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Just Liberty

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Since I left the Innocence Project of Texas at the end of last year, I've been working with a bipartisan group of conservative and liberal allies toward the creation of a new organization aimed at building grassroots power in Texas for criminal-justice reform.Today, that project has finally launched under the banner of JustLiberty.org. Its first campaign aims to stop police officers from arresting motorists for Class C misdemeanor traffic violations, similar to the situation which first ensnarled Sandra Bland in the clutches of the justice system. We're really excited, I hope you like it.If you agree that police officers must stop arresting and jailing people on traffic infractions, please go to the "Get Involved" page and send a message in support of Sen. Konni Burton's SB 271 to your own lawmakers. If you opt in to receive email, we'll notify you when other opportunities for engagement arise, either at the legislature or locally.When…

Resnik et al. on Solitary Confinement

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Judith Resnik, Anna VanCleave, Kristen Bell, Olevia Boykin, Corey Guilmette, Tashiana Hudson, Diana Li, Joseph Meyers, Hava Mirell, Skylar Albertson, Alison Gifford, Jessica Purcell and Bonnie Posick (Yale University - Law School, Yale University - Law School, Yale University, Law...

EFF: Law Enforcement Uses Border Search Exception as Fourth Amendment Loophole

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EFF: Law Enforcement Uses Border Search Exception as Fourth Amendment Loophole by Sophia Cope: In recent months, U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents have sought access to private data on the cell phones of two journalists. Such incidents are offensive … Continue reading →

Donald Trump: An American Tragedy

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From Jesse Berney in Rolling Stone, An American Tragedy on what we know about Donald Trump: We know he's inexperienced and ignorant enough to cause genuine harm to America's interests....We know he doesn't understand or care about... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

Thursday Night Open Thread

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Congratulations to Mick Jagger on the birth of his 8th child. I don't get why so many people are trashing him for having a child at age 73. He's got more energy than most people half his age and will probably live long enough to see... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

Baltimore Tutor Allegedly Knocks Out Boy’s Teeth And Fractures Jaw

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Timothy Randall Korr, 25, of Baltimore was employed as a tutor of the Baltimore Curriculum Project. While tutoring at City Springs Elementary School, Korr allegedly told police he removed Trayvon Grayson a seven-year old, from the class for misbehaving. The boy then suffered a fractured jaw and missing teeth. According to reports Korr said the boy lost his footing and “hit himself” on the wall. Trayvon’s mother didn’t believe his story. “He can’t throw himself into wall and fracture his jaw and lose his teeth. He’s only 7 years old. He’s so small…” she said Police examined the boy at a local hospital, where he was diagnosed with major head trauma. Korr was charged with first and second degree child abuse, first and second degree assault, reckless endangerment and neglect of a minor. Continue reading →

New Rules for Employment-Based Immigrants and Non-Immigrants EAD for E, H, O, L status holders, 60-day grace period

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The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) published a final rule to improve aspects of certain employment-based immigrant and nonimmigrant visa programs.  Preexisting regulations have been amended to enable US employers to hire and retain foreign workers who are beneficiaries of approved employment-based visa petitions as they wait to become lawful, permanent residents.  The rule positions nonimmigrant workers to further their careers by accepting promotions, changing positions within current employers, and pursuing other job opportunities. These changes will expand the class of workers eligible to apply for an Employment Authorization Document (EAD), setting guidelines on when an employment-based immigrant may retain his or her “priority date” after departing from their employers. Among the more notable provisions, the rule permits persons of E-3, H-1B, H-1B1, O-1, or L-1 nonimmigrant status to apply for an EAD, provided they meet…

Roundup: Unprepared, Uncounted, Untrained, and On the Hook

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Here are a few odds and ends which haven't made it into independent Grits posts but merit readers' attention.More Harris County bail litigation Harris County faces additional litigation over excessive bail and unnecessary pretrial detention, reported the Houston Chronicle. "In July and August, hundreds of people were arrested and kept in the city jail for more than three days without being granted a hearing." Read more at Fault Lines.CCA ruling forbids warrantless search of text messagesJudge Kevin Yeary authored a rare, pro-Fourth Amendment ruling for the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals to say police need a warrant to read text messages from your phone. Two judges - Keller and Hervey - would not have excluded the evidence because, even though the defense thrice objected, they believed the objections weren't specific enough to apply. See Chuck Lindell's Statesman coverage, the majority opinion, and Keller's dissent.Houston…

Orange County Man Accused of Recording or “Upskirting” Girl. Police Claim He Owns Hundreds of Videos.

