Law: Stopping Crime as a Career

Major Violators program blocks the revolving door

Two elderly black sisters were knitting and singing We Shall Overcome in the kitchen of their small Boston house one hot night last summer when a convicted burglar burst through the back door and demanded money. The intruder, 6 ft. 4 in. and 220 lbs., viciously beat the two women before fleeing. Police captured him a short time later. Thanks to clogged conditions in many urban courts, suspects in felony cases often relax on the street for a year or more and eventually extract a light, plea-bargained...

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