Rev. Dr. William Barber II: "Is there a lawyer in the house?"O, yes,I say it plain,America never was America to me,And yet I swear this oath—America will be!-- Langston Hughes, Let America Be America Again How many lawyers does it take to fight, resist and oppose the national -- indeed, global -- nightmare that is Donald Trump? And how do you do it? Well, the first way to deal with a nightmare is to wake up. And more than 1000 of us got a wakeup call on Friday at a remarkable Strategic Engagement Conference at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in San FranciscoThe breadth of the panel discussions reflect the scope of the dangers posed by a Trump Administration. Virtually every aspect of social justice is at risk. The topics included hate crimes and the rise of the white nationalist right, the government targeting of the Muslim community, immigrant rights, the LGBTQ backlash, protecting…
Dust Off The Constitution And Fight Back
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Kitty Litter Kingpin Busted
Citizens of Montgomery and Harris counties can sleep easier tonight now that a large shipment of high grade Feline Bam Bam has been taken off the street. The Kingpin was quoted as saying, “they thought they had the biggest bust in Harris County. This was the bust of the year for them.” Except that it wasn’t. Twenty-four-year-old Ross Lebeau was charged with possession of almost half a pound of methamphetamine. On the evening of December 5, 2016, Lebeau was stopped for an unknown traffic offense. Harris County Sheriff’s Officers used the old standby technique of “smelling a strong odor of marijuana emitting from Lebeau’s vehicle,” in order to initiate a search. Lebeau was cooperative and admitted he had a small amount of marijuana in the console of his vehicle. In the process of doing an inventory of the vehicle (a search), the officers recovered a crystal-like substance wrapped in a sock. Mr.…
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NJ ad law judge says insurance company must pay for medical marijuana for injured worker
This local article, headlined "Judge: Insurance company must pay for medical marijuana for injured N.J. worker," reports on what would seem to be a significant ruling from an administrative law judge in New Jersey. Here are the details from the press report: In what could be a precedent-setting decision, a...<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/MarijuanaLaw/~4/wy9kQkJkATU" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>
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Dramatic Revisions to Illinois Expungement Laws effective January 1, 2017
Happy New Year everyone! I have some very exciting changes to the Illinois Criminal Identification Act (ICIA) to discuss here, with regard to both expungement and sealing. Regarding expungement, pursuant to Public Act 099-0881 and the newly revised 20 ILCS 2630/5.2(b)(1) et seq., a person who has one or more non-expungeable criminal offenses on his or her record may now petition the circuit court to expunge other expungeable records, including arrests or charges not initiated by arrest that resulted in acquittal, dismissal or petitioner’s release without charging (subject to exclusions), a reversed or vacated conviction (subject to exclusions), an order of supervision where that supervision was successfully completed by petitioner (subject to exclusions), or an order of qualified probation (as defined by the ICIA) where that qualified probation was successfully completed by petitioner. The bottom line with regard to this substantive change in law is that a…
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Crash I-15 near Malad*update*
IDAHO STATE POLICE NEWS RELEASE - generated by our News Release ListServer DO NOT REPLY --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Idaho State Police District 5 5205 South 5th Ave. Pocatello, Idaho 83204-2299 (208) 236-6466 FAX: (208) 236-6068 For Immediate Release: Sunday January 8, 2017 2:55 p.m. Please direct questions to the District Office ***Update*** All lanes are back open at this time. HG/JS ************* Idaho State Police is currently investigating a commercial vehicle crash southbound on I-15 at milepost 21, north of Malad. Southbound lanes are partially blocked and motorists are urged to use caution due to low visibility in the area. More information will be released as it becomes available. HG/KJ -------------
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Encino Doctor Arrested For Sexual Assault
A 67 year old doctor was recently arrested following sexual assault allegations made by multiple female patients. Dr. Michael Popkin, who has been licensed to practice medicine in California since 1977, was alleged to have committed the assaults at his Encino office during medical exams between 2001 and 2016. Given Dr. Popkin’s 4 decades of medical practice, detectives within LAPD’s sex crimes unit are continuing their investigation hoping to locate additional victims. As it stands, Dr. Popkin is currently facing 4 sex crime charges ranging from sexual exploitation of a patient and sexual battery. If convicted Dr. Popkin could face imprisonment in county jail or state prison and lifetime sex offender registration. Criminal Arrests Involving Licensed Professionals Dr. Popkin’s case exemplifies the heightened consequences licensed professionals face when charged with criminal offenses. In addition to the criminal case, the Medical Board of California (MBC) will…
