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An Over-Taxing Question About Being Smart

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It’s a civic duty to pay one’s taxes, and like most Americans, I look forward to April 15th when I can take pride in contributing my share to pay for the government’s fine work. –Said no taxpayer ever Of the few things Americans can agree upon, Brookings Institute Fellow Vanessa Williamson says its that we love us some taxes.* No, seriously. Pollsters have been asking Americans whether “it is every American’s civic duty to pay their fair share of taxes.” Every year, about nine in 10 Americans agree with that sentiment. In 2009, 3 percent of respondents disagreed. That level of accord is very rare. To give you a point of reference: About 6 percent of Americans think the Apollo 11 moon landing was faked. On the civic responsibility of taxpaying, Americans are about as close to consensus as they ever get. This is a magnificent example of the efficacy of statistics. The numbers don’t lie, and tell you whatever you want them to.…

Failure to Appear on a Misdemeanor Court Date: Bench Warrants and Bail Jumping

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Most people know to listen to a judge. After all, he or she has the ability to change the trajectory of your life whether you are involved in a civil case or you have been arrested for any number of crimes outlined in the New York Penal Law. In the criminal context, when you miss your court date, an arraignment for a Desk Appearance Ticket, a scheduled compliance date, a calendar call for an update, or any other appearance on a misdemeanor or felony crime, the judge hearing your case will more than likely issue a bench warrant barring some corroborated reason why you could not be present. As your criminal defense lawyer will (and should have already) tell you, once the judge orders or issues a bench warrant the police are authorized to arrest you. Complicating matters, if you are outside the State of New York, you may be held without bail until a detective returns you on a “Governor’s Warrant.” Could you sit there for a week, two, more? Sadly, yes. Outside of…

Sentenced In The Court Of Sad Feelz

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If you thought the fallout following the hysteria over the Brock Turner sentencing was over, gird yer loins. Female lawprofs are just getting started, riding the wave of feelz beyond the return of mandatory minimums and elimination of statutes of limitations. Rushing to catch the wave is this upcoming article in Wake Forest Law Review by criminal law professor Erin Sheley. Victim impact statements (VIS) are long-disfavored among legal commentators for allegedly injecting unnecessary, negative emotion into sentencing at the expense of the defendant, with ambiguous informational benefits to the sentencing body. Most traditional arguments both for and against VIS turn on purely retributive or utilitarian grounds. This essay takes up the Stanford sexual assault victim’s statement to propose an expressive framework for understanding the function of VIS, which resolves much of the theoretical confusion surrounding the traditional justifications. I show how the expressive goals…

CA11: Use of pepper spray on somebody kicking a police car isn’t excessive force

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The use of pepper spray on somebody kicking a police car isn’t excessive force. Nigro v. Carrasquillo, 2016 U.S. App. LEXIS 17921 (11th Cir. Oct. 4, 2016): Officer Carrasquillo’s use of pepper spray did not constitute excessive force in violation … Continue reading →

"Best Marijuana Taxes Yet: California's Proposition 64"

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The title of this post is the title of this notable new and timely essay by Pat Oglesby now available via SSRN. Here is the abstract: Two devastating traps threaten taxes on newly legalized marijuana. One is the quicksand of inflexibility, leading to impotence during a whirlwind of market change....<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/MarijuanaLaw/~4/txIU2bWrD_w" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>

Beware the GOP for attacking the right to effective criminal defense counsel

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The Republican and Democratic parties are in so many ways like Tweedledum and Tweedledee, which will continue until we dismantle the primacy of the nation’s two-party system that, by definition, is hardly democratic. The great bulk of both parties’ politicians do too little to protect civil liberties, too much to perpetuate their power and politics as usual, and too much to embrace and spend on excessive law enforcement, national security, and militarism. To the extent that material differences exist among the two parties, Democratic politicians include too many who embrace too much government spending on social programs. Republican politicians include too many who embrace too much government spending on the military, national security, and the criminal justice system. Democratic presidents more often than Republican presidents are more likely to nominate fewer judges who will do the greatest damage to civil liberties. Hillary Clinton and Tom Kaine are but…

Trump and The Snake: "You Knew Who I Was...."

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This story is one told by criminal defense lawyers to juries during opening argument when a snitch is going to testify. In our version, the story is not about a female, but a Rocky Mountain former, who lets in a snake to protect it from the cold.... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

MA: Exclusionary rule not applied to MJ discovered during entry after 911 call

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Police were called to an apartment because of noise then a water leak into their place. The officer went to look for the cause and found a mason jar with marijuana. The grant of the motion to suppress is reversed … Continue reading →

DC: Inevitable discovery applied to cell phone search in 2002 rather than GFE

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Inevitable discovery used to justify a search of a cell phone in 2002 because it might have been unreasonable under Riley from 2014 (no mention of good faith exception applied to pre-Riley searches). Logan v. United States, 2016 D.C. App. … Continue reading →

