The question in this post is prompted by this new Politico article headlined "Trump set to reshape judiciary after GOP blockade: The Senate left town with 99 judicial vacancies, as well as the current Supreme Court opening." Here are excerpts: Mitch McConnell’s refusal to confirm many of President Barack Obama’s judicial nominees has set the table for Donald Trump to dramatically reshape the judiciary over the next four years, as the Republican Senate set a modern record for the fewest confirmations of lifetime judicial appointees. The Senate GOP confirmed just 20 lifetime judicial appointments to district and appeals courts in its two years in the majority, the lowest number by far in the past 28 years, according to a Congressional Research Service report obtained by POLITICO. That means that President-elect Trump will have major sway over the courts next year, starting with the Supreme Court and going all the way down to the district level.…
Is there any way to predict how Trump judges will develop sentencing jurisprudence?
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Bipartisan Immigration Bill to Protect DACA Recipients Introduced in the Senate
Just last week, Senators Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) introduced the Bar Removal of Individuals who Dream ad Grow our Economy (BRIDGE) Act, which would provide work authorization and relief from deportation to individuals who are eligible for the DACA initiative created in 2012 by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Under DACA, or Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, individuals who arrive in the United States as children must pass a background check and meet specific age, education, and United States residency requirements. Once such requirements are met, eligible individuals are granted a temporary reprieve from deportation and are then able to receive a renewable two-year work permit. Since 2012, approximately three-quarters of a million individuals have come forward to take advantage of the career and higher education opportunities that are made accessible to them through the provisions of…
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Top-Ten Recent SSRN Downloads in Criminal Procedure eJournal
are here. The usual disclaimers apply. Rank Downloads Paper Title 1 3,599 Do White Police Officers Unfairly Target Black Suspects? John R. Lott and Carlisle E. Moody Crime Prevention Research Center and College of William and Mary - Department of...
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None of us are safe from being prosecuted, making effective assistance of criminal counsel essential
None of us are safe from being prosecuted, making effective assistance of criminal counsel essential. Too many politicians, police and prosecutors have a penchant for painting the criminal law in terms of black and white: “You do the crime, you do the time;” “criminals must pay the price for their actions;” “we must keep the public safe.” The world is not black and white. In the criminal justice system, we have people wrongly convicted on false testimony, false or unreliable evidence, mistaken testimony, coerced confessions, and incorrectly viewed evidence. We have people penalized with unjust mandatory minimum prison sentences and disproportionately harsh sentences, and with convictions that harm not only liberty, but also reputations, careers and immigration status. The criminal justice system is a deeply-entrenched system that enriches those who work within it as well as the slew of contractors, product suppliers, private prisons…
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Top Ten Ways To Avoid A DUI / OVI This Holiday Season
Whether it’s an office staff, a group of friends, or a family gathering, ‘tis the season for holiday parties. It’s also the season for DUI/OVI arrests (in Ohio, it’s called OVI). From Thanksgiving Eve (‘blackout Wednesday’) to New Year’s Day, officers are particularly ambitious about enforcing Ohio’s drunk driving laws this time of year. But OVI convictions can be avoided. The first five recommendations below may help you avoid getting arrested and charged with OVI. If you get arrested anyway, the second five recommendations may help you avoid getting convicted of OVI and having that OVI conviction on your permanent record. If You Want To Avoid Getting Arrested 10. Make a plan and stick to it. I can’t tell you how many times a client has told me they were not planning on driving that night, but circumstances changed, and they ended-up driving home. If you know you are going to drink alcohol, plan to wait to drive until the…
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Goodbye Article 42.12 Code of Criminal Procedure, Hello Chapter 42A
Article 42.12 of the Code of Criminal Procedure has been the longest and perhaps most complicated section in the Code of Criminal Procedure for years. It sets out the rules for deferred adjudication and community supervision “probation” in Texas. Effective January 1, 2017, Article 42.12 will no longer exist. Chapter 42A Code of Criminal Procedure Article 42.12 will be replaced by Chapter 42A of the Code of Criminal Procedure. This is a non-substantive revision meant to clarify and simplify statutory law. This reorganization is the result of the Texas Legislative Council which is required by Section Government Code Section 323.007 to reclassify and rearrange the statutes in a more logical order, employing a numbering system and format that will accommodate later expansion of the law, eliminating repealed, invalid, duplicative, and other ineffective provisions, and improving the draftsmanship of the law, if practicable—all toward promoting the stated purpose of…
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“When others demand that we become the people they want us to be,” rather than supporting our dreams
All of us have dreams. For each dream we have, a person exists who is ready to try to dash that dream. That dashing effort is the other person’s trip, and needs not be any part of our dream. One of my longtime dreams was to become my own boss sooner rather than later. I did that in 1998, and never looked back, despite our partnership agreement-drafting lawyer skeptically asking whether we were “actually going through with this.” Hell yeah we were going through with it, and we never looked back. That is not to say that a person should go blindly in pursuing dreams, but does mean that a person might suffer dissatisfaction, stress, and neurosis to lost sight of those dreams and to try to live up to others’ expectations at the expense of living one’s own life. Dissatisfaction, stress and neurosis sometimes leads to behavior that gets people arrested and leads them to my door. I previously blogged about everyone’s seeds for greatness.…
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He Sang “Girls”!!!
