sets up a formal organization of manufacturers and produces that decide and agree on fixed prices, production, and marketing to increase the profits of the participants. This allows the participating producers to constrain other competing companies outside of the cartel and potentially create a monopoly of the product in the market.
Topics discussed on in a cartel agreement can include:
• Price Fixing
• Bid rigging
• Market Shares
• Total industry output
• Allocation of territories
• Allocation of customers
• Establishment of sales agencies
• Division of profits among participants.
Cartels can often be found in markets that have a smaller number of sellers and in turn, less competition. It also applies to a product that is relatively homogenous and has few variations between sellers. 
Because of antitrust laws (specifically the Sherman Antitrust Act which passed in 1890), cartels are no longer legal in the United States and creating one is considered a federal crime. However, many European countries do allow cartels to operate. These cartels influence the prices of imported goods that come into the United States. Drug cartels in other countries also affect the United States, as many illegal narcotics are smuggled into the United States.
Cartels can be classified as being either private or public.
• Public: The government is involved in order to regulate and enforce the cartel agreements made. The sovereignty of the government protects the cartels from any legal actions made against them.
• Private: These cartels can be legally liable under whatever antitrust laws are in placed in the country of question.
Most competition laws and antitrust laws forbid private cartel agreements. It is important to spot and break up these private cartels because of competition policy that are found in most countries, although it is rarely an easy task to prove the existence of a cartel agreement since many of the involved parties are extremely careful not to leave physical evidence of such a thing.
Many different legal decisions and economic studies of antitrust authorities have concluded that the median increase in price accomplished by these cartels was about 25% in the last 200 years. Private cartels with participants from two or more countries created an average increase of price of 28%, whereas private domestic cartels averaged 18%. Less than 10% of all cartels used in the sample did not raise the market price of their product.
One example of a cartel is the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, or OPEC. This cartel is between the governments of The United Arab Emirates, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Iraq, Libya, Kuwait, Iran, Angola, Ecuador, and Algeria.
OPEC represents countries that produce major sources of oil in the Middle East, South America, and Africa. While not as powerful as they once were, they have some control of gas prices and cannot be held accountable for being in a cartel due to public international law giving them doctrine of state immunity.

Prison Reentry

Prison Reentry

What do Prison Reentry Programs Do?
Prison reentry programs are designed to promote effective reintegration of prisoners and offenders back into their communities after being released from jail or prison. Many of these prison reentry programs require a very comprehensive approach to the case and works to help offenders in receiving the proper skills needed to become citizens that follow the law. By creating prison reentry programs, it helps reduce recidivism rates.
There are many different prison reentry programs, such as vocational training, work programs, and prerelease programs. One particular initiative is supported by the United States Department of Justice, and is known as the Prisoner Reentry Initiative. It is also supported by the Office of Justice Programs, as well as other federal programs such as the U.S. Departments of Health and Human Services, Education, Labor, and Housing and Urban Development.
This initiative is a complete effort that looks at both adult and juvenile groups of very high-risk offenders. It provides resources to create, set up, improve, and evaluate many reentry strategies used to ensure the safety of the community by reducing serious, violent crimes.
This is done through preparation of the selected offenders in order to successfully integrate them into their communities after having served a long period of secure confinement in an adult or juvenile correctional facility, a state training school, or other secure institution.
In these prison reentry initiatives, some goals include providing education, job training, mental health treatment, substance abuse treatment, mentoring, and risk assessment. The initiative then works to proper monitoring and training as well as other assessment to help transition the individual into society. 
Long term programs are also included to help provide various social services and community based groups to provide continuing services and mentor relationships if necessary. These programs are often implemented are often implemented the first year and a half after release from jail or prison.
Another approach to prison reentry is through reentry courts. These courts offer the chance for even more extensive treatment and management of offenders at the beginning of the sentencing phase. The goal is to promote accountability of the offender while giving services and treatment during the prison reentry phase.
These programs can be very helpful because annually, almost 650,000 individuals are released from federal and state prison doorsteps. Even more come out of local jails and have often been in and out of jail more than once. For example, The Bureau of Justice Statistics found that in a study consisting of 15 states, over 67% of the released state prisoners were rearrested, over half of them returning to prison within three years.

