Crime and Punishment

(02/02/12) The state Senate has emphatically passed legislation that would expand New York's criminal DNA database. The bill would require people convicted of all crimes, including misdemeanors, to submit DNA samples to the state's DNA databank. Currently, only someone convicted of a felony, or certain types of misdemeanors, is required to submit a DNA sample.

Senators voted 50-10 Tuesday to pass the DNA Databank Expansion Bill. As Chris Morris reports, the bill has a lot support, but it could be tested in the Assembly. more

(01/13/12) State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman is again pushing for legislation to create an online database to report and track the use of prescription narcotic drugs. On Wednesday, Schneiderman announced that his Internet System for Tracking Over-Prescribing Act, which he proposed last year, has bipartisan support in the Legislature. He also issued a report that details the growing prescription drug abuse problem in every corner of the state, including the North Country. Chris Knight has our story. more

(12/30/11) Yesterday we reported on an alarming trend across the North Country, the rise of prescription drug abuse. Today we hear a first-hand account of one woman's 20-year-struggle with addiction to these powerful narcotics.

Jennifer Smith's addiction severely strained her relationship with her family, forced her to quit her job as a nurse, lead to several stints in drug rehabilitation programs and eventually landed her in jail.

Smith, who lives in Port Henry, recently sat down with Chris Knight to talk about her addiction and how she eventually came clean. Jennifer Smith is not her real name. The interview took place at the St. Joseph's Addiction Treatment and Recovery Center outpatient clinic in Elizabethtown. more

(12/29/11) "Spiraling out of control." And, "Almost an epidemic." That's how police, prosecutors, doctors, pharmacists and drug counselors describe the rise of prescription drug abuse in communities across the North Country.

While increased narcotic drug trafficking across the border with Canada is partly to blame, the relative ease of getting these drugs from doctor's offices and emergency rooms is also part of the problem. As Chris Knight reports, experts say solving the problem won't be simple, and the key is heightened vigilance of both law enforcement and the medical community. more

(12/28/11) The state department of environmental conservation is looking for help in finding the person or people who stole brass and copper tubing, pipes, fittings and other items from a St. Lawrence County petroleum contamination cleanup site.

The DEC discovered last week that someone had broken into buildings at the former Jones and Laughlin Ore Processing site on State Route 3 outside of Newton Falls. more

(12/01/11) New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, says a statewide undercover operation found blatant and dangerous violations of the state law requiring background checks for gun-buyers. Karen DeWitt has more. more

(11/02/11) Potsdam police are turning to the public for help in their investigation into the homicide death of a 12 year-old boy last week.

In a press release yesterday, the department says it has distributed 1500 fliers seeking information about the death of Garrett Phillips.

The sixth grader was found unconscious last Monday in the Market Street apartment where he lived with his mother. He died later that evening. more

(11/02/11) Federal judges are beginning to review changes in sentencing guidelines that will shorten the sentences of thousands of men and women jailed on crack cocaine charges. The shift could affect inmates at the Federal prison in Ray Brook.

As Brian Mann reports, drug sentencing laws have been changing, based on concerns that crack laws unfairly targeted African Americans. more

(08/17/11) New York state Attorney General Eric Schneiderman was in Watertown yesterday to announce a $3.5 million settlement in a scam targeting soldiers with the sale of electronics. Soldiers who still owe money to the company will be relieved of their debts and have their credit histories repaired.

But those who already paid lost thousands of dollars to the scam. About 1,000 soldiers were affected. Joanna Richards was there and has this report. more

(07/14/11) New York lawmakers have begun the process of reshaping electoral districts following last year's census. Last week, a redistricting task force announced it would ignore a law requiring prison inmates to be counted at their last known address.

That angered civil rights advocates, who argue home districts deserve credit for the prisoners, for electoral representation as well as state aid and services that depend on population. But the change worries North Country representatives whose districts have long counted prisoners where they're incarcerated.

The law passed in 2010 when Democrats controlled both legislative houses and the governor's mansion. The measure has since been challenged in court by nine Republican state senators. Betty Little of Queensbury is a plaintiff in that lawsuit. She isn't commenting on the suit, but she told Chris Morris the loss to her district would be significant, 9,000 to 10,000 people.