Sentencing Law and Policy has this entry up today: "New report details stability of California crime rates during period of huge sentencing reform." That must be good news, right? Much more leniency and no crime increase? Here's the key paragraph:• The statewide urban crime rate stabilized from 2010 to 2016, after decades of decline.Urban crime rates in California declined precipitously through the 1990s and 2000s (See Appendix A). Since 2010, crime in California has stabilized, hovering near historically low levels. Comparing the first six months of 2016 to the first six months of 2010, total crime rates experienced no net change, while property crime declined by 1 percent and violent crime increased by 3 percent.For a more clear-eyed look at what's going on, here's the translation:After dropping massively for twenty years due in large part to more and more aggressive policing and greater use of incarceration,…
Spinning the Bad News on Crime
↧
↧
Wednesday Night Open Thread: Trumpicide
With every step, Donald Trump comes closer to self-annihilating. An op-ed in The Guardian today, When a president fights the law, there's only ever one winner, calls it Trumpicide: Donald Trump’s fury at a federal judge who overturned... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
↧
Jeff Sessions Says Goodbye to the Senate and Hello to His New Job
Sen. Sessions' farewell speech to the Senate, and his appreciation of his new responsibilities, is here.Key line: "This is a law enforcement office, first and foremost."
↧
Jeff Sessions confirmed as Attorney General ... now what for federal marijuana policy?
As Fox News reports here, "Sen. Jeff Sessions won confirmation Wednesday evening to become the next attorney general of the United States," and here's more of the basic backstory: The Senate narrowly approved the Alabama Republican’s nomination on a 52-47 vote, the latest in a series of confirmation votes that...<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/MarijuanaLaw/~4/itDG3KQWzuA" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>
↧
Jeff Sessions confirmed as Attorney General ... now what for federal sentencing policies and practices?
↧
↧
Felons, Weapons, and Knowledge
When a convicted felon is not allowed to possess a firearm, what knowledge must be established to prove a violation? The California Supreme Court addressed that issue today in the context of probation violations in People v. Hall, S227193. U.S. Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch has dissented in favor of the defendant on a related issue.In the California case, drug dealer LaQuincy Hall was given probation upon the condition, among others, that he "may not own, possess or have in [his] custody or control any handgun, rifle, shotgun or any firearm whatsoever or any weapon that can be concealed on [his] person."Although he made no objection in the trial court, Hall claimed on appeal that the condition needed to be modified to prohibit only "knowing" possession.Given the relevant case law, the firearms condition is properly construed as prohibiting defendant from knowingly owning, possessing, or having in his custody or control any handgun, rifle,…
↧
WaPo: ‘The Watch’ Blog: 11th Circuit: Cops weren’t given enough notice that police tactics used for decades are unconstitutional
WaPo: ‘The Watch’ Blog: 11th Circuit: Cops weren’t given enough notice that police tactics used for decades are unconstitutional by Radley Balko: Now that the courts are finally coming around on the violation part, (and this isn’t the first court … Continue reading →
↧
Is Drug Residue Sufficient for Police to Forfeit Your Property in Florida?
Florida, like many states and the federal government, has some draconian asset forfeiture laws. For some reason, the state’s practice of forfeiting property from suspects based on very little evidence does not get much coverage, but taking property from people suspected of committing crimes is a favorite practice of police all over Florida. As you likely know, when the state accuses someone of a crime, that person is innocent until proven guilty, and the state has the burden of proving guilt beyond any reasonable doubt. The rules are quite different in forfeiture cases. In asset forfeiture cases, the police can take a person’s property based on mere suspicion of criminal activity, and the state gets to keep that property while forcing the claimant to jump through a variety of hoops to try to get the property back. While the state has to prove some connection between the property and criminal activity, as a practical matter the claimant…
↧
Texas House committee assignments out
Congratulations to new committee chairmen Joe Moody in House Criminal Jurisprudence and James White in House Corrections. These appointments are generally positive signals for reform legislation this session. See this year's appointments.In particular, Chairman Moody's bill reducing low-level marijuana possession to a civil penalty didn't get a vote in 2015 until late in the game, and then in a chaotic, throw-in-the-kitchen-sink type hearing which muddied the issue more than clarified it. One expects in 2017 that that legislation may receive a higher profile early on, giving it a much better chance of passage. Another good sign for bills coming out of this committee: Todd Hunter, Calendars Committee Chairman, is vice chair of House Criminal Jurisprudence under Moody. So the committee's work will definitely be on his radar screen.Chairman White, for his part, has been increasingly reform minded, especially when it comes to debtors-prison type issues.Another…
↧
↧
//blawgsearch75.rssing.com/chan-6519914/article22870-live.html
1. US v. Loucious, No. 16-10121 (2-7-17)(Gould w/Clifton & Watford). The 9th reversed the suppression of a confession. The defendant was a passenger in a car stopped for speeding. One thing led to another, and he was arrested on outstanding warrants. He was given quasi Miranda warnings, with the formulation that he has the right to a presence of a lawyer during questioning. The defendant waived, and confessed.The district court suppressed the statement. The court reasoned that the defendant was not given the proper warning, because he was not told that he had a right to consult with a lawyer before questioning.The 9th reversed. The 9th reasoned that there was no set Miranda warnings, but that the rights had to be conveyed. "Presence" inferred consultation. The Miranda warnings were adequately conveyed here.Tough loss for AFPD Wendi Overmyer of the Nevada FPD Office (Las Vegas).The decision is…
↧
Henning on Heien
Karen M. Henning (University of Detroit Mercy - School of Law) has posted 'Reasonable' Police Mistakes: The Fourth Amendment and the Good Faith Exception after Heien (90 ST. JOHN’S L. REV. 271 (2016)) on SSRN. Here is the abstract: The...
