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Sometimes you see weird stuff on Youtube during court sentencing, but this one takes the cake. Convict Ricky Hand, 46, was in court this past Wednesday to receiving sentencing for participating in multiple "armed" robberies. Either he didn't want his freedom, or he wanted to be locked up because any sensible citizen knows you just don't do that. Hand blamed drugs for his crime "fetish." Well, the judge didn't find it funny nor did he think Hand should get a slap on the wrist as pulling a weapon to steal and placing lives in danger is not a ticket to...

The decision by a Justice Department office to cease using the words “convict” and “felon” in official communications ignores “the personal responsibility that these ex-offenders must assume for themselves,” said Rep. Diane Black. Responding to Wednesday’s announcement that the Justice Department’s Office of Justice Programs would no longer use the “disparaging labels” when officials refer to individuals convicted of crimes, the Tennessee Republican was critical of the message the decision sent to crime victims. “The words ‘convict’ and ‘felon’ are not disparaging, in fact they are quite generous compared to some of the phrases we could accurately ascribe to certain...

The Justice Department’s Office of Justice Programs is eschewing the terms “felon” and “convict” when officials refer to individuals convicted of crimes, opting instead for less “disparaging labels,” Assistant Attorney General Karol Mason announced Wednesday. The Office of Justice Programs plans to substitute terminology such as “person who committed a crime” and “individual who was incarcerated” in speeches and other communications as part of an effort to remove barriers that officials say hinder progress of those who re-enter society after completing their prison sentences. “I have come to believe that we have a responsibility to reduce not only the physical...

Get this: If you’ve spent some time in jail, you are much more likely to vote Democrat, according to a new study published in the Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science. The numbers are actually pretty stark. In the three states the study analyzed – New York, New Mexico, and North Carolina – convicts overwhelmingly identified with the Democratic Party. Almost 62% of convicts in New York are registered Democrats and only 9% are Republican; 52% in New Mexico are Democrat, with just over 10% as Republican; and 54.6% are Democrat in North Carolina, and 10.2%...

1924: Pep, “The Cat-Murdering Dog” Pep "The Cat-Murdering Dog" was a black Labrador Retriever admitted to Eastern State Penitentiary on August 12, 1924. Prison folklore tells us that Pennsylvania Governor Gifford Pinchot used his executive powers to sentence Pep to Life Without Parole for killing his wife’s cherished cat. Prison records support this story: Pep’s inmate number (C-2559) is skipped in prison intake logs and inmate records. The Governor told a different story. He said Pep had been sent to Eastern to act as a mascot for the prisoners. He and the Warden, Herbert “Hard-Boiled” Smith, were friends. Pep was...

"The biological family of a little girl taken from her foster parents and returned to her jailbird father have branded her adoptive mom and dad, ‘selfish’ for fighting to get her back and vowed never to give her up again. Sonya, aged nine, had been in the care of Kim and David Hodgin, from Dickson, Tennessee for more than seven years, but she was recently handed over to ex-con John McCaul in Omaha, Nebraska. The Hodgin family have released a heart-breaking phone conversation, revealing Sonya’s desperate pleas, begging to be reunited with them."

In March 2006, Crystal Gail Mangum, a student at North Carolina Central University, who worked as a stripper and an escort, accused three members of the Duke lacrosse team — Reade Seligmann, Collin Finnerty, and David Evans — of raping her at an off-campus party. The case captivated the country, with the media breathlessly reporting the statements of prosecutor Mike Nifong, who was later fired, disbarred and imprisoned for 24 hours, and then those of the players' defense attorneys in a seemingly endless loop of contradictions. In April 2007, North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper said there was "no credible...

(CNN) - Former Louisiana Gov. Edwin Edwards said Monday he's running for the state's 6th Congressional district. Edwards, who was released from federal prison three years ago after serving nearly a decade on charges of racketeering, conspiracy and extortion, made the announcement at a Press Club meeting in Baton Rouge. "I acknowledge that there are good reasons why I should not run. I know that, but there are better reasons why I should and good reasons have to give way to better reasons and therefore, I will be a candidate for congress in the sixth congressional district this year," Edwards...

Despite growing controversy over the use of anonymous pharmacies for lethal injections, the U.S. Supreme Court has thus far declined to block any executions based on 11th-hour appeals challenging the drug connections. That includes the case of Michael Taylor, a convicted rapist and murderer who was put to death at 12:10 a.m. Wednesday in Missouri after a furious legal battle that stretched well into the night. It's worth nothing, however, that three high court justices wanted to block Taylor's execution and cited the words of an appeals judge who said so little was known about the source of the deadly...

"Amanda Knox has reportedly told an Italian newspaper that if she is again convicted of murder, she will become a fugitive rather than return to an Italian prison."