Buck Ryan learned the hard way. The University of Kentucky has punished me in a “sexual misconduct” case, in part, for singing a Beach Boys tune covered by Alvin and the Chipmunks. Under Administrative Regulation 6:1, Discrimination and Harassment, UK’s Title IX coordinator ruled that the song, “California Girls,” included “language of a sexual nature” and was somehow offensive, though no victims were identified. Those nasty Beach Boys. Sure, they can use “boys” in their name, but that’s because they weren’t marginalized and enjoyed Boy Privilege. But girls?* Ryan used this song, replete with “language of a sexual nature,” in what some might consider a humorous fashion. The occasion for the song was the closing ceremonies for an inaugural Education Week at a Chinese university as part of a UK program. I taught a class, “Storytelling: Exploring China’s Art and Culture.” For my Chinese…
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Rollover crash near Gooding injures the driver.
IDAHO STATE POLICE NEWS RELEASE - generated by our News Release ListServer DO NOT REPLY --------------------------------------------------------------------------- IDAHO STATE POLICE NEWS RELEASE District 4 Patrol 218 West Yakima, Jerome, ID 83338-5904 (208) 324-6000 Fax (208) 324-7897 For Immediate Release: 12/18/16 9:00 a.m. Please direct questions to the District Office On Sunday, December 18, 2016, at approximately 3:19 a.m., the Idaho State Police investigated a one-vehicle, rollover crash on East 2100 South, about 2 miles southwest of Gooding. Aristeo Mendez-Dominguez, age 26, of Gooding, was driving a 1993 Honda Accord west on East 2100 South approaching South 1700 East when he lost control of the vehicle. The vehicle went off the north side of the road and rolled. Mendez-Dominguez was not wearing a seatbelt and was ejected from the vehicle. He was transported to Saint Alphonsus in Boise by air ambulance. The crash remains under investigation by the Idaho State…
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UT: Discovery order for DNA taking based on showing of PC was valid way to get it
Defendant was accused of burglary and aggravated assault, but he could not be identified by his victims. The state applied for a DNA collection order via the discovery rules, and defendant said he would not comply. Then an order was … Continue reading →
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WHAT MAKES A GOOD JUDGE PART I
NFL Survivor Week 15: Lucy Lew flies with the Falcons, while RFFJ rolls with the Texans. Lurvey yet to pick.... thinks the Chiefs are his path to victory. Once again, we have the real chance for a winner today. If not, at the end of week 16, we will declare all remaining survivors winners!WHAT MAKES A GOOD JUDGE?The New Year brings new judges to our humble REGJB. Some are new to criminal (Fine and Hanzman), and some are just new (Oscar Rodriguez Fonts.) What will make people- lawyers, court personnel, litigants- call some of them good and maybe one of them great?The opening lines to Steve Martin's great biography "Born Standing Up" are these: "I did stand-up comedy for eighteen years. Ten of those years were spent learning, four years were spent refining, and four years were spent in wild success."It's a recipe for success. It mirrors the formula discussed in the fantastic book "Outliers, The Story of Success" in…
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CA6: Ptf consented to inspections as a condition of licensing her group child care home
Plaintiff ran a group child care home, and twice before state officials came to inspect to see if she had violated the terms of her license. To get licensed in Michigan, one consents to administrative searches: “In order to permit … Continue reading →
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CA6: Where affidavit for SW referenced defendant’s arrests it was true: no duty to investigate how they came out
In the PC showing for a search warrant, the affiant doesn’t have to investigate every arrest of the defendant shown in a records check to determine outcomes that there was no convictions. The affiant didn’t assert convictions. At the suppression … Continue reading →
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"Duties of Capital Trial Counsel Under the California 'Death Penalty Reform and Savings Act of 2016'"
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KY: There is no jurisdictional requirement for knock-and-talk
There is no such thing as a jurisdictional requirement that a law enforcement officer outside of his or her jurisdiction can’t come to one’s door to do a knock-and-talk. The officers did nothing more than any other citizen could do … Continue reading →
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Lots of notable headlines from lots of notable 2016 marijuana reform states
As regular readers know, 2016 was a banner year for marijuana reform. Specifically, in addition to eight states in which voters enacted significant recreational or medical marijuana reforms by ballot initiatives, two important "rust-belt, swing-states," Ohio and Pennsylvania, enacted medical marijuana reforms via the traditional legislative process. Here is a...<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/MarijuanaLaw/~4/xkAM7m4IUlM" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>
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So many states with so many interesting marijuana reform stories ... only partially covered at Marijuana Law, Policy and Reform
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Why You Will Need a Criminal Defense Lawyer in Las vegas
Being charged with a crime in Nevada is always a serious issue, especially in Las Vegas, because prosecutors in the Las Vegas area are always serious about controlling crime in the city. Las Vegas is easily one of the most high-profile cities in the United States, and keeping the crime rate as low as possible is a focus of local law enforcement officials. What this means is that anytime you are charged with any criminal misconduct in Las Vegas it is vital to have an experienced criminal defense attorney like the professionals at Potter Law Offices handling your case. Evidence Evaluation Prosecutors often act as thought they are entitled to a conviction following filing criminal charges, but the truth is that each article of evidence should always be evaluated. Your criminal defense attorney from Potter Law Offices can conduct an investigation into the charges and address any issues associated with inadmissible evidence or illegal search and seizure. This happens more often than…
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Top-Ten Recent SSRN Downloads in Criminal Law eJournal
are here. The usual disclaimers apply. Rank Downloads Paper Title 1 159 'Revenge Porn' Reform: A View from the Front Lines Mary Anne Franks University of Miami School of Law Date posted to database: 19 Oct 2016 2 146 Extreme...
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UnPresident Sunday
From SNL last night. I liked it better than the Alec Baldwin/Vladimir Putin cold open skit which you can see here. More drama over the Colorado electors who want to vote for someone other than Hillary or Trump. The 10th Circuit denied their... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
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