Month: November 2022

Source: United States Department of Justice News

PROVIDENCE – Christopher J. Skinner, 33, of Providence, convicted in unrelated child pornography cases brought by the United States Air Force in 2010, in Rhode Island state court in 2014, and, most recently, in federal court in Providence in February 2022, was sentenced today to ten years in federal prison for possession of child pornography, announced United States Attorney Zachary A. Cunha.

In January 2022, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children notified the Rhode Island State Police Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force that files containing child sexual abuse had been uploaded by an individual in Rhode Island. Further investigation by a Homeland Security Investigations agent and a Rhode Island State Police detective determined that the files had been uploaded from an IP address assigned to Skinner’s residence. A court-authorized search in February 2022 of Skinner’s home and his cell phone led to the discovery of images containing child sexual abuse.

Skinner pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in June 2022 to possession of child pornography. He was sentenced today by U.S. District Court Judge Mary S. McElroy to 120 months in federal prison to be followed by 10 years of federal supervised release.

According to court records, in 2010, Skinner was convicted of possession of child pornography by the United States Air Force and sentenced to 2 years of confinement and dishonorable discharge from the Air Force; and, in an unrelated case in 2014, Skinner was convicted in Rhode Island state court of possession of child pornography and sentenced to 10 years of incarceration – 3 years to serve.

Skinner has also been convicted of failure to register as a sex offender.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Lee H. Vilker.

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Source: United States Department of Justice News

That man’s father was also charged and sentenced for concealing his son’s involvement in the crime by deleting phone records

Source: United States Department of Justice News

The Justice Department announced today that it has opened an investigation into the State of Oklahoma, Oklahoma City and Oklahoma City Police Department (OKCPD).

The investigation will examine whether Oklahoma fails to provide community-based mental health services to people in Oklahoma County, leading to unnecessary admissions to psychiatric facilities and police contact. The investigation will also examine Oklahoma City’s systems for responding to people experiencing behavioral health crises, including through the 911 call center and OKCPD.  

Prior to the announcement, the department informed the offices of Oklahoma’s Governor, Attorney General, Commissioner for the Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services and Chief Executive Officer for the Oklahoma Health Care Authority, as well as Oklahoma City’s Mayor, City Manager, Municipal Counselor and Chief of Police of the investigation. As part of this investigation, department officials will reach out to community groups and members of the public to learn about their experiences with mental health services in Oklahoma County, and Oklahoma City and OKCPD’s response to mental health crises.

“Community-based mental health services, which are proven effective in transforming people’s lives, are critical to preventing a cycle of unnecessary institutionalization and avoidable contacts with law enforcement,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “The Civil Rights Division is committed to ensuring appropriate responses to behavioral health crises and protecting the civil rights of people with mental health disabilities.”

This investigation is being conducted pursuant to Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act, which prohibits disability discrimination by state and local governments. The investigation is also being conducted pursuant to the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994, which prohibits state and local governments from engaging in a pattern or practice of conduct by law enforcement officers that deprives individuals of rights protected by the Constitution or federal law.

The Special Litigation Section of the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division, in Washington, D.C., will conduct this investigation. 

Individuals with relevant information are encouraged to contact the department via email at MentalHealth.Oklahoma@usdoj.gov or through the Civil Rights Division’s Civil Rights Portal, available at https://civilrights.justice.gov/.

Additional information about the Special Litigation Section of the Civil Rights Division’s enforcement of the ADA’s integration mandate is available here: https://www.justice.gov/crt/rights-persons-disabilities, and information specific to the Civil Rights Division’s Police Reform Work can be found here:  https://www.justice.gov/crt/conduct-law-enforcement-agencies.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

The Department of Justice, in close coordination with the Department of Education, announced today a new process for handling cases in which individuals seek to discharge their federal student loans in bankruptcy. The new process will help ensure consistent treatment of the discharge of federal student loans, reduce the burden on borrowers of pursuing such proceedings and make it easier to identify cases where discharge is appropriate. The Associate Attorney General distributed guidance outlining the new process to all U.S. Attorneys.

Congress has set a higher bar for discharging student loan debt compared to other debt — borrowers who seek to discharge their loans through bankruptcy must demonstrate that they will suffer “undue hardship” unless the debt is discharged. Although the bankruptcy judge makes the final decision whether to grant a discharge, the new process announced today provides Justice Department attorneys with clear standards for recommending discharge to the judge without unnecessarily burdensome and time-consuming investigations. The new process will also help borrowers who did not think they could get relief through bankruptcy more easily identify whether they meet the criteria to seek a discharge.

“Today’s guidance outlines a better, fairer, more transparent process for student loan borrowers in bankruptcy,” said Associate Attorney General Vanita Gupta. “It will allow Justice Department attorneys to more easily identify cases in which we can recommend discharge of a borrower’s student loans. We are grateful to the Department of Education for its partnership in developing this guidance.”

“Congress may have set a higher bar for granting student loan discharges during bankruptcy, but in practice that bar has become very difficult for deserving borrowers to clear,” said U.S. Under Secretary of Education James Kvaal. “After decades of inaction in Washington, our Department of Education team was determined to partner with the Justice Department to craft clearer, fairer, and more practical standards to guide recommendations for student debt discharges during bankruptcy proceedings. This guidance is an important step toward helping struggling borrowers, many of whom never completed college or were misled into debt by dishonest schools.”

As part of the undue hardship analysis, courts review the borrower’s past, present and future financial circumstances. The new process will leverage Department of Education data and a new borrower-completed attestation form to assist the government in assessing a borrower’s discharge request. The Justice Department, in consultation with the Department of Education, will review the information provided, apply the factors that courts consider relevant to the undue-hardship inquiry and determine whether to recommend that the bankruptcy judge discharge the borrower’s student loan debt. 

The Department of Justice and Department of Education are committed to making this system work for borrowers. Both agencies will continue to monitor how the process plays out on the ground and will assess the effectiveness of this guidance after the first year, and beyond as warranted.

By simplifying the process and establishing clear standards, the agencies hope to significantly reduce the burden on borrowers and government attorneys, provide a clear path for borrowers to seek discharges and add safeguards to promote consistency and predictability.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

Yesterday, Associate Attorney General Vanita Gupta and Director Karhlton F. Moore of the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) met with judicial leaders and criminal justice professionals in Miami to discuss responses to mental health issues in the justice system. Associate Attorney General Gupta and Director Moore heard from Judge Steven Leifman of Florida’s Eleventh Judicial Circuit about the Criminal Mental Health Project, a program he created in 2000 to divert people with mental illnesses away from jail and into community-based treatment. The presentations included judges, prosecutors, public defenders, peer recovery specialists and representatives from local police departments discussing the success of the program. Thousands of people have been kept out of jail under the Miami model, and only a fraction of graduates re-offend. Estimates suggest that nationwide about 15% of men and more than 30% of women in jails have a serious mental illness, compared to about 4% of people in the general population.

BJA Director Moore and the BJA leadership team provided an overview of the BJA Justice and Mental Health Collaboration Program, which has awarded 679 state, local and Tribal grants to support responses to people with mental illnesses who come into contact with the criminal justice system. Two years ago, BJA also launched Connect and Protect, designed to strengthen partnerships between law enforcement and behavioral health agencies. Miami-Dade County is a national Law Enforcement-Mental Health Learning Site and is recognized as a model for its approach to diverting people with mental health and co-occurring substance use disorders.