For a brief and shining moment, it was a microaggression to call America the land of opportunity, the melting pot, the various traditional phrases that expressed our immigrant heritage and how from many, we became one. E pluribus unum. So awful. But the focus has now shifted off of such silliness to recognized reality that Americans want their borders back. To that end, Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly has issued battle plans to put into effect the promises made on the campaign trail. Ironically, this has been going on for a while now, although few were aware of it because they were too obsessed with their feelings to see. As MSNBC’s Christopher Hayes offered, our immigration enforcement strength has been ramping up for a while, with few paying attention. Notably, the overwhelming majority are stationed on our southern border. There’s a reason for this. Americans aren’t fleeing the United States because it’s such a horrible place, but people…
The Land Of Limited Opportunity
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Class Action Lawsuit Filed Over Ignition Interlock GPS Tracking
A group of lawyers filed a class-action lawsuit yesterday on behalf of a number of individuals who say they weren’t told that the ignition interlock devices they were required to install had GPS tracking capabilities. As part of a condition from their DUI, offenders were required by law to install an ignition interlock device in their vehicle to maintain certain driving privileges. The point of an interlock system is to prevent a car from starting if the driver has a blood-alcohol content above a certain limit, but the lawsuit claims that the devices also secretly tracked and stored location data – a feature drivers were not told about during installation. In the lawsuit, the plaintiffs say they did not agree to the GPS tracking capabilities as part of their DUI sentence. “We believe the U.S. Supreme Court has made it abundantly clear in previous rulings that GPS tracking by the government is unconstitutional, and there are only limited instances where it…
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The Fake Law Narrative Won’t Help Transgender Students
Unsurprisingly, the Trump administration will be issuing new “guidance” on the treatment of transgender students under Title IX. The Trump administration will issue new guidelines on how public schools treat transgender students, Press Secretary Sean Spicer said at a news briefing on Tuesday, indicating that the matter should be left up to states. The announcement suggests the Justice Department will rescind a policy enacted by the Obama administration designed to protect transgender students from discrimination and harassment, which said students could use facilities that match their gender identity, from restrooms to dorms. This comes as no surprised. Having discussed at length the means by which the Obama Departments of Justice and Education wound their way from a law that prohibited sex discrimination, enacted in 1972, to the euphemistically named “guidance,” meaning not law, not even regulations, but a letter sent out by a bureaucrat completely…
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N.D.Ill.: SW for fingerprints if iPhone is found is rejected as to fingerprints; Riley also informs and narrows the 5A concerns
The government’s search warrant application also seeks fingerprints from any persons found there on execution if any iPhones are found. That part of the warrant application is denied. The cases permitting fingerprint production predated Riley and the issues it presents. … Continue reading →
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Stalking, the State Trooper and Ineffectiveness of Counsel
This post examines a recent opinion from the Court of Appeals of Wisconsin: State v. Grover, 2017 WL 663207 (2017). The court begins the opinion by explaining thatVickie M. Grover was convicted of stalking S.W., a Wisconsin State Patrol trooper. On appeal, Grover challenges the sufficiency of the evidence and the effectiveness of trial counsel. She also asks this court to order a new trial in the interest of justice. State v. Grover, supra.It goes on to explain thatS.W. first met Grover when she approached him at a gas station and asked him a question about her damaged windshield. S.W. worked the overnight shift, and he generally began his shift by getting gasoline for his squad car at a Sun Prairie gas station. Grover drove a white Nissan Cube, a `distinct’ vehicle. S.W. testified that after that initial encounter, he started noticing Grover's car frequently, with Grover following him to whatever gas station he happened to visit. Grover…
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Haiti Holds Mass Funerals for Inmates Who Died From Prison Conditions
This is the most horrible story I've read this year, although it's only February. It's inconceivable that such disgusting prison conditions could exist anywhere in the world. Relatives wailed in grief or stared stoically as flowers... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
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Ohio Police Become Certified in Use of Force
Between 2014 and 2016, the Ohio Collaborative Community-Police Advisory Board, commissioned by Gov. John Kasich in 2014, developed new standards for when the police may use force during interactions with civilians. The board also defined when deadly force is necessary and appropriate. Once the advisory board finalized the state’s new standard for use of force, [...]The post Ohio Police Become Certified in Use of Force appeared first on Columbus Criminal Attorney.