Verbal Abuse

Verbal Abuse

What Counts as Verbal Abuse?


Verbal abuse is best thought of as an emotional environment that is ongoing that is created by an abuser to the abused, most often for the point of maintaining control. One of the primary underlying factors in the dynamics of a relationship with verbal abuse is the fact that the abuser has low self-esteem or opinions for him or herself. Because of this, the abuser tries to put their victim in a lowered position to make them believe similar things through a warped projection.
Verbal abuse can include:
• accusing
• berating
• blaming
• blocking
• bullying
• countering
• defaming
• defining
• discounting
• diverting
• harassing
• insulting
• interrogating
• lying
• name-calling
• putting down
• raging
• taunting
• threatening
• trivializing
• withholding
• yelling
Some examples of verbal abuse include:
• Control by telling a victim how to feel and what to think while refusing to understand the victim’s perspective. The abuser may object verbally in a violent way to the victim’s desires or inions. 
• Withholding support, affection, information or money and denying it when the abuser is confronted.
• Isolating a victim by blocking outside relationships to family and friends. The abuser works tries to convince the victim that the only person who truly cares about the victim or likes the victim is the abuser. Occasionally, the verbal abuser may be willing to admit to this behavior, and agrees to end it, but the behavior tends to quickly restart.
 Verbal abuse can happen to any person of any race, gender, sexual orientation, culture, size or age. It is seen most often in is especially prevalent in marital relationships. Most often, the intensity of verbal abuse will increase over time and can even escalate to a point where it becomes physical abuse as well.
Often in a relationship with intense verbal abuse, the victim often suffers from very low self-esteem along with low self-worth. Because of the verbal abuse, a victim can easily fall into post-traumatic stress disorder or even clinical depression.
Despite verbal abuse being one of the more common forms of abuse, it is normally not considered to be as seriously as other forms of abuse, since no visible proof comes out of verbal abuse. However, verbal abuse can sometimes be more harmful to the individual’s well-being than physical abuse.
If verbal abuse starts at a young age, it can contribute greatly to borderline personality disorder, narcissistic personality disorder, codependency, and many other psychological disorders that often continue on into adulthood.
Individuals who feel they are being verbally attacked by an abuser regularly should try to get professional counsel and get out of the hurtful environment as much as possible. Staying in an environment with a verbal abuser is extremely damaging for a person’s well-being.

Most Wanted

Most Wanted

Most Wanted in the United States


There are many different most wanted lists based on the level of government and the government or law enforcement agency involved. The most commonly known one in the United States is the Federal Bureau of Investigations most wanted list that started in the middle of the 20th century.
The Ten Most Wanted List is one of the most well know FBI list that have been in existence since March of 1950. The list was designed by the FBI with the country’s new media in order to publicize dangerous fugitives in order to receive more public assistance in tracking these fugitives. These names are chosen by the 56 field offices of the FBI who submit their candidates for the list to the Criminal Investigative Division. Selected candidates are approved by the Assistant director and then the FBI’s director.

Different FBI Wanted Lists
The FBI has different lists based on the crimes.
• Ten Most Wanted
• Parental Kidnappings
• Most Wanted Terrorists
• Crime Alerts
• Crimes Against Children
In order to be on the list, an individual must have a long record of committing crimes or be a very dangerous menace to society. The case must also benefit from public awareness. The first person to be put on the list was Thomas James Holden, who had murdered his wife and two of her relatives. Since then 949 fugitives have been put on the list, while 464 of them have been located or apprehended.

