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Birmingham calls for stricter corporate crime, gun
Josey1
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Birmingham calls for stricter corporate crime, gun laws
By Michael S. Rosenwald, Globe Staff, 8/26/2002
UINCY - Using the police headquarters as a backdrop, Democratic gubernatorial candidate Thomas F. Birmingham yesterday promised to boost spending on community policing and parole officers, oppose any loosening of gun control laws, and force criminals to pay restitution to their victims.
In unveiling his anticrime strategy, the Senate president also pledged to prosecute corporate crimes that ''boil my skin.'' Birmingham accused his rivals, especially Republican Mitt Romney, a former businessman, of being mostly silent on the hot-button issue of corporate crime. Birmingham promised to increase jail time for what he called the ''new stick-up artists'' and extend the statute of limitations for prosecuting securities fraud from six to 10 years.
''We're going to throw the book at corporate crooks,'' he told supporters. ''Even though they don't carry guns, they are still predators.''
Reacting to the church sex abuse scandal and the recent slaying of a young woman at a rest stop, Birmingham also proposed eliminating the statute of limitations for rape and sexual assault and cutting the backlog to the state's Sex Offender Registry. He also wants to immediately implement the ''Amber Alert'' system for missing or abducted children.
Birmingham's anticrime credentials received a boost yesterday when he was endorsed by the International Brotherhood of Police Officers, the union representing officers in Worcester, Lowell, and Springfield. Officers in the Boston Municipal Police, which patrols city property, also belong.
To beef up community policing, Birmingham proposed adding $10 million to the $20 million the state provides to local police departments to hire more police officers. State Treasurer Shannon P. O'Brien, the Democratic front-runner, has also proposed expanding the community policing program, but hasn't attached a dollar amount to her proposal.
''Community policing is tried and true,'' Birmingham said. He unveiled his anticrime strategy at Quincy police headquarters, he said, because the department has used the program to assign a dozen more community officers to walking beats.
On the issue of gun control, Birmingham criticized the state's governor-appointed Gun Control Advisory Board for being too tilted toward the gun lobby, and promised to replace some of its members. He also said he'd make it illegal for people with stalking restraining orders against them to possess a gun. Birmingham sharply criticized Romney for not mentioning gun violence in announcing his crime proposal, saying his ''silence speaks volumes.''
Eric Fehrnstrom, Romney's deputy campaign manager, said ''Mitt Romney supports strict enforcement of existing gun laws, including a ban on assault weapons.'' Fehrnstrom rejected the charge that Romney has been silent on corporate crime, saying the Republican ''thinks that committing fraud or making misrepresentations in the corporate board room should be punished severely under existing statutes for fraud, larceny, and racketeering.''
Fehrnstrom and aides to Democrat Warren Tolman returned fire by noting that Birmingham didn't propose changes to the state court system.
''In Massachusetts, patronage is forced on our court system by the Legislature,'' Fehrnstrom said. ''Tom Birmingham has helped perpetuate that system, so it's no surprise that he makes no proposals in that area.''
Karen Grant Blackburn, a spokeswoman for Tolman, questioned how Birmingham's plan can ''be called comprehensive without a mention of judicial independence - especially at a time when the court budget is being stripped to the bare bones, leaving them understaffed and overworked.'' Aides to O'Brien and Democrat Robert Reich declined to comment on the plan.
Aside from the additional $10 million on community policing, Birmingham said the cost of his plan - dubbed ''Getting Smart on Crime'' - would be minimal and spread over several years.
Birmingham's plan to hire 250 to 300 parole officers - with the goal of monitoring every criminal released from prison, not just those on parole - would eventually cost $15 million. However, Birmingham said, if the system works, the state will save the cost of locking up offenders again and again. Birmingham also lacked a precise price tag for a related proposal: assessing what it would require to rehabilitate every prisoner as soon as the sentence begins.
Michael S. Rosenwald of the Globe Staff can be reached at mrosenwald@globe.com.
This story ran on page B3 of the Boston Globe on 8/26/2002.
c Copyright 2002 Globe Newspaper Company
http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/238/metro/Birmingham_calls_for_stricter_corporate_crime_gun_laws+.shtml
"If cowardly and dishonorable men sometimes shoot unarmed men with army pistols or guns, the evil must be prevented by the penitentiary and gallows, and not by a general deprivation of a constitutional privilege." - Arkansas Supreme Court, 1878
By Michael S. Rosenwald, Globe Staff, 8/26/2002
UINCY - Using the police headquarters as a backdrop, Democratic gubernatorial candidate Thomas F. Birmingham yesterday promised to boost spending on community policing and parole officers, oppose any loosening of gun control laws, and force criminals to pay restitution to their victims.
