Levin, Marc atty
rove engineer texas sup ct takeover? cruz?
koch crim justice bs?
Thanks to a conservative, common sense approach to criminal justice reform, Texas has seen a dramatic drop in crime during the past decade while incarcerating fewer people. That’s right: locking people up and throwing away the key, as it turns out, is not always the most effective way to stop crime. It is also an expensive and inefficient way to spend taxpayer dollars. And as conservatives, our commitment to limited government dictates that we think outside the cell to distinguish between those who pose a threat to our communities and those who can be rehabilitated. Texas decided to become not just tough, but also smart on crime. Beginning in 2007, the state legislature started exploring alternatives to incarceration and endless prison growth, in search of a solution that would lower the rate at which prior offenders commit new crimes after release. In Texas’ case, the solution began with directing more funding toward mental health and drug treatment while implementing better probation and parole policies. Acknowledging that almost all inmates will end up getting out of prison sooner or later, instead of spending upwards of $2 billion for new prison beds, the state invested a fraction of that in alternatives such as drug courts and proven treatment programs behind bars. The savings were reinvested as Texas learned of more evidence-based ways to improve the corrections system and help it accomplish its mission of rehabilitating low-level offenders, providing restitution to victims, and reintegrating people into the workforce. In other states the specifics have varied, but the principles are the same. And the results are impressive. Georgia and South Carolina reduced their crime rates by 11 and 14 percent, respectively, according to the Pew Charitable Trusts. And in Texas and North Carolina, crime rates have dropped by more than 20 percent, according to recent data. On Capitol Hill, too often, state-level victories are not translated into federal reforms. But the successes of state-based criminal justice reforms can’t be ignored. We may be biased, but the Texas model is worth bringing to the rest of the country. Now Congress has that chance. The Sentencing Reform and Corrections Act is a bipartisan bill that incorporates many of these policies that have proven effective in conservative states – our laboratories of democracy. Importantly, this legislation will also help restore a key part of our criminal justice system that is too often forgotten: rehabilitation. Through education, job training and faith-based programs, low-level inmates will learn valuable life skills that they can take back home to their communities, helping them become productive members of society. Because this legislation will go further in making our communities safer, it’s widely supported by law enforcement groups across the nation, including the National District Attorneys Association and the Major County Sheriffs’ Association. Ultimately, this bill has the potential to build on the strengths of the reform efforts in Texas and other states, to save taxpayer dollars and reduce crime rates across the country. It is time that the federal criminal justice system was made more like Texas. With the Sentencing Reform and Corrections Act, Congress can take an important step to bring the entire nation a bit closer to that goal. John Cornyn is a U.S. Senator representing Texas
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http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Marc_Levin
Marc Levin is the president of the American Freedom Center, a self-described "non-profit public policy institute" based in Austin, Texas.[1].
Levin is also Vice President of the Texas Review Society, "a nonprofit 501(c)(3) corporation concerned with educating the public about the free-enterprise system and the American way of life", an associate editor of the Austin Review, a former Vice Chairman of the Young Conservatives of Texas and director of the Center for Effective Justice at the Texas Public Policy Foundation.
Levin has served as vice-president of Students for a Colorblind Society and as executive director of The Campaign for a Color-Blind America, both anti-affirmative action groups.
Eco-terrorism claims
In May 2002, Nick Nichols, described by the Austin Review as an "expert on combating eco-terrorism & environmental extremism," was guest speaker at a luncheon sponsored by the Review and the Republican Club of Austin.[2] Shortly after Nichols's visit to Austin, Levin - also a frequent contributor to the Review - published an opinion piece in the Dallas Star Telegram which labelled anti-Exxon Mobil activists eco-terrorists and claimed - with no apparent evidence - that the nonviolent direct action training organisation the Ruckus Society had trained members of the Animal and Earth Liberation Fronts.:{[:(style="background-color:#ffff66;"):}::{3]:(style="background-color:#ffffff;"):}:
The origin of Levin's claims appear to be a February 2002 article published on the website of the food, alcohol and tobacco-industry funded Center for Consumer Freedom, claiming the discovery that the Ruckus Society "has helped train eco-terrorists".[4] The same month, CFCF Executive Director Richard Berman claimed intestimony before a US House of Representatives committee that the Ruckus Society "trains young activists in the techniques of 'monkeywrenching' which, when applied, result in property crimes of enormous financial cost."[5]. Berman, however, failed to provide any evidence for this claim.