Backpage Bust: Promoting Prostitution and Sex Trafficking

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DFW has long been established as a corporate headquarter hotspot for household name businesses such as Walmart, Exxon Mobile Corp, and AT&T. Also rooted in DFW are more provocative businesses, including backpage.com, which, since Friday morning, has burst into the forefront making global headlines after law enforcement officers raided the tech company’s headquarters in Dallas. While such businesses are often riddled with accusations of white collar crimes, Carl Ferrer, CEO of Backpage.com, has been confronted for his alleged involvement in a whole different world – pimping. At first glance, Backpage.com appears to be similar to any other classifieds-based website.  It advertises itself as a free medium for individuals to post ads for services, goods, living arrangements, and the like. Digging a little deeper into the whisperings of the interweb, you’ll realize that Backpage.com offers much more than innocent exchanges, with allegations of…

D.Mass.: Another Playpen warrant upheld

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Another Playpen warrant upheld. United States v. Allain, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 134605 (D.Mass. Sept. 29, 2016).* This white collar case warrant was based on probable cause and was sufficiently particular. Good faith also would sustain the warrant. United States … Continue reading →

Our law firm always is open today, Indigenous People’s Day – Columbus did not discover America

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My son and I with American Indian Movement co-Founder Dennis Banks, after the completion of the Longest Walk 2, July 2008. Learn more about Dennis here Today’s blog entry is updated from our 2015 blog entry from Indigenous Peoples Day My law firm is open today, Indigenous Peoples Day, even though the Virginia courthouses are closed. Columbus did not discover America, although his visits to the Western hemisphere did lead to European imperialism’s spread to the Western Hemisphere, and to centuries of misery and worse to the hemisphere’s native people. CNN recently reported in 2014 that “16 states, including Alaska, Hawaii and Oregon, don’t recognize Columbus day as a public holiday. South Dakota has celebrated Native American Day since 1990.” Let’s sooner rather than later add to that list the federal government, the remaining thirty-four states, and all municipalities. Lyndon Johnson and the Congress were sorely misguided in making…

AZ: Search incident of def’s backpack in next room when he was handcuffed was unreasonable

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“The state argues Snyder’s backpack was within his immediate control because it was next to the entrance of the room in the security office where Snyder was detained. According to the state, Snyder could have ‘quickly reached the backpack (notwithstanding … Continue reading →

C.D.Cal.: CP warrant on year old info wasn’t stale

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Defendant’s child pornography search warrant wasn’t based on stale information even a year old. United States v. Ornelas, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 133809 (C.D.Cal. Sept. 27, 2016).* Defendant’s consent was involuntary, but the automobile exception justified the search of the … Continue reading →

TN: SW with the wrong name once after the correct name appeared several times was not invalid

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In a search warrant that included the defendant’s name repeatedly and then mistakenly included another name on the computer printed search warrant, common sense dictates that the warrant was directed at her. State v. Szabo, 2016 Tenn. Crim. App. LEXIS … Continue reading →

N.D.Ga.: Officer was credible on search 9 years ago by admitting what he couldn’t remember

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The consent search in this case was nine years before the suppression hearing. The officer’s willingness to admit that which he could not remember made him more credible, and it was expected he couldn’t remember all of it because it … Continue reading →

MS: Guilty plea waived 4A claim

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Defendant’s guilty plea waived his Fourth Amendment claim. Singleton v. State, 2016 Miss. App. LEXIS 637 (Oct. 4, 2016). Defendant’s claim that the police withheld information about an alleged drug dog alert. That claim was either procedurally barred or unsupported … Continue reading →

C.D.Ill.: Twice flying an airplane across the country and immediately returning was RS

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While the defendants’ conduct in flying an airplane across the country and back within hours may have been perfectly lawful, on the totality, there was reasonable suspicion to encounter them. United States v. Eymann, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 138482 (C.D.Ill. … Continue reading →

Brooklyn DA Ken Thompson, RIP

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For as long as I can remember, Kings County, better known to the rest of the world as Brooklyn, had a DA problem. It was a second string job, never having the prestige of Manhattan, but being Brooklyn’s District Attorney was a huge job. After the fiasco known at Joe Hynes was finally thrown out on his butt as scandals revealed wrongfully convicted defendants by rogue, lying cops, a new guy rode in on his black horse to clean up the mess. Ken Thompson was a former federal prosecutor, best remembered for his role in the prosecution of Justin Volpe, the cop who proudly sodomized Abner Louima in the bathroom of the 70th Precinct. Thompson went private practice until challenging Hynes for Kings County District Attorney. He won the election and took over the post in 2014, a reformer and racial justice activist who would clean up the mess on Court Street. On Sunday, October 9th, at age 50, Ken Thompson died of cancer. In the short time he held office, he accomplished quite a…

New Jotwell Section: Contracts

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Today we inaugurate a new Jotwell section on Contracts, edited by Professor David A. Hoffman and Professor Nancy S. Kim. Together they have recruited a stellar team of Contributing Editors. The first posting in the Contracts section is What Does “Buy Now” Really Mean? by Robert A. Hillman. Please look at our Call For Papers, and get in touch if you have suggestions for a new section, or if you have a review you would like to contribute to any existing section of Jotwell.
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