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Supreme Court, voting 6-2, reverses Texas death sentence reached after defense attorney introduced expert who linked race and violence
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Engel Calls for Settlement of Speed Cameras Case
The New Miami Speed Camera case is winding towards a resolution. News reports suggests that interest on the unconstitutional fines has been calculated at $355,613, so the total amount owed to motorists now is $3.4 million. Joshua Engel has called for New Miami to resolve this matter. He told the News-Journal: “We will be asking the court to order New Miami to immediately pay back all motorists, with interest,” Engel said. “Rather than continuing to drag this matter out for years in the Court of Appeals and spend another hundred thousand dollars on lawyers, we call on New Miami to finally acknowledge the decision of the court, accept responsibility for its unconstitutional scheme, and come to the table with a fair and just settlement offer that will allow people to receive payments immediately.” The post Engel Calls for Settlement of Speed Cameras Case appeared first on .
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Trump Issues Two Immigration Implementation Orders
Trump remains intent on pushing everyone's buttons and causing rampant fear in our communities. Yesterday he issued two new implementation orders on immigration to effectuate his prior executive orders, which are already under attack in the... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
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SCORECARD
As any long-suffering Cubs fan occupying chambers on the second floor of the REGJB would tell you, you can't tell the players without a scorecard. It's that time of year again, when a new judge's fancy turns to dreams of.... "Judge ___of the Third District Court of Appeals...." "Justice ___Of the Florida Supreme Court..." ... "President Trump is pleased to announce he has chosen Judge ____from Miami-Dade County to replace Judge Ruth Bader Ginsberg who mysteriously disappeared after a dinner in Berlin with Russian Prime Minister Alexander Putin...."2017 Investiture DatesAlexander S. Bokor (County Court)February 24, 2017Mark Blumstein (Circuit Court)March 9, 2017David H. Young (Circuit Court)March 10, 2017Victoria del Pino (Circuit Court)March 24, 2017Oscar Rodriguez-Fonts (Circuit Court)April 20, 2017Linda Diaz (County Court) [formerly Linda Luce]April 21, 2017Marcia Del Rey (Circuit Court)April 28, 2017Site Feed
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Were crimes committed related to Michael Flynn’s resignation?
In the days since Michael Flynn resigned as President Trump’s national security adviser, there have been a lot of questions and not many answers. Many still wonder exactly what transpired between Flynn and the Russian ambassador he now admits to having had contact with. Though we still don’t know the details of many of those conversations, we can discuss potential criminal aspects of Flynn’s resignation, of which there are several. First, let’s talk about Flynn. Did he break any laws that could result in criminal action? There are two issues at play here: 1) the Logan Act and 2) potential false statements. First, the Logan Act is a piece of legislation that makes it a crime for a private citizen to communicate with a foreign government without proper authority in an attempt to influence the actions of the foreign government. The law is an oldie, but a goodie, having been signed back in 1799 by then President John Adams. The law resulted from actions by a…
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Murder Charges in Las Vegas
Nevada’s murder laws are defined under NRS 200.030. These crimes are considered the worst that anyone can be accused of. Accordingly, the consequences are dire. If you’ve been accused under NRS 200.030, then it’s imperative that you hire a competent Las Vegas murder defense lawyer. Being investigated for murder is frightening. Even if you haven’t been charged with anything yet, it’s advisable to seek the advice of a qualified lawyer. With their assistance, charges may never be filed, and if charges are eventually brought against you, your attorney will already be well on the way to mounting an aggressive defense. The legal definition of murder charges in Las Vegas requires “the unlawful killing of a human being with malice aforethought.” Generally, this means that murder in Nevada must be premeditated. Without premeditation, the taking of a human life is generally charged as manslaughter. NRS 200.030 further breaks down murder charges…
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Richardson on Implicit Racial Bias in the Courtroom
L. Song Richardson (University of California, Irvine School of Law) has posted Systemic Triage: Implicit Racial Bias in the Criminal Courtroom (Yale Law Journal, Vol. 126, No. 3, 2017) on SSRN. Here is the abstract: In Crook County, Nicole Gonzalez...