A 2003 article written by Levin, entitled "Terrorism in the Name of the Earth: Flush out eco-terrorism money" and published in the National Law Journal, Front Page Magazine, The American Enterprise, the Austin Review and the San Francisco Chronicle, asserted that "just as a small number of radical Muslims are sullying a great religion, a new breed of eco-terrorists is poisoning the environmental movement." The article indirectly asserts that property damage and vandalism attributed to the Earth and Animal Liberation Fronts is funded by donations to tax exempt environmental organisations. According to Levin:
"Environmental organizations designated by the IRS as 501(c)(3) groups are illegally transferring funds to non-exempt groups, which then use the money for eco-terror campaigns."
Levin then refers to the Public Interest Watch report Green-Peace, Dirty Money: Tax Violations in the World of Non-Profits before going on to allege that Greenpeace has committed "numerous acts of eco-terrorism".[6]
Affiliations
- American Civil Rights Institute
- American Freedom Center
- Campaign for a Color-Blind America
- Students for a Colorblind Society
- Texas Public Policy Foundation
- Texas Review Society
- Young Conservatives of Texas
External links
- "Marc Levin's Bio", accessed August 2005.
- TFN's 'Briefing Paper' on ACC Board Candidate Marc Levin.
- ACC Run-Off: Levin Defends His Record.
- Staff profile at Texas Public Policy Foundation.
More recently Marc Levin, a lawyer and president of the American Freedom Center seized upon a report by Public Interest Watch attacking Greenpeace. After reviewing a number of incidents of damage to property attributed to the Animal Liberation Front and Earth Liberation Front, Levin sought to smear Greenpeace with the ecoterrorism tag. "While these acts of ecoterror are clearly illegal, few people realize that the money used to commit many of these crimes may have been illegally laundered through tax-exempt organizations whose donors - individuals and nonprofit foundations unaware of the laundering - receive tax deductions," he wrote in the New Jersey Law Journal.
Levin flagged the move by the U.S. Department of Justice to sue Greenpeace for the April 2002 boarding of a cargo ship approaching Miami that was laden with timber from the Brazilian rainforests. Without skipping a beat, Levin conflated Greenpeace's peaceful protest with ecoterrorism, which, he argued, justified an IRS crackdown. "Prosecuting ecoterrorists has proved difficult; they have a "cell" structure and lack centralized leaderships or membership rosters. But this is precisely why it is critically important that the IRS does its part to immobilize ecoterror groups by investigating how moneys flow through tax-exempt organizations to affiliates," he wrote.
It is a theme echoed by Neil Hrab from the Competitive Enterprise Institute in an article published in the 2004 edition of Organization Trends, a publication of the conservative Capital Research Center. Hrab complained of groups undertaking direct action that "seldom are they threatened with loss of their nonprofit tax status unless an outside party undertakes a difficult and costly challenge". [1]
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tppf bs
Marc A. Levinis director of the Center for Effective Justice & Right on Crime at the Texas Public Policy Foundation. Levin is an attorney and an accomplished author on legal and public policy issues.
Levin has served as a law clerk to Judge Will Garwood on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit and Staff Attorney at the Texas Supreme Court.
In 1999, he graduated with honors from the University of Texas with a B.A. in Plan II Honors and Government. In 2002, Levin received his J.D. with honors from the University of Texas School of Law.