Currently the FBI’s 10 Most Wanted Fugitives are:
• Jason Derek Brown
• Victor Manuel Gerena
• James J. Bulger
• Eduardo Ravelo
• Robert William Fisher
• Joe Luis Saenz
• Alexis Flores
Semion Mogilevich
• Glen Stewart Godwin
• Osama Bin Laden (who is now deceased)

Other Most Wanted Lists Kept by Government or Law Enforcement Agencies
• U.S. Marshal’s Most Wanted list consists of those with a history of many violent crimes who are possibly armed and dangerous.
• U.S. Postal Inspection Service has a list for those who have committed robbery, mail fraud, harming postal employees, and other crimes.
• Secret Service Most wanted Fugitives
• Interpol International Police Organization
• The Drug Enforcement Administration maintains their own lists of most wanted fugitives based on Field Division. They also keep a list of major international fugitives as well.
• The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and firearms has a wanted list.
• Environmental Protection Agency’s list of fugitives includes those who have broken the EPA’s rules.
Many states jurisdictions also have their own most wanted lists. For example, California’s most wanted list is kept by the Department of Justice, while New York’s list is kept by the Department of Corrections and Community Supervision. 

Execution

Execution

Execution in the United States


Lawful execution through the death penalty or capital punishment is the death sentence upon an individual through the judicial process as punishment for an offence by the individual. Crimes that can result in being sentenced to execution are considered capital offenses or capital crimes.
Capital is a term that originates from capitalis, a Latin word, that literally means “regarding the head”. The idea originated from the fact that originally, a capital crime was punishable by severing the body from the head.
Capital punishment has existed and been practiced by the majority of societies, while only 58 countries currently actively practice it. 95 countries have abolished execution while the countries remaining have not used it for over a decade or only have used in in extreme circumstances such as during wartime.
In the United States, capital punishment is practically applied to only aggravated murder, although occasionally it is applied to felony murder. Prior to the Declaration of Independence, executions were an enforced penalty for many felonies. After the American Revolution, execution was still maintained with the United States common law system.
Execution is a very controversial idea in many different states and countries and positions often rely on or are based off of a political or cultural ideology or a religious belief. In the United States, Capital punishment has constantly been a contentious social issue. Historically, the majority of the public favors it in murder cases, yet this support has changed over time.
The procedures of execution and the crimes that can warrant it vary by state by state and jurisdiction by jurisdiction and have done so throughout American history. Currently, 34 four jurisdictions have banned execution by law, while others have simply suspended its use. Meanwhile there are a few that are attempting to increase its applicability. In 2008 there were 37 executions in the United States and 46 executions in 2010, where all but two lethal injection.
In the 37 states as well as the federal government that have execution statutes, only five methods of execution are prescribed:
• Lethal Injection
• Lethal Gas
• Electrocution
Firing Squad
• Hanging. 
Most of the executions performed in the United States are by lethal injection. However, more than half the jurisdictions also provide for alternative methods. The choice of method can be based off of:
• The Inmate’s choice
• Date of sentence or execution
• Change of method being unconstitutional
Currently, Nebraska is the only state that does not have lethal injection as the main choice of execution. It also does not provide other options besides electrocution as the only method of execution. Currently, none of the states provide hanging, lethal gas, or a firing squad for the only method of execution.
Since the death penalty laws were reinstatement in 1976, New Jersey became the first state to repeal its laws in 2007. The Nebraska Supreme Court also repealed the laws in 2008 by saying the electric chair was not constitutional as a method of execution. Since there are no alternative methods, Nebraska in practice does not have a death penalty.

Rape Statistics

Rape Statistics

United States Rape Statistics


Rape is not just a women’s problem, but rather a societal problem. Here are some rape statistics to help show to provide more information on the issue. 


Rape Statistics on the Victims
• 1 out of 6 American women have been through either an attempted or completed rape in her lifetime.
• Over 17.7 million women in America are currently the victims of completed or attempted rape.
• In 2003, 90% of rape victims were women.
• 80% of rape victims are white, but minorities are more likely to experience an attack.
• 1 in 33 American men have been the victim of an attempted rape or completed rape.
• In 2003, 10% of rape victims were men
• Over 2.5 million American men  have been the victims of rape or sexual assault.
• 80% of rape and sexual assault victims are less than 30 years old, while 33% are less than 18 and 15 are less than 12.
• Young women ages 16-19 are four times more likely to be victims or attempted rape, rape, or sexual assault in comparison to the general population.