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Criminal Tax Defense | Tax Evasion and related Tax Offenses
Criminal Tax Defense We are taught at a young age that only death and taxes are certain. Regardless of a given individual’s (or company’s) net worth, reporting and paying taxes is both inevitable and frustrating. This is because the United States Tax Code includes a lengthy, complicated set of standards, terms, and regulations that make tax compliance oftentimes difficult. While simple individual tax returns, such as a 1040EZ, only require the submission of W-2 data and listing dependents, tax returns can become very difficult to prepare and submit accurately. For example, homeowners and contributors to charitable organizations need to become familiar with other tax forms and keep records to demonstrate what deductible expenses they actually incurred. Because the U.S. Government has become large and highly dependent upon the collection of vast sums to support its activities, it has employed the Treasury and IRS to identify and collect unreported income. It does via…
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Criminal Tax Defense | Tax Evasion and related Tax Offenses
Criminal Tax Defense We are taught at a young age that only death and taxes are certain. Regardless of a given individual’s (or company’s) net worth, reporting and paying taxes is both inevitable and frustrating. This is because the United States Tax Code includes a lengthy, complicated set of standards, terms, and regulations that make tax compliance oftentimes difficult. While simple individual tax returns, such as a 1040EZ, only require the submission of W-2 data and listing dependents, tax returns can become very difficult to prepare and submit accurately. For example, homeowners and contributors to charitable organizations need to become familiar with other tax forms and keep records to demonstrate what deductible expenses they actually incurred. Because the U.S. Government has become large and highly dependent upon the collection of vast sums to support its activities, it has employed the Treasury and IRS to identify and collect unreported income. It does via…
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Rollover Jail Credit
When a person has pretrial jail credit shared between multiple charges, and those charges result in consecutive sentences, the shared jail credit gets applied only once. Does it matter which individual sentence gets the credit? Let’s start with a refresher on the general rule for jail credit for consecutive sentences. Suppose a person is arrested and held in jail on both Charge A and Charge B for 5 months. He is convicted and receives consecutive sentences: 10-21 months for Conviction A, followed by 10-21 months for Conviction B. Under G.S. 15-196.2, the 5 months of jail credit are applied to only one of the individual sentences, because “creditable time shall not be multiplied by the number of consecutive offenses for which a defendant is imprisoned.” Had the sentences been allowed to run concurrently, G.S. 15-196.2 would have required the court to apply all 5 months of the shared jail credit to both sentences. Unfortunately, that’s the easy version of…
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Shearing on Public and Private Policing
Clifford Shearing (Griffith Institute of Criminology) has posted The Relation between Public and Private Policing (In: Tonry, M. & Morris, N. Eds. Modern Policing. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 399-434) on SSRN. Here is the abstract: Employment by private policing...
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Bartels on Hawaii's Opportunity Probation with Enforcement Program
Lorana Bartels (University of Canberra - School of Law and Justice) has posted Swift and Certain Sanctions: Is it Time for Australia to Bring Some HOPE into the Criminal Justice System? (Criminal Law Journal, 39(1): 53-66, 2015) on SSRN. Here...
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D.Ore.: Def leaving his duffle bag on a public street and walking away from it was abandonment
“Examining defendant’s conduct objectively I find that he abandoned the duffel bag containing the heroin before the warrantless search he challenges. He left the bag unattended in plain view without an identification tag to show an ownership interest, He deliberately … Continue reading →
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