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A 53-year old registered sex offender in Orange County, California is accused of video recording up a 13-year old girl’s skirt on Sunday, in a La Habra craft store. A witness claims he saw the man use his cell phone to “presumably view and record underneath a young girl’s dress,” while walking around the craft store and contacted police. Police initially detained and then arrested and booked the man at the La Habra jail. They then searched his house and allegedly found an estimated 200 additional upskirt videos. An investigating officer explained that websites publish those videos without permission or knowledge of the women and girls who appear in them. Continue reading →

Kuersten on Neuroimaging

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Andreas Kuersten has posted When a Picture is Not Worth a Thousand Words (The George Washington Law Review Arguendo, vol. 84, pp. 178-91 (2016)) on SSRN. Here is the abstract: It is frequently put forth that the admission of neuroimaging...

Real Or Fake News: Former Met Manager On Short List To Become Ambassador To Japan

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I've become pretty good at distinguishing between real news and fake news.  Child pornography ring run out of a D.C. pizza parlor by Hillary Clinton: fake.  Brazen financial self-dealing, petty tweets designed to stifle dissent, and appointments of deplorable racists, misogynists, and homophobes by Trump: all too real.  But every now and then a real news item appears that seems implausible anywhere but the bizarro world we now inhabit.On the short list for the job of ambassador to Japan is former Met manager, Bobby Valentine.  Valentine guided an over-achieving Mets team to the playoffs in 1999 and to the World Series in 2000.  While important to me and other Met fans, I don't think that is why he is under consideration.  And he was not known for being particularly diplomatic on the field.  On the contrary, he was intense, short-fused and abrasive, frequently arguing with umpires…

Natick Woman Arrested for DUI with Daughter in Car Following Crash

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According to a recent news article from the MetroWest Daily News, a woman has just been arrested on suspicion of drunk driving following an accident in the town of Natick, which is just west of Boston, Massachusetts. Authorities have said the drunk driving arrest occurred around 5:30 p.m., which is when the crash occurred.  Police were first notified of a potential drunk driver when they got reports of a Honda Pilot SUV swerving back and forth across the road.  The police were then informed that the SUV struck a curb with a significant amount of force, and the two front tires were destroyed. When police and other first responders arrived on the scene, they attempted to speak with the driver.  She first allegedly told officers that the reason she crashed her car was because she was having engine trouble.  While they were already suspicious of her answers, they continued with their investigation and asked to see her driver’s license.  She allegedly…

News Scan

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Louisiana Illegal Immigrant Rapist on the Run: One of the two illegal immigrants suspected in an aggravated rape in 2013 is on the run. John Binder of Breitbart News reports that Illegal immigrants from Mexico, Christian Ramirez and Mario Rameriz, were both arrested and charged with aggravated rape of pre-teen girls in the northern Louisiana town of Farmerville in 2013. Rameriz was convicted of the rape and is currently serving his sentence, while Ramirez was turned over to ICE which mistakenly released him. Ramirez's whereabouts are currently unknown although authorities believe he may have fled back to Mexico. Ohio Murderer's Death Sentence Upheld: The death penalty imposed on an Ohio man convicted of 11 counts of murder was upheld by the state Supreme Court Thursday. As reported by Bill Mears of Fox News, Anthony Sowell, who was convicted of murdering 11 women and hiding their remains on his property was sentenced to die in 2011. Recently, Sowell's counsel…

Are There Too Many People in Prison Today? One Study Finds Nearly 40% of Prisoners Shouldn’t be There

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Recently, a new study by the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law found that 39% of prisoners shouldn’t be behind bars. Considering there are 2.2 million individuals in prison today, many believe we are in crisis and that this mass incarceration is no doubt the greatest racial and moral injustice of our time. In ‘How Many Americans are Unnecessarily Incarcerated,’ a report released by the Brennan Center for Justice, it was determined that 576,000 inmates (39%) in prisons across the nation could be released without putting public safety at risk; this would substantially reduce prison population, not to mention removing individuals who should never have been sentenced to prison to begin with. The report is the culmination of three years of study, research, and analysis performed by a team of lawyers, statistical researchers, and criminologists regarding convictions, criminal codes, and sentences. What would be the impact of releasing more than half a…

