Subj:	CRIMESTRIKE: Shoot-Out At Midnight Basketball 95-08-01
Date:	95-08-03 00:34:54 EDT
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                       NRA-ILA CrimeStrike
            11250 Waples Mill Road, Fairfax, VA 22030
               * August 1, 1995 * 1-800-TOUGH-11 *

Shoot-Out At Midnight Basketball

     The theme for the "Midnight Madness" basketball league in
Syracuse, N.Y., was "Increase the peace," but the message
apparently didn't reach two gunmen who staged a shoot-out in front
of a high school gym there July 24.
     According to the Syracuse Herald-Journal, two security guards
attempting to break up fights inside and in front of the school
were fired upon, and one guard returned fire, getting off 13 shots.
     "Midnight Madness," a form of the much-criticized "Midnight
Basketball" program in the Clinton Crime Bill, was intended to give
youth "something to do" to keep them off the streets.
     Said NRA Chief Lobbyist Tanya K. Metaksa, "The only difference
Midnight Basketball has made is now young people prone to crime are
committing crimes on basketball courts, rather than going to court.
We strenuously opposed this $377 million boondoggle as a waste of
scarce crime-fighting dollars, and urged those taxpayer monies be
used to build 15,000 new prison beds for violent criminals,
instead. We're working with the new Congress to instill sanity in
last year's omnibus crime bill."

Accused Throat Slasher To Be Tried As Juvenile

     "It makes no sense at all," said cab driver Ronald Landry,
speaking about a judge's decision to try 16-year-old Timothy Wing
as a juvenile on a robbery charge.  Landry survived having his
throat slashed in the robbery attempt last February in Lewiston,
Maine, said USA Today.
     "The continuing failure to bring violent juvenile offenders to
account before adult courts is a major barrier to our ability to
deal with today's juvenile crime epidemic," said CrimeStrike Senior
Policy Counsel Elizabeth Swasey.  "It's imperative that the states
reform this process -- and not be distracted by `Midnight Basketball'
and similar proven failures -- before an even greater wave of juvenile
violence crashes down on us by the year 2000," she said.
     For a copy of CrimeStrike's new juvenile crime fact sheet,
"America's Juvenile Justice System: System Failure," call 1-800-
TOUGH-11.

NY Mayor:  Getting Tough Works

     More arrests and tougher sentencing are keys to New York
City's crime declinedown 25% in July from a year agosays Mayor
Rudolph Giuliani.  "Mayor Giuliani is definitely on the right
track," agreed CrimeStrike's Elizabeth Swasey.  "Police can do the
job, if the criminal justice system backs police by locking up
offenders.  The two must go hand-in-hand," she said.
Death Penalty Gains Favor In Canada
     Nearly 70% of Canadians favored the return of the death
penalty in a June public opinion survey, reports Reuters.  A
sensational Toronto murder trial has brought such strong support
for revival of the measure, the Reform Party of Canada is
campaigning for a binding referendum on it.  The last Canadian
execution was in 1962.

Is Congress Ready To STOP Courts' Choke Hold On Prisons?

     Congress is considering STOP, the "Stop Turning Out Prisoners"
bill, to remedy a provision in the Clinton Crime Bill that,
according to criminologist John J. DiIulio of Princeton University,
"watered down a provision to put an end to liberal judges issuing
orders that declare a prison `overcrowded,' which then ends up
putting criminals out on the street, and letting judges run the
prisons.  That's the choke hold on the whole criminal justice
system," he said.  
     STOP was one of the many prison reform measures heard before
the Senate Judiciary Committee on July 27. NRA Crimestrike
monitored the hearing and will provide updates as the legislation
progresses.

Solution To Prison Crowding

     States from Virginia to Utah with prison overcrowding are
taking advantage of an oversupply of jail beds in Texas in a
program that is easing prison cell shortages around the country,
reports The Christian Science Monitor.
     Thus far, the newspaper reports, Utah, Missouri, Colorado, and
Virginia have sent 1,400 inmates to Texas, and thousands more are
expected to be transferred. One state may send as many as 8,000
inmates, said one "bed broker."
     Not only does the contracting ease crowding, it can be
cheaper, according to Ben Griego, a Colorado prison official.  A
Colorado inmate housed in a Texas jail cost the state $40 a day
compared to $55 daily in Colorado.
     "Thirty-nine states are under federal court order or consent
decree regarding prison overcrowding or conditions of confinement,"
said Elizabeth Swasey, CrimeStrike Senior Policy Counsel.  "This is
a national problem at the state level, and it's very encouraging to
see states take the initiative to solve the problem in such an
innovative way."

FOR INTERVIEWS WITH SPOKESPERSONS, CALL 1-800-TOUGH-11.

=+=+=+=+
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Association Institute for Legislative Action, Fairfax, VA.

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Information may also be obtained by connecting directly to the 
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Subject: CRIMESTRIKE: Shoot-Out At Midnight Basketball  95-08-01
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