Latest news with #justiceSystem
Fox News
4 days ago
- Politics
- Fox News
Ohio senator introduces 'Holly's Act' for woman brutally beaten in viral Cincinnati attack
Sen. Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio, is introducing "Holly's Act" after a woman was violently attacked by a mob in Cincinnati late last month – a move aimed at ending what he calls the justice system's revolving door for repeat offenders. The attack happened around 3 a.m. on July 26 at the intersection of Fourth and Elm streets in Cincinnati's central business district. Bystander video captured the moment a large group turned on several individuals early that morning, and in one video obtained by Fox News Digital, an unidentified man could be heard yelling racial slurs while being beaten in the street. Other footage appears to show the male victim striking a member of the group shortly before the altercation escalated. In another video, a woman later identified only as "Holly" tried to intervene before she was slammed to the ground and knocked unconscious. A single 911 call came several minutes after the incident, despite more than 100 people standing by, recording, or participating in the melee. Moreno held a press conference in Cincinnati on Wednesday after meeting with city officials, the FBI special agent in charge, the future U.S. attorney, police chief and a deputy from the local sheriff's department. Moreno described the meeting as starting "a little rough," but said it ended productively. Ultimately, he said everyone at the table agreed to work together to make certain that what happened on July 26 never happens again. He also said he wants to make sure anyone who lives in Ohio can visit any of the state's cities. "We're going to talk to some of our state legislators to see if we can put something in place that I call — with her permission — 'Holly's Act,' which is how we raise the bar on minimum sentences, minimum bail requirements... We're going to end the revolving door of injustice," Moreno said. "Our judges can no longer hide behind their cloak, and they have to be held accountable for not upholding law and order," he added. Law enforcement officials risk their lives every day to arrest criminals, which involves going out and making difficult arrests. But when those criminals appear in court, judges undermine the police officers' efforts by "giving criminals a slap on the hand," the senator said. "Let's be honest, because a lot of times you guys are qualifying this as a brawl," Moreno told reporters. "This was attempted murder of an innocent woman. And that person had a rap sheet a mile long. Nobody who has that rap sheet should be walking the streets of any Ohio city free." Standing beside Moreno was Holly, who said she was focused on reform—not reliving the trauma. "I'm here to talk about the future and how we can change it; how we can prevent this from happening to anybody else," she said. "These heinous crimes have to stop. You know, I never want this to happen to anyone else, especially a mother, a daughter, or somebody who is loved." Holly said moving forward, more police officers are needed, as is justice reform that prohibits judges from letting people out of custody with a slap on the wrist. "The man who attacked me, and might have permanently damaged me forever, should have never been on the streets, ever," she said. "The fact that he had just gotten out of jail previously for something he should have been in there for years. It's really sad to me because I can't even fathom how many other people who have been attacked by the same type of man over and over and over in Toledo, in Columbus, Cincinnati, Dayton." Holly said what upsets her most is the public's desensitization to violence. Holly said she hopes one day there is some sort of bill that allows someone to be prosecuted or fined if they do not call 911 first to save someone's life. "We all need to help each other out and start helping humanity," she said. One reporter asked Holly if she felt like she was going to die that night. "I truly felt like I was going to die," Holly said. "I'm still shocked that I didn't—and so are my doctors." Moreno told reporters that during the meeting, the attendees spoke about offering signing bonuses for police officers as a way to bring on more staff. He said at the end of the day, a better police presence and better technology will help prevent incidents like that from July 26 from happening. But Moreno also stressed how critically important it is for civilians to call authorities so that aid can be brought in as soon as possible. "We're not people that watch a woman get beaten to the inch of her life and our first instinct is to get out and videotape something so that you can be cool on Instagram," he said. "That's not who we are." Several individuals have been charged in connection with what police describe as "a violent attack," including Dominique Kittle, Montianez Merriweather, Jermaine Matthews, DeKyra Vernon, Aisha Devaugh and Patrick Rosemond. Rosemond, 38, was taken into custody Monday afternoon by the FBI and Atlanta Metropolitan Major Offender's Task Force in Fulton County, Georgia. He is charged with two counts of felonious assault and aggravated riot, according to the Cincinnati Police Department. He is also charged with one count of fugitive from justice for a fingerprintable charge, according to the Fulton County Sheriff's Office. He is currently being held in the Fulton County Jail while awaiting extradition to Ohio, police said. Rosemond is a Cincinnati resident and does not have any registered addresses in Georgia, according to records obtained by Fox News Digital. A grand jury is scheduled to convene on Aug. 8 for the charges filed against Kittle, Vernon, Matthews and Merriweather.