Police in Florida Cannot Access Information in an Abandoned Cell Phone Without a Search Warrant

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In Florida and elsewhere, the general rule for searches and seizures is that the police cannot search a person’s property without a search warrant or specific consent from a person with the proper authority to give such consent.  There are exceptions to that rule depending on the circumstances, but the general rule applies in most situations.  This has been the law for a long period of time.  However, there are new situations, and new technologies, that require a unique interpretation of search and seizure law.  Cell phones are not exactly new, but they have created circumstances where the courts cannot necessarily rely on prior cases alone and need to interpret the Constitution to determine if searches and seizures are lawful.  Additionally, the storage capacities and capabilities of cell phones are always improving so new search and seizure scenarios are common. We have discussed cases where the police have made arrests and then sought to search…

Why We Need to Address Gender-Based Violence, Now More Than Ever

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By Helena Klassen, Identity and Discrimination Intern and Nicole van Huyssteen, Women’s Human Rights Thematic Specialist This year marks the 25th anniversary of the “16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence” (16 Days) campaign, originated by the Centre for Women’s Global Leadership (CWGL). The campaign takes on a specific theme each year, which is determined by consulting with the many international human rights groups working to end gender-based violence (GBV). By calling upon individuals and organizations around the world to take action against GBV, the 16 Days campaign has had a significant impact and great success in building support of and activism for the prevention and elimination of violence against women and girls for more than two decades.   The 16 Days campaign is exactly that —16 days of global activism, starting with the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women on November 25th and leading up to…

Challenging the Legality of Law Enforcement Roadblocks

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Many DUI cases arise out of traffic stops conducted by police when they have a reasonable suspicion to believe that a driver may be intoxicated. Under federal law, a stop is a constitutional seizure as long as police have a reason to believe that a crime is being committed.  However, sometimes, drivers are not pulled over because of anything they have done but stumble across roadblocks that have been set up to monitor traffic.  These roadblocks were often used recently following University of Georgia football games.  When a roadblock is established, a search or seizure may occur even though the driver has done nothing to arouse a suspicion of criminal activity. A recent case before the Georgia Court of Appeals considers the claim of a DUI defendant that the roadblock that resulted in his DUI was unconstitutional under such circumstances. In Kettle v. The State, Mr. Kettle and his wife were driving their vehicle at around 2 AM when they were stopped at…

Sixth Circuit Reverses Denial of Motion to Suppress

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In United States v. Abernathy, the Sixth Circuit considered the denial of a motion to suppress stemming from the search of a residence. Officers obtained a search warrant after conducting a trash pull outside Mr. Abernathy's home. That trash pull yielded marijuana roaches and T2-laced plastic bags. The search warrant affidavit included the statement that the occupants of a residence were "currently engaged in illegal activity." At the Franks hearing that followed, the detective affiant admitted he had no information that anyone was selling drugs out of the residence, had no direct evidence of drug trafficking, and had not seen Mr. Abernathy do anything connected to his residence and drug dealing. While the district court struck the statement in the affidavit as misleading, it ultimately upheld the search warrant, finding that a trash pull alone established probable cause.The Sixth Circuit considered for the first time whether a trash pull, standing alone, can…

Harris on Riley and Third-Party Search Doctrine

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David A. Harris (University of Pittsburgh - School of Law) have posted Riley v. California and the Beginning of the End for the Third-Party Search Doctrine (University of Pennsylvania Journal of Constitutional Law, Vol. 18, p. 895, 2016) on SSRN....

Recidivism and Criminal Specialization

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It is widely known that many offenders find themselves in trouble with the law again within a few years of their release from prison, but do the recidivism data reflect specialization among criminals? The question has implications for sentencing, among other things. Judges appropriately take risk of reoffense into account when setting prison terms, but, in assessing these risks, it is important to know not only whether a defendant is likely to commit another crime, but also what crimes the defendant is most likely to commit. We may want to keep our likely future murderers and rapists behind bars as long as possible, but we probably feel quite differently about potential future shoplifters and disorderly drunks. The U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics is an excellent resource for national recidivism trends. As discussed in this earlier post, the BJS’s most recent major report in this area appeared in 2014. Earlier this week, the BJS issued supplemental…
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