Fighting Crime the Easy Way
Apparently, iPhone theft is a big enough problem in San Francisco that police have come up with a special solution: …these cops are taking a different approach than just running after iPhone robbers and cuffing them. Instead, they are going after the buyers of the stolen products, in a scheme that they call “cutting the [...]
Putting Angry Words in Perspective
One of the reasons I’m not a criminal defense lawyer despite my obvious interest in the subject, is that I’m pretty sure it would make me angry all the time. Even now, when I think about the things I hate about our criminal laws and the way those laws are applied, I get all worked [...]
Who’s Responsible For a Wrongful Conviction?
I’m a fan of the TV show Castle, largely because of its character-based humor and the fact that it stars Nathan Fillion. Of course, being a show about a mystery writer who helps the New York police solve crimes, it does occasionally go over the top in its worship of the criminal justice system. I [...]
Abusing US Attorney Carmen Ortiz
I’ve been following some of the discussions about the prosecutorial conduct that may have lead to Aaron Swartz’s suicide, but I haven’t posted anything about it because it didn’t seem all that unusual, except for the suicide, which is not really all that unusual either. I didn’t initially understand why so many people are heaping [...]
Huckabee’s Nonsense
I wasn’t planning to write anything about the shootings in Newton, Connecticut. It touches on a variety of issues that are of interest to me, but it just feels a little too soon for sober discussion. But then I came across this nonsense: Former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee (R) weighed in on the massacre at [...]
Zumba, Libertarian Style
I’m a regular reader of Jack Marshall’s Ethics Alarms blog, in which he discusses ethical issues that arise in the news of the day. He calls out a lot of public figures for their shady ethics, but he also gives them credit when they get something right. I agree with much of what he has to say, [...]
New Yorkers Get Charitable Bail Funds
Over at Indefensible, criminal defense lawyer (and TV producer) David Feige writes: Finally, after almost three years of work, the New York State Legislature has passed our bill allowing charitable bail funds. This is a big step toward alleviating one of the more tragic consequences of poverty in the criminal justice system–being forced to plead [...]
Why Prosecutor Blogs Are Less Fun
Given my libertarian views, it’s not suprising that I don’t entirely enjoy reading blogs by prosecutors. Even those who aren’t rabid law-and-order true believers still rub me the wrong way on certain subjects. For example, I’ve been reading Mark Pryor’s D.A. Confidential blog for years. He’s a good writer — see his Holding Hands With [...]
Florida Court Makes it Easier to Unknowingly Commit Crimes
I like to think I know a thing or two about the excesses of the war on drugs, but I had no idea that the legal situation in Florida was this ugly: Florida will remain one of the only two states in the country that sends people to prison on drug possession charges without first [...]
When DNA Evidence Doesn’t Prove Much
Some criminal defense bloggers are skeptical of the supposedly high reliability of DNA evidence. Since almost every other form of forensic testing is based on shaky scientific foundations, they figure it’s only a matter of time until DNA falls too. I don’t share their skepticism, at least not about the basic principles of DNA profiling. [...]
Truth in Capital Punishment
One of the bigger crimlaw news items these days is a report from the Columbia School of Law that claims Texas executed an innocent man in 1989. According to an AFP wire story by Chantal Valery: The report, entitled “Los Tocayos Carlos: Anatomy of a Wrongful Execution,” traces the facts surrounding the February 1983 murder [...]
Krugman’s Silly Stand
Paul Krugman has a strange take on the Stand Your Ground law: Florida’s now-infamous Stand Your Ground law, which lets you shoot someone you consider threatening without facing arrest, let alone prosecution, sounds crazy — and it is. Florida’s Stand Your Ground law may or may not be crazy — the devil is in the [...]
Take Off the Hoodie!
I’m sure you’ve all heard that Geraldo Rivera has diagnosed the problem in the Trevon Martin shoooting: He wore a hoodie! Geraldo’s case is, well, not entirely insane. People do react to the symbols you wear. Ask any ex-hippie from the ’60′s if he was harassed about his long hair. That’s not an entirely crazy [...]
The Long Arm of the Justice Department
I know that everybody stuck here in the wake of the mortgage securities crisis hates bankers, but it still seems like there’s something wrong about this: The news for Wegelin, its headquarters nestled in the town of St. Gallen next to the Appenzell Alps near the German-Austrian borders, would only get worse. Six days later [...]
Some Background for Thinking About Reasonable Doubt
A few months ago, after reading posts about the concept of reasonable doubt in our legal system by Scott Greenfield and Rick Horowitz, I decided to tackle the subject myself. Despite my facetious claim of a breakthrough, I didn’t really reach any great conclusions, but that didn’t keep me from rambling on for a while. [...]
Jana Svrzo and the Zebras
At about the time that Brittany Norwood was beating and stabbing Jayna Murray to death inside a store in a shopping mall, two employees in the Apple store next door heard sounds of the struggle coming through the wall. The Apple Store employees were closing up for the night. One of them heard strange sounds [...]
Never Rely on Prosecutors For Mercy
Defenders of Caylee’s Law have been arguing in my comments and elsewhere that even though the rush to legislate will result in a poorly-written law, my fear that it will punish innocent parents and babysitters far more than it helps any child is unfounded, because prosecutors will use their discretion wisely and mercifully. In most [...]
“Caylee’s Law” Is a Bad Idea
I’ve been getting slammed in the comments to my earlier post about why Caylee’s Law is a bad idea, as has Radley Balko on his piece in the Huffington Post. Perhaps people will ease up a bit if I point out that Serena Straus, a former prosecutor in the Bronx Sex Crimes and Domestic Violence Unit, [...]
We All Knew This Was Coming: Caylee’s Law
I haven’t posted anything about Casey Anthony trial. I’d pretty much like to keep it that way because, really, I don’t know anything about the case. On the other hand, I know there’s a long and painful history of laws like this: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEJuly 6, 2011 Contacts: Michelle Crowder, “Caylee’s Law” petition-starter, 918-289-8479 (CDT)Brian [...]
TYMURS=UNABOM?
Well…I sure didn’t see this one coming: CHICAGO — The FBI has requested a DNA sample from “Unabomber” Ted Kaczynski as part of its investigation into the 1982 deaths of seven Chicago-area people who took cyanide-laced Tylenol from packages that had been tampered with, officials said Thursday. Wouldn’t that be something? Damn. I remember the [...]