Levin's articles on law and public policy have been featured in publications such as the Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Texas Review of Law & Politics, National Law Journal, New York Daily News, Jerusalem Post, Toronto Star, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Philadelphia Inquirer, San Francisco Chronicle, Washington Times, Los Angeles Daily Journal, Charlotte Observer, Dallas Morning News, Houston Chronicle, Austin American-Statesman, San Antonio Express-News and Reason Magazine.
Marc was a Charles G. Koch Summer Fellow in 1996. As part of that program, he interned at Reason Magazine and had two articles published, one on juvenile justice and one on airport privatization.
Levin was number 25 of Politico's 50 in 2014.
download his media guide?
li
Shannon Tracy
Communications & Event Manager @ Texas Public Policy Foundation
Vikrant Reddy
Senior Research Fellow at Charles Koch Institute
Derek Cohen
Deputy Director, Center for Effective Justice/Right on Crime at Texas Public Policy Foundation
Greg Sindelar
Chief Operating Officer at Texas Public Policy Foundation
Chuck DeVore
Vice President of National Initiatives, Texas Public Policy Foundation
Michael Sullivan
at Empower Texans / Texans for Fiscal Responsibility
Ted Cruz
United States Senator for the State of Texas
David Guenthner
Senior Director for Public Affairs at Texas Public Policy Foundation
Joe Luppino-Esposito
Policy Analyst with Right on Crime
Vance Ginn, Ph.D.
Economist, Center for Fiscal Policy at Texas Public Policy Foundation
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Marc Levin
Director of Effective Justice, Texas Public Policy Foundation
Austin, Texas AreaLaw Practice
Current
Right on Crime, Texas Public Policy Foundation, Potts & Reilly
Previous
Texas Supreme Court, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
Education
The University of Texas School of Law
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Experience
Policy Director
Right on Crime
December 2010 – Present (5 years 9 months)Austin, Texas Area
A project of the Texas Public Policy Foundation, Right on Crime advances the conservative case for criminal justice reform. The Right on Crime Statement of Principles has been endorsed by conservative leaders such as Newt Gingrich, Ed Meese, William Bennett, and Grover Norquist.
Texas Public Policy Foundation
Director, Center for Effective Justice
Texas Public Policy Foundation
2005 – Present (11 years)
Of Counsel
Potts & Reilly
August 2004 – Present (12 years 1 month)
Staff Attorney
Texas Supreme Court
August 2003 – December 2004 (1 year 5 months)
Law Clerk to Judge Will Garwood
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
August 2002 – August 2003 (1 year 1 month)
Skills
LegislationPolicyPublic PolicyPolitical CampaignsGovernmentLegal IssuesMediationCriminal LawPoliticsCourtsLegal ResearchLegislative RelationsLegal WritingLeadershipCommercial LitigationSee 35+
How's this translation?Great•Has errors
Publications
12 Steps for Overcoming Overcriminalization
Texas Public Policy Foundation
May 2012
Authors:
Marc Levin, Vikrant Reddy
The Role of Parole in Texas
Texas Public Policy Foundation
May 2011
Authors:
Marc Levin, Vikrant Reddy
Engulfed by Environmental Crimes: Overcriminalization on the Gulf Coast
Texas Public Policy Foundation
December 2012
Authors:
Marc Levin, Vikrant Reddy
Right On Crime: A Return to First Principles for American Conservatives
Texas Review of Law & Politics
July 2014
Authors:
Marc Levin, Vikrant Reddy
The Verdict on Federal Prison Reform
Texas Public Policy Foundation
July 2013
Many states have taken measures to improve public safety while cutting wasteful criminal justice spending, but the federal system lags behind. State successes, particularly in Texas, provide the federal government with a model for reform.
Authors:
Marc Levin
Education
The University of Texas School of Law
The University of Texas School of Law
JD, Law
2000 – 2002
The University of Texas at Austin
The University of Texas at Austin
Plan II Honors, Government
1996 – 2000
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June 7, 2002
Kirk Campaign Employed Anti-Israeli Activist
By MARC LEVIN
An Austin Review investigation has revealed that U.S. Senate candidate Ron Kirk has employed an anti-Israel activist who has defended terrorist groups and is friends with American Taliban John Walker Lindh. The Review has also learned that Kirk has received numerous campaign donations from individuals linked with terrorism and anti-Semitism, one of whom also violated U.S. export laws by shipping sensitive technology to Libya and Syria.
