The Spark

The New York Times reports with some wonderment over the reaction of Newark residents to the heinous and brutal execution murders of three college students. Two of those involved are illegal aliens who have lengthy criminal records, and yet were not only free to commit more crimes in the US, but should have been deported long ago.

Political rivals have promised to work together, young men in gang attire have signed pledges to put down their weapons, and a mayor who was facing criticism from even his most devoted allies has been buoyed by a wave of sympathy and support.

...

Iofemi Hightower, 20; Dashon Harvey, 20; and Terrance Aeriel, 18; were killed with shots to the back of the head. Mr. Aeriel’s 19-year-old sister, Natasha, was shot but survived.

If disaster can be seen to have even a hint of silver lining, the homicides, which have drawn news coverage across the nation, have provoked a level of outrage, and commitment to change, not seen here since the riots of 40 years ago.

The money and the cameras are not what will get the crime rates down in Newark, a community that will no longer tolerate such criminal acts and gangs operating in their backyards will.

MS-13 is one of the most violent gangs operating in our nation's urban areas, and the two alleged ringleaders had MS-13 ties. Was this an initiation rite of passage into the gang for the underage individuals arrested in connection with this crime? It certainly seems possible.

For far too long, the community looked the other way, perhaps feeling helpless about the situation and with a police force that was overburdened and not particularly focused - far too many were pushing paper and not enough on the streets.

Sadly, the Times fails to mention that illegal aliens were involved in the crimes: Jose Lachira Carranza, 28, who was out on $150,000 bail despite pending indictments on a charge of raping a 5-year-old (and is a self-admitted illegal alien), and one of aggravated assault in a bar fight; and Rodolfo Godinez, 24, convicted of theft in 2003 and should have been deported a decade earlier as he too is an illegal alien. Godinez is still at large. Police stopped looking for him when they called his last known address and a woman reported that Godinez had left the country. Apparently not. The sheriff acknowledges that they should probably have done more, but claim that they don't even have a place to put all the prisoners who are at large:

"We gave it four shots. We should have kept looking for him," but his department was undermanned and overwhelmed, Fontoura said. Essex County currently has 16,000 people with open warrants, and he has eight to 20 officers to track them at any given time, he said.

"If we arrested them all, where would we put them?" he said.

"They would all be (released on their own recognizance)," Fontoura said. "If we want to get serious about crime, we're going to have address that."

By addressing that problem, that means new prisons. And given that many of those who are roaming free are commiting more than one crime, incarceration would have a multiplier effect on reducing crime rates in the region.

Meanwhile, the hunt for Godinez has spread to include Virginia.

The State Attorney General is looking into why Carranza was allowed to remain out on bail despite the seriousness of the charges pending, and in light of the second incident. Indeed, it appears that the judge in the case reduced the amount of bail requested in the rape case by half:

Carranza was released from the Essex County jail on May 22 after posting $150,000 bail.

Earlier yesterday, state Senate President Richard Codey sharply criticized Vena's decision to lower the bail from $300,000 and said he asked state Attorney General Anne Milgram to investigate what happened.

"It is our understanding that Jose Carranza's bail was reduced from $300,000 to $150,000 as a unilateral decision by the judge, without allowing any input from the prosecutor's office, which is simply unacceptable," Codey said in a statement.

The judge apparently consolidated and reduced the bail and did not have either prosecutors or defense lawyers present when he signed the order.

Prosecutors also note that they generally don't look into the immigration status until after sentencing - to ensure that such individuals are incarcertated for their crimes.

This process should be reexamined. Knowing the immigration status of the defendant should be used as an element in determining whether the individual poses a flight risk and bail denied. If they have accused of committing crimes, and bail is an appropriate option to incarceration prior to trial for such crimes, bail should not be an option if that individual poses a flight risk. Indeed, some in Newark are proposing just that:

Newark City Councilman Ronald C. Rice announced yesterday that he would sponsor a resolution urging Newark police to call immigration authorities upon arresting undocumented aliens on felony charges.

"This helps law enforcement to go after bad people in our community," Rice said. "There was a space, a gap in law enforcement efforts to catch someone accused of committing a crime."