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Correction: Crash I-15 near Malad
IDAHO STATE POLICE NEWS RELEASE - generated by our News Release ListServer DO NOT REPLY --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Idaho State Police District 5 5205 South 5th Ave. Pocatello, Idaho 83204-2299 (208) 236-6466 FAX: (208) 236-6068 For Immediate Release: Sunday January 9, 2017 2:07 a.m. Please direct questions to the District Office ***Correction*** This crash occurred southbound on I15, not northbound. ln/do *******Final Update****** On January 8, 2017, at approximately 9:44 a.m., Joshua Sinner, 29, of Logan, Utah, was driving northbound I-15 at milepost 21, north of Malad. Sinner was driving a 2004 GMC Yukon towing a 2006 Gulfstream travel trailer. The vehicle slid off the roadway and both the GMC and trailer rolled onto their sides. Sinner and his passenger Shaun Wexler, 47, of Clarkston, Washington, were wearing seatbelts. Passenger Nestor Gorostieta, 29, of Logan, Utah, was not wearing a seatbelt. None of the occupants were…
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The Passage of the Fair Housing Act of 1968: Stories to Be Told
Jonathan Zasloff, The Secret History of the Fair Housing Act, 53 Harv. J. on Legis. 247 (2016). Shelby D. Green The enactment of the Fair Housing Act of 1968 (“FHA”) is a story filled with intrigue — coercion, duplicity, and back-room deals. In The Secret History of the Fair Housing Act, Professor Jonathan Zasloff provides a riveting account of the maneuvers by the various protagonists in that story. Some fifty years later, the plots and impacts continue to unfold. Starting with President Lyndon Johnson, who had handily pushed through the Civil Rights Act of 1964, even before his landslide election for his full term, Professor Zasloff shows how it took almost every political arrow in Johnson’s quiver to quash opposition to the FHA. Continue reading "The Passage of the Fair Housing Act of 1968: Stories to Be Told"
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The Remote Was Universal, So He Must Pay
Eric Bramwell was, as burglars go, lousy at it. He was no jewel thief on the French Riviera. He didn’t didn’t steal priceless art or antiquities. He had his eye on something smaller, more utilitarian, more . . . universal. A TV remote. Seriously, Bramwell was such a loser that he stole clickers. Authorities alleged that Bramwell entered the common area of the apartment building in the 100 block of Cross Street on Aug. 1, 2015, and stole the universal remote to the television set. Not only did he aim low, no, even lower, when he picked his chosen target, but he couldn’t even manage to pull it off without screwing it up. But, prosecutors say, Bramwell dropped a glove while at the complex, and a DNA sample taken from it was matched to Bramwell’s DNA in a database of convicted felons, which led to his arrest. Ain’t the magic of DNA wonderful? That is, until you consider that the police in Wheaton, Illinois, had so little to do that they could DNA…
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Boca Raton Marijuana Grow Charges Await Ex-Fugitive
Federal investigators began looking into a suspected grow house in Boca Raton back in 2011. But just a few days after they began their inquiry, the prime suspect allegedly fled the country for Costa Rica. Now, the 69-year-old has been extradited from the Central American country to face charges of illegal marijuana cultivation. However, The Sun-Sentinel reports the man, appearing recently before a Palm Beach County judge, insists he was never an international fugitive because he wasn’t hiding. He pointed to the fact that he continued to pay his taxes to the Internal Revenue Service. What’s more, he was collecting his Social Security payments addressed to Costa Rica and he was even registered with the U.S. Embassy there. He also opened a cigar store and lounge in the capital city and gave interviews to local media. Ultimately, it was a local dispute regarding his cigar store that garnered the attention of local officials, who later discovered he was wanted…
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Teaching The Bottom Of The Lawyer Barrel
For a brief and shining moment following the crash of 2008, there was talk of reform of legal education. There were some efforts made, such as the opportunity complete school in two rather than three years. There were claims aplenty of law school turning out “practice-ready lawyers.” And there were academics decrying the dumbing down of law schools to trade schools. It was all a big steaming pile of crap. Nobody wanted the two-year grads. Even with clinical programs, externships and whatever pedagogical-sounding programs they dreamed up at faculty teas, new grads were hardly “practice ready.” And as the prestige, and more importantly, the job opportunities and salaries for new lawyers outside of the smattering of biglaw jobs that remain following the retrenchment, dwindled, schools couldn’t even turn out graduates capable of passing the bar. Then there were the Access to Justice fantacists, for whom an iPad would inexplicably make new lawyers…
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D.Me.: Third party consenter’s apparent authority included the attic