McAuliffe to donate funds from convicted Rhode Island businessman to charity Terry McAuliffe's name popped up today on a list of investors who bought annuities from a Rhode Island businessman who pleaded guilty in 2012 to stealing the identities of terminally ill patients. The convicted businessman, Joseph Caramadre, was also a donor to McAuliffe's failed 2009 bid for the Democratic nomination for governor of Virginia. Caramadre donated more than $26 thousand to McAuliffe and hosted a fundraiser for the candidate. Caramadre(Court sketch of Caramadre courtesy of WJAR) According to our NBC affiliate in Providence WJAR, there is no evidence that...

(CBS) DETROIT - The newly elected state assembly in Michigan includes at least one ex-con: Brian Banks, who's been convicted eight times for felonies involving bad checks and credit card fraud, won a seat representing the east side of Detroit, Harper Woods, and the tony Grosse Pointes, CBS Detroit reports.. Banks, 35, was convicted eight times between 1998 and 2004 of writing bad checks and credit card fraud. His slogan was "You can Bank on Banks." Ironic, no? The 35-year-old Democrat and lifelong Detroiter, got 68 percent of the vote to Republican Dan Schulte's 32 percent, according to CBS Detroit....

Spanish man home from prison finds his wife mummified in bed Eduardo Ruiz grew concerned when he stopped hearing from his wife, Ángeles Fernández. But authorities refused to allow anyone to enter the home, despite complaints of an unpleasant smell in the area — until he managed a conditional release and broke in himself. A man in Spain came home from prison last week to find his wife mummified on her bed. Eduardo Ruiz, from the town of Ciempozuelos just outside Madrid, had not heard from his wife for a year when he complained to police in 2011. At the...

A federal judge today ordered state prison officials to provide a taxpayer-funded sex-reassignment surgery to a transgender inmate serving life in prison for murder. U.S. District Judge Mark Wolf ruled in the case of Michelle Kosilek, who was born as a man but has received hormone treatments and lives as a woman in an all-male prison. Robert Kosilek was convicted of murder in the killing of his wife in 1990. Wolf is believed to be the first federal judge to order prison officials to provide the surgery for a transgender inmate. Kosilek first sued the Massachusetts Department of Correction 12...

On the eve of his execution, a Texas death row is saying that he does not want to be the state’s guinea pig for the use of a new drug for lethal injection. Cleve Foster, who is accused of murdering Sudanese refugee Nyaneur Pal in 2002, is set to be executed on Tuesday, but he doesn’t want to be the first Texan to be executed with the new drug pentobarbital.

The state of Arizona executed a convicted murderer on Tuesday night despite objections from attorneys that the state would use a non-approved drug from overseas for the lethal injection. Just hours before Jeffrey Landrigan's death, the Supreme Court voted 5-4 to lift a stay issued by a federal judge to halt the execution. "There is no evidence in the record to suggest that the drug obtained from a foreign source is unsafe," the Supreme Court said Due to a U.S. shortage, the state turned to a non-FDA approved drug. It was later revealed that the source was the U.K., although...

Is there a competency problem at the White House?Remember this recent photo of Obama trotting out three unemployed persons to use as props as he demanded that Congress increase the budget deficit and pass a further extension of unemployment benefits without paying for it? Well, turns out the reason the woman on the right is unemployed is that she was convicted of prescription drug fraud charges in 2009 and is currently serving her sentence: Leslie Macko, a Charlottesville resident, stood next to President Obama as his example of the need to extend jobless benefits. "We need to extend unemployment compensation...

In a 2007 study, it was determined that Sweden was the least religious country in the world. Another words up to 85% of the Swedish citizens were either a non-believer, atheist, or an agnostic. Which explains the lack of sexual morals in the way the Swedish people live their lives. Culturally, Sweden is one of the most sexually immoral countries in the world. An accusation they claim to be unfair, because in their eyes they are just being sexually free. However, I am now convinced that the criminally insane perverts are now running things in Sweden. What else can...

TALLAHASSEE -- Florida fugitive Paula Eileen Carroll got an unpleasant birthday surprise this morning when she was arrested by Brevard County Sheriff’s Officers at her home for escaping from the Florida prison system more than three decades ago. Carroll escaped 34 years ago from a Florida prison where she was serving a five year sentence for buying, receiving or concealing stolen property. She was sentenced on July 18, 1975 for the Osceola county offense, and escaped less than two months later, on September 3, 1975. A tipster had contacted Fugitive Coordinator Rita Hall with the Department of Corrections’ Fugitive Unit...

A defense lawyer is calling for calm after death threats have been made against teenagers charged in the death of 15-year-old Phoebe Prince, who committed suicide after she was allegedly bullied by schoolmates. "Not to minimize what happened to Phoebe Prince in any way, but translating this into death threats and public harassment has got to stop," says Colin Keefe, who represents Sharon Chanon Velazquez, accused of tormenting Prince, who hanged herself on Jan. 14. "It's gotten way out of control," adds Keefe, who says Velazquez has been driven temporarily from her home.