Rape Statistics: Frequency
• Attempted rape, rape, or sexual assault occurred to individuals 12 or older 248,300 times according to 2007 rape statistics.
• Someone is sexually assaulted in the United States every 2 minutes.
• Thankfully, the rate of sexual assault has fallen over 60% since 1993.

Rape Statistics: Reporting the Crime
• At least 60% of sexual assaults and rapes are not reported to law enforcement authorities, meaning only approximately 6% of rapists experience jail time.
• This means approximately 15/16 rapists are not held accountable for their crimes.
Rape Statistics: The Offenders
• About 67% of rapes and sexual assaults are done by someone the victim has met as opposed to a stranger.
• 38% are an acquaintance or friend, 28% are someone who is considered intimate, and 7% is a family member or relative.
• Over half of all sexual assaults and rape incidents happen within a mile of the home of either the offender or the victim.
• According to rape statistics, approximately 40% occur in the victim’s home and 20% happen in a friend, relative’s, or neighbors home.
• 43% of all rapes happen between 6PM and 12AM, 24% happen from 12AM to 6AM, while 33% happen between 6AM and 6PM.
• The average age of the offender is 31 years old.
• About half of the offenders are white.
• 22% of rapists that are imprisoned are married.
• In about 1/3 of all sexual assaults, the offender is under the influence of either drugs or alcohol.
• 84% of rapes use only physical force according to victims.
• More than 1/10 of the rapes in 2001 used a weapon such as a knife, gun, or other form.
• Almost half of rapists released from prison committed another crime and was arrested for it within 3 years.

Tampa Man Exported Millions in Computer Equipment to Iran

Tampa Man Exported Millions in Computer Equipment to Iran


On October 18, 2012, Immigration and Customs Enforcement announced that Mohammad Reza “Ray” Hajian of Tampa was sentenced to four years in federal prison for violating the International Emergency Economic Powers Act and the Iranian trade regulations as well.  Hajian was also sentenced to a year of supervised release and ordered to forfeit $10 million.  


Court documents show that Hajian illegally exported expensive and complex computer equipment to Iran from 2003 to 2011.  The transactions are in direct violation of the U.S. embargo on transactions between Iran and the United States.


Hajian worked with other co-conspirators to ship the computers and electronic equipment.  The co-conspirators routed all shipments, payments and travel between the two countries through the United Arab Emirates.  They contacted only through email, used fake identities, and communicated in code to hide the extent of their activities.  Hajian is believed to have shipped about $14.85 million worth of computers and electronic equipment to Iran during the operation.  


Hajian pleaded guilty to the charges on July 11, 2012, and his companies—RH International LLC, Nexiant LLC, and P & P Computers LLC—pleaded guilty as well.  


Sue McCormick, special agent in charge of HSI Tampa, stated, “The magnitude and scope of the threats facing the United States has never been greater than today, and that’s why Homeland Security Investigations investigates individuals who try to export sensitive technologies to hostile nations.”  


Robert Luzzi, special agent in charge of the Security’s Office of Export Enforcement Miami Field Office, noted: “Parties who conspire to export to embargoed destinations such as Iran will be pursued and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”  


The sentencing of Hajian comes just a week later after the United States declared that Iran may have been responsible for the attempted cyber attack on the White House.  


Tensions continue to grow between the United States and Iran.  


