Diane Dimond

My investigative research has uncovered a major flaw in America’s court system. It has to do with how overburdened and underfunded courts deal with family disputes over what to do with an elderly Mom or Dad. A growing number of families, nationwide, have learned that once a family member turns to the courts for help their parent could be placed under an odious elder guardianship situation managed by total stranger. Families caught up in this system say it turned their aging parent’s final years into a nightmare. These are my findings about the system in one state.

Who guards the guardians? - A five part series by Diane Dimond

(My Albuquerque Journal series was awarded the Institute for American Studies prestigious Clark Mollenhoff Award for Outstanding Investigative Journalism. Please read the sidebar stories in the left hand column under: More Info.) The series also won two major awards from the New Mexico Press Association including Best Investigative Public Service award.

Check out the cool trailer for my latest book. Just click in the box above.

Thinking Outside The Crime and Justice Box is a compilation of some of my favorite and most thought provoking columns – with updates and new text. The book discusses today’s headline crime cases as well as crime and justice issues readers may not realize even existed. Compelling human stories at the core of crime are often the centerpiece of my columns and reading about stranger’s struggles can help readers better understand the dynamics surrounding crime, law enforcement and justice. Look, there is good and evil in the world and I figure it is my job to point it out.

The e-book is available here: – here. The hold-in-your-hand book is coming soon! Thanks to the kind folks at Creators Publishing.

Details

Welcome to my home base where you’ll find my weekly Creators Syndicate crime and justice newspaper columns re-posted. The paper of my childhood — The Albuquerque Journal — continues to be my column’s showcase spot for as long as they’ll have me.

My writings here are always different. Sometimes I’ll simply tell you a story. Sometimes I’ll share my opinions, praise or criticism. Other times I’ll hold a mirror up to our society and invite you to form your own opinion. I hope the columns will give you something new to think about each time you visit. It’s a complicated world out there, full of situations of good versus evil, right versus wrong. My job is point them out. - Diane

Need a Unifying Mid-Term Issue? Curb Government Spending!

Written on October 15, 2018

Call me crazy but I think if federal employees routinely waste millions of taxpayer dollars someone ought to be held accountable, criminally accountable if possible.

And anyone who signs off on obviously outrageous spending, like the person who approved buying coffee cups for the Air Force at $1,200 each or the one that okayed spending $3 million to study how shrimps perform on tiny treadmills, let them come before Congress and explain their actions. If their supervisor made them do it, I want to know that. Let’s figure out how high up the food chain these nutty expenditures are being approved.

Due Process in the #MeToo Era

Written on October 8, 2018

The U.S. Constitution guarantees that “no American citizen shall be deprived of life, liberty or property” without being afforded due process of the law. It is one of the bedrocks of our legal system. The 14^th amendment to the Constitution guarantees to every person, including aliens, “equal protection under the law.” And, everyone is presumed innocent until proven guilty.

What has happened to those ideals?

The Boy Under the Billboard

Written on October 1, 2018

Every law enforcement investigator has one. That one unsolved case that preys on their mind and gnaws at their soul. For Major Tim Horne of the Orange County, North Carolina Sheriff’s Department it is the case that’s come to be called The Boy Under the Billboard.

It was 20 years ago that Horne first saw the murdered child, discarded by the side of the road at the intersection of Interstates 85 and 40, near the town of Mebane, North Carolina. The boy was discovered by a mowing crew as they cleared brush under a tall billboard.

Tackling the Opioid Crisis – Finally

Written on September 24, 2018

Can I get a round of applause for our United States Congress? Yes, indeedy, ladies and gentlemen, put your hands together for both democrats and republicans! They have, miraculously, come together to approve one of the only major pieces of legislation set to become law this year. Amazing.

It was a rare moment as the U.S. Senate put the needs of American citizens before party loyalty and overwhelmingly approved a sweeping package of bills aimed at alleviating our epidemic of opioid deaths.

Gun Violence Target: The Bullets

Written on September 17, 2018

The mantra, “It’s the economy, stupid,” propelled Bill Clinton’s candidacy during the presidential campaign in 1992. His decision to highlight the nation’s then-struggling economy (and promise to fix it) helped Clinton win the White House.

One theme in this year’s mid-term election is the renewed call for more gun control laws, especially from students worried about school shootings. I’m left wondering when someone will come up with the rallying cry, “It’s the bullets, stupid.” After all, guns don’t work without bullets.

A Come to Jesus Moment for the U.S. Catholic Church

Written on September 10, 2018

Pope Francis has called for silence and prayer from those who criticize the Catholic Church’s attempts to root out and punish sex abusing priests. But it is clear the time for silence has long passed.

Priests who prey on children are criminals, not souls to be saved for the sake of an institution.

American Greed Interview

An Award Winning Series on Guardianship

My Latest Book Has Landed!

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