Los Angeles
Deputies charged: Eighteen current and former Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department deputies accused of physically abusing prison inmates and covering up misconduct at the county’s jails were charged this week with excessive force and obstruction of justice. The officers were indicted as part of a sprawling, two-year FBI investigation into a “wide scope of illegal conduct,” said U.S. Attorney André Birotte Jr. Prosecutors say that several inmates in a downtown prison were taken to a break room and beaten, and that a man visiting his brother had his arm broken and was then imprisoned for five days without cause. Another officer is accused of changing official records to cover up a bribe he accepted from an undercover federal agent. “Certain behavior had become institutionalized,” said Birotte. “A group of officers considered themselves to be above the law.”
Oklahoma City
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Satanist monument: A satanist group is pushing to have its own statue erected next to a Ten Commandments monument on the Oklahoma Statehouse steps. The New York City–based Satanic Temple said Republican state legislator Mike Ritze had opened the door for other faith groups by championing the Ten Commandments monument, which was authorized in 2009 and erected last year. “He’s helping the satanic agenda grow more than any of us possibly could,” said Satanic Temple spokesman Lucien Greaves. He said he expected the monument to include the pentagram symbol, offer an interactive display for children, and be “an homage to the historic/literary Satan.”
Springfield, Ill.
Pension overhaul: Illinois legislators narrowly passed a historic overhaul of government worker pension systems last week, prompting a vow from union leaders to challenge the benefit cuts in court. Illinois has one of the lowest credit ratings among U.S. states, and a pension fund gap of almost $100 billion. Legislators have long argued that the new pension legislation—which reduces the annual cost-of-living increase for retirees and raises the age at which younger workers can start getting a pension—would save the state $160 billion and fund the retirement system for the next three decades. Organized labor groups contend that the cuts are unconstitutional, while conservatives in the legislature opposed the plan on the basis that the cuts didn’t go far enough. Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn last week sign the bill into law.
New York City
Familiar police chief: Mayor-elect Bill de Blasio last week selected former Police Commissioner William Bratton for a return engagement in that high-profile post. His appointment was seen as a response to conservative concerns that de Blasio’s liberal policies would lead the city back to the high crime rates of the 1980s. Bratton oversaw a 33 percent drop in violent crime from 1994 to 1996 under then Mayor Rudy Giuliani, and a 26 percent decline during his first three years as chief of the Los Angeles Police Department in the early 2000s. Though Bratton will continue stop and frisk, a contentious police tactic that de Blasio has attacked as racist, he has pledged to reform it. De Blasio said Bratton shared his goal of fighting crime while protecting civil liberties. “He is going to bring police and community back together,” said de Blasio.
Newtown, Conn.
Massacre remembered: As the first anniversary of the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre approached this week, local government officials and families of the victims urged the public and press to stay away and allow the community to grieve in peace. The town will host no memorial events on Dec. 14, a year after Adam Lanza carried out his rampage at the school, killing 20 children and six adults. The community would mark the occasion “in ways that are quiet, personal, and respectful,” said First Selectman Pat Llodra in a statement. Days before the anniversary, Vice President Joe Biden met with families and advocates at the White House to announce $100 million in new government funding for mental health. Though Lanza’s motive is unknown, a recently released report acknowledged that the 20-year-old had “significant mental health issues.”
Washington, D.C.
Defense bill: Congress was expected to rush through an annual defense-policy bill this week at the expense of amendments that sought to combat the military’s sexual assault epidemic. Lawmakers announced they had reached a sweeping agreement to pass the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which has been approved annually for the past 50 years. Citing time pressures, however, they said that no amendments could be attached—including Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand’s (D-N.Y.) proposal to take investigations of military sexual assaults out of the chain of command. “There is no way to get a defense bill passed this year except the way we are proposing,” said Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin. The bill does stop military commanders from reversing jury convictions for sexual assault cases and mandates a dishonorable discharge for any soldier convicted of sexual assault.
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