Source: U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement
 

Osama bin Laden

Osama bin Laden

The Life and Death of Osama bin Laden 
Osama bin Laden is most known for being the leader of al-Qaeda, the terrorist group responsible for four major terrorist attack groups against the United States, from the 1993 World Trade Center bombing to the September 11 attacks. He has been on the FBI’s top ten list of most wanted fugitives along with the most wanted terrorists list
Osama bin Laden was born in 1975 as the seventh son among 50 siblings. He received all of his education until college in Jeddah and continued to gain his degree from King Abdul-Aziz University in public administration in 1981. 
Aside from his commitments to school, he was also very religious. Even as a young child, he was a devout Wahabi Muslim.
After college, Osama bin Laden took part in the Soviet War in Afghanistan. He quickly became experienced and exposed to the military lifestyle and fighting involved, transitioning him into the person he is seen as today. It was around this time where he became to carry a weapon and wear camouflage.
He formed al-Qaeda in 1988 which was an was an organized Islamic faction. The group took up jihadist causes, causing the Soviets to withdraw from Afghanistan and making bin Laden a hero to Saudi Arabia.
From the 1990’s onward, Osama bin Laden’s organization was found responsible for many terrorist attacks, such as the bombing attacks of 1992 in Aden as well as the Luxor massacre in 1997. While capturing bin Laden had been an U.S. objective since the Clinton administration, it was the September 11 attacks that fueled the search for bin Laden.
On May 2, 2011, nearly a decade after the September 11 attacks, Osama bin Laden was finally found and killed. Under the authorization of President Barack Obama, an American team of United States Navy SEALs carried out Operation Neptune Star, which was to capture or kill bin Laden without injuring any civilians. This operation had been in planning since September 2010, and was given the go-head on May 1, 2011
Osama bin Laden’s body was then buried at sea within 24 hours of his death as a religious burial. However, many prominent Islamic clerics disagreed with this, as a sea burial was only for certain circumstances, such as no one claiming the body. While others disagreed with this sentiment, it was agreed that there was very little cultural sensitivity involved in the burial.

J. Robert Verdun

J. Robert Verdun

 


J. Robert Verdun

J. Robert Verdun is a Canadian former newspaper publisher best known for his involvement in a defamation lawsuit that resulted in one of the largest awards of damages given in such cases. The case in question was Astley v. Verdun, which entered the Canadian court system in 2006 and achieved a resolution in 2011.

The origins of this case lie with a 1999 dispute between J. Robert Verdun and Robert Astley. In 1999, Astley was the president and CEO of the company Mutual Life of Canada, in which J. Robert Verdun was a shareholder. A policy holders' meeting was held that year to discuss and approve making the company a publicly traded entity named Clarica. J. Robert Verdun voiced his disagreement to this plan loudly, allegedly attempting to gain control of the chairman's microphone when his was turned off. Despite his opposition, the conversion of Mutual Life into Clarica began.

In 2004, J. Robert Verdun renewed his dispute with Astley, who was being considered for induction to the board of the Bank of Montreal. In a letter he sent to the bank's chairman, he described Astley in derogatory terms as greedy and pledged that, in light of his opposition to Astley being appointed, he would make his opposition public. This email constituted the first of eight statements later found to be defamatory.

In February 2005, J. Robert Verdun attended the bank's annual general meeting and denounced Astley for 35 minutes as unethical. In November of that year, he reiterated his claims in the form of shareholder proposals submitted to several banks. Under Canadian law, banks are required to reprint and share these statements with all shareholders, giving the charges J. Robert Verdun made a larger audience.

At this point, both the Bank of Montreal as well as Astley's lawyer notified J. Robert Verdun that he should stop his remarks. Rather than complying, J. Robert Verdun filed another complaint regarding Astley's position with the bank with the Ontario Securities Commission. As a result of this action, in May 2006 Astley filed a lawsuit against J. Robert Verdun seeking one million Canadian dollars in damages regarding eight separate defamatory statements made maliciously. J. Robert Verdun filed a counterclaim which was dismissed .

In May of 2011, a jury ruled that all eight of the statements J. Robert Verdun had made qualified as defamatory and made with malicious intent. In addition to being ordered to pay $650,000 the presiding judge issued a permanent injunction prohibiting J. Robert Verdun from making any statements about Astley in any medium and in any form. The decision was notable not only for the size of the damages awarded but because of the decision to restrict the freedom of speech of J. Robert Verdun. The judge made this ruling in light of Verdun's continued pattern of behavior, which included publishing a book reiterating and expanding his statements about Astley even after the jury's verdict had been returned. 

 

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