Our laws against child pornography were created many years ago, when the production of child pornography was a much more difficult process. A would-be child pornographer had to use film cameras to take the pictures. And since a commercial lab would report him to the police, he had to have the equipment and skill to develop the film as well. Pretty much the only people … [Read more...] about The Illinois Legislature Gets Sexting Right?
Crime and Punishment
Kill Them Because It’s Easier?
From Bill Otis at the slightly disturbing Crime & Consequences blog, here's a pro-death penalty argument that I just can't get enough of: Recently I noted that prison security -- or, more precisely, the inevitable fallibility thereof -- puts the lie to abolitionist claims that LWOP will keep us as safe as the death penalty. In-prison murder, … [Read more...] about Kill Them Because It’s Easier?
A Bank Robbery To Go
In the movies and on television, bank robbers are daring and audacious. After storming the bank in a blitz attack that stuns the guards, they force the bank manager to empty the vault while they raid the teller drawers. All the while, one of them yells out a precise two-minute countdown that will allow them to escape before the police respond. In real life, bank … [Read more...] about A Bank Robbery To Go
What To Do If You Are a Victim of Police Misconduct
Packrat explains: There is no shortage of advice out there about what you should do when you are forced to interact with the police. Just do a search and you'll find a multitude of sites devoted to explaining what your rights are when dealing with law enforcement and how you should go about asserting those rights... But, strangely enough, there is an absolute lack of advice … [Read more...] about What To Do If You Are a Victim of Police Misconduct
Who Gets the Best Fifth Amendment Treatment in the Country?
Cops. I've always known that police officers get special treatment when accused of a crime, but I always assumed it was just a good deal that the cops gave to other cops. I never knew there was an official court ruling about it. Radley Balko points to a St. Louis Post-Dispatch article about the Garrity Rule: In 1967, the U.S. Supreme Court resolved it with what came to be … [Read more...] about Who Gets the Best Fifth Amendment Treatment in the Country?