Crime and Punishment

So, Scooter Libby has been convicted for his involvement in the Valerie Plame affair, in which Ms. Plame's identity as a covert CIA operative was revealed. Let's see what they got him for: The jury rejected Mr. Libby's claims of memory lapses, convicting him of four felony counts, obstruction of justice, giving false statements to the Federal Bureau of Investigation and … [Read more...] about Never Say Nothin’ to the G

Now that I've ruined any chances of selling ads by advocating drug smuggling and blogging about Nazi iconography, I might as well round it off by defending a bit of child pornography. Pop Quiz: If you make a video of an adult having sex with an under-age teenager, you're guilty of creating child pornography. If you make a video of two teenagers, ages 16 and 17, who are close … [Read more...] about Child Porn or Not Child Porn

Mike at Crime & Federalism posted a complaint about plea bargaining: It has turned our system into one that is supposed to convict the guilty and free the innocent into a risk-management system. It has turned lawyers into actuaries . "Is going to trial worth the risk?" is what lawyers ask clients. Innocence has little to do with the decision to take a deal. I'm not … [Read more...] about Radical Ideas for Criminal Justice Reform

When I first wrote about the botched drug raid in which Atlanta police killed a 92-year-old woman, I assumed that none of the officers were at fault. After all, the raid was legal because they had a warrant. Mrs. Johnston wasn't actually a drug dealer, but apparently she didn't realize the invaders were police, so she shot at them in self-defense. The police, in fear for … [Read more...] about Possible Charges in the Kathryn Johnston Case

As I described before, yesterday's big scare about mysterious devices in Boston caused an awful lot of turmoil, but it turned out the devices were part of a publicity campaign for a television show. Authorities in Boston have issued this statement: Our investigation has determined that these devices are harmless electronic billboards which were placed in these locations as … [Read more...] about The Authorities React