In unveiling his anticrime strategy, the Senate president also pledged to prosecute corporate crimes that ''boil my skin.'' Birmingham accused his rivals, especially Republican Mitt Romney, a former businessman, of being mostly silent on the hot-button issue of corporate crime. Birmingham promised to increase jail time for what he called the ''new stick-up artists'' and extend the statute of limitations for prosecuting securities fraud from six to 10 years.
''We're going to throw the book at corporate crooks,'' he told supporters. ''Even though they don't carry guns, they are still predators.''
Reacting to the church sex abuse scandal and the recent slaying of a young woman at a rest stop, Birmingham also proposed eliminating the statute of limitations for rape and sexual assault and cutting the backlog to the state's Sex Offender Registry. He also wants to immediately implement the ''Amber Alert'' system for missing or abducted children.
Birmingham's anticrime credentials received a boost yesterday when he was endorsed by the International Brotherhood of Police Officers, the union representing officers in Worcester, Lowell, and Springfield. Officers in the Boston Municipal Police, which patrols city property, also belong.
To beef up community policing, Birmingham proposed adding $10 million to the $20 million the state provides to local police departments to hire more police officers. State Treasurer Shannon P. O'Brien, the Democratic front-runner, has also proposed expanding the community policing program, but hasn't attached a dollar amount to her proposal.
''Community policing is tried and true,'' Birmingham said. He unveiled his anticrime strategy at Quincy police headquarters, he said, because the department has used the program to assign a dozen more community officers to walking beats.
On the issue of gun control, Birmingham criticized the state's governor-appointed Gun Control Advisory Board for being too tilted toward the gun lobby, and promised to replace some of its members. He also said he'd make it illegal for people with stalking restraining orders against them to possess a gun. Birmingham sharply criticized Romney for not mentioning gun violence in announcing his crime proposal, saying his ''silence speaks volumes.''
Eric Fehrnstrom, Romney's deputy campaign manager, said ''Mitt Romney supports strict enforcement of existing gun laws, including a ban on assault weapons.'' Fehrnstrom rejected the charge that Romney has been silent on corporate crime, saying the Republican ''thinks that committing fraud or making misrepresentations in the corporate board room should be punished severely under existing statutes for fraud, larceny, and racketeering.''
Fehrnstrom and aides to Democrat Warren Tolman returned fire by noting that Birmingham didn't propose changes to the state court system.
''In Massachusetts, patronage is forced on our court system by the Legislature,'' Fehrnstrom said. ''Tom Birmingham has helped perpetuate that system, so it's no surprise that he makes no proposals in that area.''
Karen Grant Blackburn, a spokeswoman for Tolman, questioned how Birmingham's plan can ''be called comprehensive without a mention of judicial independence - especially at a time when the court budget is being stripped to the bare bones, leaving them understaffed and overworked.'' Aides to O'Brien and Democrat Robert Reich declined to comment on the plan.
Aside from the additional $10 million on community policing, Birmingham said the cost of his plan - dubbed ''Getting Smart on Crime'' - would be minimal and spread over several years.
Birmingham's plan to hire 250 to 300 parole officers - with the goal of monitoring every criminal released from prison, not just those on parole - would eventually cost $15 million. However, Birmingham said, if the system works, the state will save the cost of locking up offenders again and again. Birmingham also lacked a precise price tag for a related proposal: assessing what it would require to rehabilitate every prisoner as soon as the sentence begins.
Michael S. Rosenwald of the Globe Staff can be reached at mrosenwald@globe.com.
This story ran on page B3 of the Boston Globe on 8/26/2002.
c Copyright 2002 Globe Newspaper Company
http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/238/metro/Birmingham_calls_for_stricter_corporate_crime_gun_laws+.shtml
"If cowardly and dishonorable men sometimes shoot unarmed men with army pistols or guns, the evil must be prevented by the penitentiary and gallows, and not by a general deprivation of a constitutional privilege." - Arkansas Supreme Court, 1878