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 guilty because you can't … [Read more...] about New Yorkers Get Charitable Bail Funds
Enslaving Our Kids
Over at Nobody's Business, I finally get around to responding to Thomas Ricks' idiotic New York Times op-ed: Proposed for your consideration: We should be allowed to hunt Thomas Ricks for sport. I'm sure it would be great fun for us, and I think that if skinned and properly tanned, his silver-haired visage would look great on my living room wall. Find out why, read the … [Read more...] about Enslaving Our Kids
Towards Shifting the Judicial Balance
In response to my noting that the Florida Supreme Court has approved the state's policy of convicting people of possessing drugs without proving they did so knowingly (a problem not unique to Florida), someone named Paul Murray comments, Surely all that's needed is to get a pickpocket to plant some grass clippings on these judges. Yeah, I'm convinced that one of the reasons … [Read more...] about Towards Shifting the Judicial Balance
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 Evil series for a taste -- and he … [Read more...] about Why Prosecutor Blogs Are Less Fun
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 proving the person knew what they were carrying was illegal. In a decision that will assure thousands … [Read more...] about Florida Court Makes it Easier to Unknowingly Commit Crimes