“Contrary to Defendant’s argument, Ms. Barry had common authority over the property. She lived in the home with Defendant and their minor child, and shared a bedroom with Defendant. Consistent with the fact she resided in the home and had … Continue reading →
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OR: Trash collector could segregate def’s trash for police
Defendant’s trash was segregated by the private contractor working for the city on defendants’ collection days. That is virtually indistinguishable from State v. Howard, 204 Ore. App. 438, 129 P.3d 792 (2006), aff’d, 342 Ore. 635, 157 P.3d 1189 (2007), … Continue reading →
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State Supreme Court Rules that the State Bar Can’t Discipline a Sitting Judge for Judicial Misconduct
Judges are lawyers, and lawyers are subject to discipline by the State Bar. Does that mean that judges are subject to discipline by the State Bar? Generally not, according to a recent ruling by the Supreme Court of North Carolina. Background. The case is N.C. State Bar v. Tillett. It began when police detained the son of a superior court judge. The judge subsequently launched an investigation into what he viewed as misconduct by the police department, city officials, and the district attorney’s office. The details of the judge’s conduct are not important for present purposes. It is enough to know that the Judicial Standards Commission ultimately issued a public reprimand to the judge, available here, finding that he had been “overly aggressive” in pursuing a “public feud” and had taken “actions that fell outside of the legitimate exercise of the powers of his office.” State Bar proceedings. Two years after the reprimand, the…
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Sexual Assault on a Child, Lime Wire and the Remote Computer Search
This post examines a very recent opinion from the Colorado Court of Appeals – Division VII: People v. Phipps, 2016 WL 7473811 (2016). The court begins by explaining that[b]ased on a plea agreement in which many other serious charges were dismissed, defendant, Randy Scott Phipps, pleaded guilty to sexual assault on a child. He was sentenced to an indeterminate prison term of seventeen years to life. Phipps then sought postconviction relief under Criminal Procedure 35(c), claiming ineffective assistance of counsel. The district court denied his motion without holding a hearing. People v. Phipps, supra.The Court of Appeals then noted that “Phipps asserts on appeal that the district court (1) was required to hold a hearing on his motion and (2) erred in rejecting his ineffective assistance of counsel claims.” People v. Phipps, supra. We will come back to that issue later.The opinion goes on to explain how, and why, the prosecution arose and how, and…
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Winter Driving Conditions continue in the Magic Valley
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: 1/9/2017 7:00 a.m. Please direct questions to the District Office The Idaho State Police are urging motorists to use caution when traveling during their morning commute. Winter weather conditions still exist and road conditions remain icy in areas. MC/HG -------------
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Winter Driving Conditions
IDAHO STATE POLICE NEWS RELEASE - generated by our News Release ListServer DO NOT REPLY --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Idaho State Police District 6 1540 Foote Dr. Idaho Falls, Idaho 83402-1828 (208) 525-7377 FAX: (208) 525-7294 For Immediate Release: 01/09/17 7:10 a.m. Please direct questions to the District Office The Idaho State Police, and county agencies are currently working multiple slide offs and crashes in the greater Idaho Falls area. Drivers are urged to use caution and expect winter driving conditions. NEH/MC -------------
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Will new Trump Justice Department seek death penalty for Fort Lauderdale airport mass murderer given apparent mental illness?
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Criminal Justice Reform: How Are We Doing in Massachusetts? (Part 2 of 2)
In my last blog post, I discussed some of the steps Massachusetts has taken in recent years to reform the state’s criminal justice system and the problems that remain in that system. In this post, I will discuss some reforms that Massachusetts should enact in the next legislative session. For starters, Massachusetts must abolish mandatory minimum sentencing for drug offenses once and for all. Despite the liberal political leanings of many in state government, the state’s District Attorneys somehow remain staunchly opposed to any such reform. According to the title of a 2015 letter in the Boston Globe signed by nine of the Commonwealth’s DAs: “Opponents of mandatory minimum sentencing fail to account for reality.” That’s a bold choice of headline, particularly once you consider that those reality-ignoring opponents include Supreme Judicial Court Chief Justice Ralph Gants, who systematically tore apart the arguments in…
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SCOTUS issues per curiam opinion strengthening claim of qualified immunity after police shootout
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