Thursday, December 13, 2007

Study: Cook criminal justice system overwhelmed

By Michael Higgins |Tribune staff reporter

9:00 AM CST, December 13, 2007

Criminal court judges must grapple with excessive caseloads of more than 800 new cases a year, while public defenders can't turn down work no matter how busy they may be, the Chicago Appleseed Fund for Justice said in the report.

"A system operating beyond capacity and without the tools it needs for rehabilitation and treatment has a profoundly devastating effect on our community, businesses, and families, while destroying lives in the process," Malcolm Rich, executive director of the group's Criminal Justice Project, said in a statement.

The group spent two years studying the county's criminal courts and its main building at 26th Street and California Avenue. It conducted more than 100 interviews and watched 160 hours of court proceedings.

The county's top criminal justice leaders – Presiding Criminal Court Judge Paul Biebel, State's Attorney Richard Devine and Public Defender Edwin Burnette – cooperated in the effort and provided data.

They are expected to discuss the report at a public forum at noon at Chicago-Kent College of Law.

The report argues for more staffing to reduce caseloads, improved treatment for drug offenders and more programs specifically geared toward mentally ill defendants.

It also recommends that legislators be required to estimate the cost of any new crime legislation and that a new, independent commission help the Cook County Board make criminal justice budgeting decisions.

"It is our hope that these recommendations serve as a model for bringing about real change in a system that is long overdue," Rich said.

Many of the report's recommendations would require new spending at a time when both the county and state are struggling with budget problems. The report argues for more funds for adult probation, four new drug courts and expanded mental health courts.

But other suggestions, such as improving how court personnel treat the public, won't require more funds, said Daniel Coyne, a defense attorney and Chicago-Kent law professor who worked on the report.

He argued that other recommendations, such as using drug treatment programs to steer more offenders out of the system, are designed to save money in the long run.

"If I invest a dollar today to avoid spending two dollars tomorrow, it's a net gain," Coyne said.

mjhiggins@tribune.com

www.ruffcommunications.com

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Who Pays the Most Income Tax?

Higher income earners pay the most, Treasury says

By Robert Longley, About.com

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Feeling overtaxed? Under the U.S. income tax system, most of the taxes collected are supposed to be paid by the people who make the most money. Thanks to President Bush's tax cuts, that is exactly the way the system works, says the U.S. Treasury Department.

According to the Office of Tax Analysis, the U.S. individual income tax is "highly progressive," with a small group of higher-income taxpayers paying most of the individual income taxes each year.

In 2002 the latest year of available data, the top 5 percent of taxpayers paid more than one-half (53.8 percent) of all individual income taxes, but reported roughly one-third (30.6 percent) of income.

The top 1 percent of taxpayers paid 33.7 percent of all individual income taxes in 2002. This group of taxpayers has paid more than 30 percent of individual income taxes since 1995. Moreover, since 1990 this group’s tax share has grown faster than their income share.

Taxpayers who rank in the top 50 percent of taxpayers by income pay virtually all individual income taxes. In all years since 1990, taxpayers in this group have paid over 94 percent of all individual income taxes. In 2000, 2001, and 2002, this group paid over 96 percent of the total.

Treasury Department analysts credit President Bush's tax cuts with shifting a larger share of the individual income taxes paid to higher income taxpayers. In 2005, says the Treasury, when most of the tax cut provisions are fully in effect (e.g., lower tax rates, the $1,000 child credit, marriage penalty relief), the projected tax share for lower-income taxpayers will fall, while the tax share for higher-income taxpayers will rise.

The share of taxes paid by the bottom 50 percent of taxpayers will fall from 4.1 percent to 3.6 percent.

The share of taxes paid by the top 1 percent of taxpayers will rise from 32.3 percent to 33.7 percent.

The average tax rate for the bottom 50 percent of taxpayers falls by 27 percent as compared to a 13 percent decline for taxpayers in the top 1 percent.

The White House has announced it will lobby Congress to pass legislation making most of President Bush's tax cutting measures permanent.

Source: U.S. Treasury, Office of Tax Analysis

Also See:

2005 Tax Season: Easy Filing, Tax Law Changes Tax Stress Relief Tips Famous Tax Scams

Military Tax Guide -- For Federal Income Tax for Tax-Year 2003 -- Useful Publications

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Thursday, December 13, 2007

Study: Cook criminal justice system overwhelmed