Kirk's recently filed campaign report shows payments to a Steven L. Hyland, Jr. of: $1133.22 for "payroll expense" and three separate payments totaling $638.30 for "postage and delivery." Hyland has a long history as an anti-Israel activist and apologist for terrorism. Hyland resigned his position with the Kirk campaign only days after the Review broke this story on its website in early June and the story was picked up by WorldNetDaily, The Hotline, and ABC News.
In early June, The Review called Ron Kirk's campaign office and was connected to Hyland, who hung up on us after being asked to comment on his anti-Israeli activism and connection with Walker Lindh. The campaign's media office failed to return our call, so it was not possible to determine what role Hyland played in the Kirk campaign, including any role in developing Kirk's Middle East policy.
Hyland, a former UT-Austin student in Middle Eastern Studies, wrote a June 23, 1995 op-ed piece in The Daily Texan attacking the Clinton administration for urging other nations to join a US embargo against Iran. Hyland declared, "The U.S. government labels Hizbollah and Islamic Jihad as terrorist organizations, but they are really freedom fighters defending their rights in Lebanon and Palestine."
In another Daily Texan op-ed on July 14, 1995, Hyland stated, "to say a lot of Israeli actions and policies are Nazi-like is appropriate." In an August 24, 1995 Texan piece, he blamed Israel for terror bombings in West Jerusalem in Tel Aviv, which occurred while he was visiting Jordan for unknown reasons. Concerning these bombings, Hyland concluded, "Unfortunately, this tragic event highlights the vicious circle of killing that
Two years later-on March 1, 1997-The Daily Texan published a letter-to-the-editor penned by Hyland in which he defended a UT campus protest by the militant Palestine Solidarity Committee. Hyland helped organize the protest, which blockaded the West Mall, obstructing students from passing through to get to their classes. Hyland's letter harangued a Jewish student who had defended Israel's right to exist, stating, "Avital, stop making an ass of yourself."
In May of 1997, Hyland signed an online petition, which described Israel as "a major link in the world network of repressive regimes" and characterized Zionism as a racist ideology. In the summer of 1998, at a time when the U.S. State Department had warned U.S. citizens not to visit Yemen because of anti-American violence (site of the later bombing of the USS Cole and an acknowledged al-Queda stronghold), Hyland felt comfortable traveling there, purportedly only to study and teach Arabic at the Yemen Language Center. There he became a friend and classmate of John Walker Lindh, the American Taliban.
Hyland was interviewed by Associated Press reporter Marge Mason concerning his relationship with Lindh and was quoted in several AP stories. Hyland's comments seem to conflict. In the January 16, 2002 AP story, Hyland was an apologist for Lindh:
"Steven Hyland met Lindh in 1998 while both studied abroad at the Yemen Language Center. Hyland said he's bothered by the severity of the charges Lindh now faces. 'I am concerned for the kid,' Hyland said from his Texas home. 'He was a very naive kid, and now 31/2 years later he is looking at 60 years incarceration.'"
However, despite Hyland's claim that Lindh was naïve, he told the same reporter a day earlier in the January 15 AP report that Lindh was an ideologue. Hyland said of Lindh, "This is an individual whose idealism led to ideology and he lost all ability for pragmatic thought."
In addition to employing Hyland, the Review has learned that Kirk has received numerous donations from leaders of the Dallas/Fort Worth chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) who have links to terrorism....
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The Austin Review is published 12 times a year by The Texas Review Society, Inc., 1609 Shoal Creek Blvd #204, Austin, TX 78701. The Texas Review Society is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) corporation concerned with educating the public about the free-enterprise system and the American way of life. The Texas Review Society also is proud to help teach Austin area college students how to manage a publication.
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