Crime

Last year New Orleans became the first city to file suit against the gun industry. Chicago followed. And now many other cities (including Philadelphia, Boston, Miami, San Francisco and L.A.) are considering similar actions. Journalist Fox Butterfield writes about crime and criminal justice for The New York Times. He'll discuss these suits as well as one filed in New York by a group of individuals who lost family members from gun violence. Butterfield was a member of the Times writing staff that won a Pulitzer Prize for its publication of The Pentagon Papers.

Senior policy analyst Tom Diaz at the Violence Policy Center, a non-partisan non-profit public policy institute working to reduce gun violence. He's the author of the new book, "Making a Killing: The Business of Guns in America" (The New Press). In the book, Diaz writes how in an attempt to increase profits, the gun industry has introduced more aggressive and lethal guns to the public. DIAZ says they do this free from regulation and under a cloak of secrecy.

Criminologist Richard Wright. He teaches at the University of Missouri-St. Louis. He'll discuss the statistics released last month by the Justice Department showing that the crime rate has been falling steadily since 1991. He'll also discuss the link between the crime rate and the decline in crack use which he has studied. Wright is the co-author of the book, "Armed Robbers in Action: Stickups and Street Culture" (1997, Northeastern University Press).

Film critic John Powers reviews "A Simple Plan" by filmmaker Sam Raimi. The quiet rural lives of two brothers erupt into conflicts of greed, paranoia and distrust when over four million dollars in cash is discovered at the remote site of a downed small airplane.

Husseini writes for the Jordan Times, the country's only English-language daily. Her reporting on "crimes of honor" has brought to light the practice of a woman being murdered by her own relatives when it's thought the woman brought dishonor upon them. In one instance a 16 year-old schoolgirl was killed by her older brother because her younger brother raped her. Police and prosecutors have taken little notice of "honor killing" but that attitude has begun to shift because of Husseini's efforts.

Journalist Eric Schlosser talks about who is profiting from America's prison boom. He is a correspondent for The Atlantic Monthly. He wrote this month's cover article entitled "The Prison Industrial Complex."

An expert on prison systems around the world, Vivien Stern. She's written the new book, "A Sin Against the Future: Imprisonment in the World" (Northeastern University Press). Stern is Senior Research Fellow in the International Centre for Prison Studies at King's College and Secretary-General of Penal Reform International.

In 1980, Debbie Morris was a 16 year-old high school junior who was kidnapped, raped, and beaten by Robert Lee Willie. Willie's story was portrayed by Sean Penn in the film "Dead Man Walking." She has written about her life in "Forgiving the Dead Man Walking." (Zondervan)

Film critic John Powers reviews "Happiness," the ironically titled new film by Todd Solondz.

TV critic David Bianculli previews the ABC telemovie "Columbo: Ashes to Ashes" starring Peter Falk. It airs tonight at 9:00.

TV critic David Bianculli reviews "The Practice" and "Homicide."

Reeve Lindbergh joins us to talk about life with her father. She's a writer whose memoir about her father and mother Anne Morrow Lindbergh, "Under a Wing" (Simon & Schuster) will be published in October 1998. Her other books include the children's titles "The Midnight Farm," and "The Day The Goose Got Loose." Other books include "The Names of the Mountains" and "Nobody Owns the Sky: The Story of 'Brave Bessie' Coleman."

Azim Khamisa and Ples Felix talk about the 1995 shooting incident that brought them together. Assign's 20 year-old son, Tariq Khamisa was fatally shot by Felix' 14 year-old grandson Tony Hicks. Azim Khamisa reached out to Ples Felix in the aftermath and became friends. Azim later founded the Tarik Khamisa Foundation in San Diego and both men work to educate children on the devastating impact of youth violence. Azim Khamisa has written a new book about his experience in "Azim's Bardo: A Father's Journey from Murder to Forgiveness." (Rising Star Press)

Former inmate Leotis Jones. He participated in the experiments and later led the fight to end the testing program by testifying at the U.S. Senate hearings that resulted in the banning of such experiments.

Dermatologist Bernard Ackerman, Professor of Dermatology and Path Director of the Institute for Dermatophathology at Jefferson College. He participated in the testing done at Holmesburg Prison.

Jury consultant Jo-Ellan Dimitrius. She's consulted in over 600 trials, including O-J Simpson's and Rodney King's. Dimitrius' company, Forensic Technologies International, uses techniques like random phone surveys to learn about public attitudes. In jury questionnaires and interviews, Dimitrius says he can get potential jurors to reveal their pre-dispostions. In her new book, "Reading People: How to Understand People and Predict Their Behavior," (Random House) she discloses some of the tricks of her trade.

Boston Probation officer William Stewart and Judge Sydney Hanlon (woman) talk about "Operation Night Light," a program that is credited with reducing juvenile crime in South Boston. Under the program, probation officers go out with police at night looking for probation violators. Last year, President Clinton touted Boston as a national role model for what cities can achieve in reducing juvenile crime. William Stewart serves as Assistant Chief Probation officer in the Dorchester District Court in Massachusetts.

Charley Rosen is author of the new novel "Barney Polan's Game" (Seven Stories Press) The book is largely based on the real-life college basketball point-shaving scandal in 1950 and 51. Rosen also wrote a non-fiction account of this in "Scandals of 51: How the Gamblers Almost Killed College Basketball".

Neil Jacobson is Professor of Clinical Psychology at the University of Washington, and a pioneer in the scientific study of marital therapy. He is co-author (w/John Gottman, author of "Why Marriages Succeed or Fail") of "When Men Batter Women: New Insights into Ending Abusive Relationships" (Simon & Schuster). The book is based on their decade of research with 200 couples in which they observed the arguments of severely violent couples. Their research shatters a couple of myths: that women batter too, and that women often provoke men into battering them.

Former head of the FBI's Serial Crime Unit, John Douglas. His new book is "Obsession: The FBI's Legendary Profiler Probes the Psyches of Killers, Rapists and Stalkers and Their Victims and Tells How to Fight Back" (Simon & Schuster). For 20 years Douglas investigated serial murders for the FBI, and developed techniques to get criminals to talk, and to lure them into capture. He also pioneered criminal profiling. Many of his techniques have been adopted by police departments and prosecutors nationwide.