Crime and Punishment

I've always thought that "possession" was an odd type of crime. Legal possession is such a passive concept. It doesn't seem right to even call it a behavior. I'm pretty sure you can be guilty of possessing contraband even when you are literally asleep in bed. That just doesn't sound harmful enough to justify punishment.And consider what happens if the police bust you for … [Read more...] about The Crime You Dare Not Stop

This is my third post in a series of ruminations about lethal force. Part 1 discussed the basics of what might or might not be self defense, and in Part 2 I discussed how participants and witnesses report and distort what happens, and in this part, I'll be exploring how the news gets out, and what we do with it.NewsIn most cases of lethal force, not only do we not know … [Read more...] about Thinking About Lethal Force – Part 3

In the Washington Post, Zerlina Maxwell insists that, despite the way the UVA fraternity gang rape story seems to be falling apart, when it comes to accusations of rape: In important ways, this is wrong. We should believe, as a matter of default, what an accuser says. Ultimately, the costs of wrongly disbelieving a survivor far outweigh the costs of calling someone a … [Read more...] about Believing Victims

This is my second post in a series that explores how we can think about news stories about people using lethal force in an act of claimed self defense. Part 1 discussed the basics of what might or might not be self defense, and this part expands the discussion to cover witness reliability.I want to emphasize again that my discussion is neither legal advice nor self defense … [Read more...] about Thinking About Lethal Force – Part 2

In response to my earlier post about the grand jury in the Michael Brown case, Jack Marshall posted a lengthy comment. Events have somewhat overtaken that post, but I wanted to address a few points Jack makes. (He wrote his comment before the grand jury decision came out.) I don’t find the fact that a prosecutor could get an indictment probative of whether he should get one, … [Read more...] about The Special Case of Darren Wilson