The Independent
09-07-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
Proposals would see ‘most sweeping transformation of criminal courts in a generation'
The government is considering radical court reforms, proposed by Sir Brian Leveson, to tackle record backlogs in the justice system. Key proposals include removing the automatic right to a jury trial for certain fraud and sexual offence cases, with some trials instead heard by a judge and two magistrates in a new Crown Court division. These reforms aim to address a backlog of nearly 77,000 Crown Court cases, some scheduled until 2029, which Sir Brian warns could lead to "total system collapse." Further recommendations include stripping defendants of the jury trial option for crimes with a maximum sentence of two years or less, and increasing the maximum sentence reduction for early guilty pleas to 40 per cent. While welcomed by some, such as the Magistrates' Association, the Law Society cautions against "cherry picking" reforms, stressing the need for sustained investment across the entire justice system.
The Guardian
08-07-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Southport inquiry to examine ‘wholesale failure' to prevent attack
The inquiry into the Southport attack will examine the 'wholesale failure' of multiple institutions to prevent 'one of the most egregious crimes in our country's history', its chair has said in his opening remarks. Sir Adrian Fulford said the murder of three girls appeared 'far from being an unforeseeable catastrophic event' given Axel Rudakubana's well-known obsession with extreme violence. The inquiry at Liverpool town hall will examine missed opportunities to prevent the killing of Bebe King, six; Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven; and Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine; and the attempted murder of 10 others at a Taylor Swift-themed holiday club in Southport on 29 July last year. Fulford, a retired senior judge, said the hearings would not turn into an 'exercise of papering over the cracks' but would be a 'real engine for change' in exposing failures. He said it would recommend 'all of the changes that urgently need to be made'. He said he would consider sweeping changes to the justice system, including whether courts should be given powers to impose restrictions on individuals known to pose a risk but when there was insufficient evidence to justify an arrest. Rudakubana, 18, was referred to Prevent three times between December 2019 and April 2021 after expressing extremist views but his case was never escalated. The teenager, who was born in Cardiff to Rwandan parents, had been on the police radar since he was 13, when he admitted having murderous thoughts about another pupil. He later attacked a fellow student and was found with a knife on a bus. He had a deep interest in extreme violence, which was known to social services, and had bought a cache of weapons including machetes, a bow and arrow, a sledgehammer, materials to make petrol bombs and had started producing ricin, a deadly poison. Rudakubana, who lived with his parents in the Lancashire village of Banks, five miles from Southport, had also downloaded a version of an al-Qaida training manual which was banned under terrorism laws. He was jailed for a minimum of 52 years in January after pleading guilty to the offences on the first day of his trial. In his opening remarks on Tuesday, Fulford said it appeared clear that 'far from being an unforeseeable catastrophic event, the perpetrator posed a very serious and significant risk of violent harm, with a particular and known predilection for knife crime'. He said Rudakubana's ability to access gravely violent material, order knives on Amazon and leave home unsupervised to commit the atrocity 'speaks to a wholesale and general failure to intervene effectively, or indeed at all, to address the risks that he posed'. Fulford said he would assess whether the state should have new powers to impose restrictions on individuals when there was strong evidence they intended to carry out an attack but not enough to justify an arrest. He will examine whether courts should impose a curfew, require a tag, limit internet use or require psychological intervention. However, Fulford added: 'Would such a development run counter to the basic underpinnings of our democracy and our core civil liberties?' He said Rudakubana was responsible for 'one of the most egregious crimes in our country's history' and would only be referred to as 'AR' or 'the perpetrator' for the remainder of the inquiry. He added: 'However hard we try, ordinary language simply fails to reflect the enormity of what he did on 29 July last year. None of the most powerful adjectives even begin to suffice: there are no words that adequately describe what occurred and I am not going to try, and then fail, to find them.' The inquiry will on Wednesday hear evidence from the parents of three of the surviving girls who were stabbed and one who witnessed the attack. Hearings will resume on 8 September with evidence from other families before concluding in November.
CTV News
08-07-2025
- CTV News
St. Thomas police chief frustrated with justice system,
St. Thomas police chief frustrated with justice system, St. Thomas's chief of police is calling for reforms to the criminal justice system after repeat offender faces a charge of arson
Yahoo
08-07-2025
- Yahoo
Violent and public Kelowna attack prompts concerns about how intimate partner violence is handled
The family of a woman killed in a public attack in Kelowna are remembering a loving mother. Her death is also prompting concerns about how incidents of intimate partner violence are handled by the justice system. Meera Bains has more on the calls for change.
