Monday, February 12, 2007

Information Is Power; Give Metro Court More

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    Who knew?
    Who knew that under the current background checks judges use in Metropolitan Court:

A fraud defendant shows up with no criminal history, when a more extensive check would turn up 12 misdemeanor and eight felony arrests including kidnapping and rape with one misdemeanor and two felony convictions?

A DWI defendant shows up with two prior DWI convictions, when a more extensive check would turn up a third DWI conviction, six felony arrests including two rape charges and three felony convictions?
    So who could possibly be against giving judges in the state's busiest court the more extensive background checks before they decide who bonds out and who stays behind bars besides the felons, that is?
    Metro Court Chief Judge Judith Nakamura says a test program on DWI and domestic violence defendants found that checking the National Crime Information Center database for warrants and the court's own database simply doesn't provide a complete picture of a defendant's criminal history.
    Adding NCIC's criminal history, state criminal and motor vehicle division databases, pending federal cases and federal probation records turns up a whole lot more. When Nakamura saw the more extensive background check, she says, she almost always changed her decision on the defendant's conditions of release.
    "People are under the misconception that we judges are getting all of this information about defendants already," she says.
    Rep. Gail Chasey, D-Albuquerque, is sponsoring a bill that would give Metro Court $400,000 to make the pilot program official for a year. The money would pay for a staff of seven to run the checks. Nakamura says the next step would be permanent funding because "if we get this going now, I don't see how we could ever go back to the way we've been doing things."
    And one look at what the extensive checks turn up and who they keep behind bars makes it hard to imagine why we would.