↧
Ars Technica: Judge sides with Microsoft, allows “gag order” challenge to advance
Ars Technica: Judge sides with Microsoft, allows “gag order” challenge to advance by Cyrus Farivar: Court: “First Amendment rights may outweigh the Government interest in secrecy.” On Wednesday, a federal judge in Seattle allowed Microsoft’s lawsuit against the government to … Continue reading →
↧
Prez Trump signs three crime-fighting executive orders, including one to create a “Task Force on Crime Reduction and Public Safety”
↧
↧
FLORIDA PROSECUTORS MAY PURSUE CRIMINAL CHARGES TO TRIAL EVEN WHEN VICTIMS DON'T
Florida prosecutors often proceed toward a full prosecution even when the victim does not want to cooperate. In some crimes such as sexual battery on a minor or child pornography this makes sense because the victim isn't in a position to reliably gauge the full consequences of the prosecution. In other cases such as spouse battery the state has an interest in making certain that in the future the family unit is not subject to violent behavior. Prosecutor & Defendant at TrialIn fact in most cases that allege violent behavior such as aggravated battery or assault the state of Florida will look at the victim's desire to pursue prosecution as little more than a recommendation. In other violent acts such as murder, vehicular manslaughter or DUI manslaughter the desires of the deceased victim's family are considered only very late in the process after a plea or conviction and before sentencing to determine not whether charges should be pursued…
↧
2017 Sentencing Commission Statistical Report Available
It’s a chilly, blustery day in Chapel Hill, but I see signs of spring. The days are getting a little longer. College basketball season kicks into high gear tonight. And there are only four days until pitchers and catchers report. But one of my favorite signs that we’ve completed another trip around the sun and are starting to tilt toward it has also arrived: the North Carolina Sentencing and Policy Advisory Commission has issued its annual Statistical Report for Felonies and Misdemeanors. This year’s report covers sentencing episodes from July 1, 2015 to June 30, 2016. Here are some things that jumped out at me. As usual, about a quarter of all felony convictions come from two grid cells: Class H/Level I and Class H/Level II. Those two grid cells alone account for more convictions than the entire grid from Class F to Class A—or as I like to call it, the Wyoming of the sentencing grid (a big rectangle with lots of space but few people). Our most populous…
↧
Morse & Ramsey on Ransomware
Edward A. Morse and Ian Ramsey (Creighton University - School of Law and Stites & Harbison PLLC) have posted Navigating the Perils of Ransomware (Business Lawyer , Vol. 72, 2016-2017) on SSRN. Here is the abstract: Extortion is a longstanding...
↧
Highway blocked for fatality crash near Craters of the Moon
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: 2/9/2017 - 3:10 p.m. Please direct questions to the District Office Idaho State Police and the Blaine County Sheriff?s deputies are currently on scene of a fatality crash involving two commercial vehicles on U.S. Highway 20-26-93 at milepost 222, between Carey and Craters of the Moon. The highway is currently blocked, but should reopen to at least one lane of traffic soon. This news release will be updated when traffic is moving again. More details about the crash will be released at a later time. SC/KB -------------
↧
↧
**UPDATE - traffic starting to move** Highway blocked for fatality crash near Craters of the Moon
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: 2/9/2017 - 3:10 p.m. Please direct questions to the District Office ***UPDATE*** Traffic is being moved through the scene of this crash intermittently as tow trucks continue their work to remove the vehicles involved. ***END OF UPDATE*** ************ *********** ************* ************* *************** ************* Idaho State Police and the Blaine County Sheriff's deputies are currently on scene of a fatality crash involving two commercial vehicles on U.S. Highway 20-26-93 at milepost 222, between Carey and Craters of the Moon. The highway is currently blocked, but should reopen to at least one lane of traffic soon. This news release will be updated when…
↧
Iowa Sexual Exploitation by a Teacher or School Employee
In Iowa, Sexual Exploitation by a Teacher or School Employee is a crime. The word exploitation is often a misnomer because the sexual acts between the student and teacher can be consensual. However, the statute is designed to protect students, who are considered vulnerable to the authority of their teachers. Consent does matter under the law. The crime of Sexual Exploitation by a Teacher or School Employee is set out in Iowa Code Section 709.15 . 709.15 defines a school employee as: A practitioner as defined in Iowa Code Section 272.1 or a person issued a coaching authorization under Iowa Code Section 272.31(1). (Note: Teacher is encompassed in the definition of school employee). A student is defined as: A person who is currently enrolled in or attending a public or nonpublic elementary or secondary school, or who was a student enrolled in or who attended a public or nonpublic elementary or secondary school within thirty days of any violation, A teacher or school employee…
↧
Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals Rejects Effort to Reinstate Travel Ban
/documents/17-35105.pdfThe Ninth Circuit's three-judge federal appeals panel unanimously refuses to reinstate President Trump’s travel ban. The decision is here. The decision was not signed as usual but per curium. Among the arguments in the Court's ruling is that the government produced no evidence that immigrants/aliens from any of the countries covered by the ban were responsible for an act of terrorism on US soil. Immigrants from Middle Eastern countries who have been responsible for terrorism, like Saudia Arabia are not covered by the travel ban.
↧
More Pages to Explore .....
