This unhinged. From the formerly respectable Above the Law:My anti-Trump, #NeverTrump, #NotNormal bona fides are strong. I wanted Congressional Democrats to draw up impeachment charges before he even took office. I'm also NOT one of these "but Mike Pence would be worse" people. Pence is a problem, but one that exists within normal parameters of political problems. Trump is a cancer who needs to be irradiated from our body politic, and I truly don't give a damn how many "healthy" cells have to go down with him.But if I could only take one scalp right now, the first one I'd take is Jeff Sessions. Not Trump, not Steve Bannon -- those muppets are here to put white males "back on top." The flaw in their plans is that white men are already on top, and they've been there for 400 years and counting in the New World. Trump and Bannon's false narrative that the white man is "losing" means that they don't…
How Unhinged Is the Opposition to Sessions?
↧
↧
Court Allows Search Warrant for Entire Email Account Under Stored Communications Act
The Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution requires law enforcement officials to obtain a warrant prior to searching an individual’s personal effects or seizing their property. The warrant must demonstrate probable cause to believe that the search or seizure will reveal evidence related to a criminal investigation. These protections apply both to a person’s physical effects, such as documents and other materials, and to their “electronically stored information” (ESI). The extent to which a warrant may allow law enforcement to search and seize ESI is still a matter of dispute. A federal judge issued a ruling in late 2016 that seems to grant broad powers to law enforcement to seize ESI. The court found that the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure and the Stored Communications Act (SCA) required a provider of email services to turn over the entire contents of several email accounts. In re Microsoft Corp., No. 2:16-mj-08036, mem. order (D. Kan., Sep. 28,…
↧
Can Landlords be Criminally Liable for Injury and Death that Occurs Due to Negligence?
In most cases, if a landlord’s negligence leads to an unsafe condition on their property, the landlord generally won’t be held criminally liable for resulting injuries or death. However, an exception may occur if the landlord’s actions were especially egregious. Last December, a fire killed 36 people at the Ghost Ship artist collective in Oakland, California. The space, which had been rented to artists as a living and working space, was also used for parties, similar to the dance party that was underway when the tragedy occurred. The art collective’s manager, Derick Alamena and his assistant, Max Harris, were arrested earlier this week in connection with the deadly blaze. They are each being charged with 36 counts of involuntary manslaughter. Although it is not believed that either Alamena or Harris had anything to do with starting the fire, their egregious disregard for the safety of tenants and party-goers has elevated their actions to criminal status.…
↧
Can a Hand Gesture be a Criminal Threat Under Penal Code Section 422?
On March 24, 2013, an off-duty Cathedral City police officer went to a restaurant to get dinner with a couple of friends. After the officer was seated he noticed a table with several tattooed men who kept staring at him menacingly. One of the men at the table, Mario Alberto Gonzalez, had a visible gang tattoo on the back of his neck. As the group of men left the diner Gonzalez made a hand sign of the “JT” gang and simulated a gun with his hand, which he pointed at the officer’s group. Gonzalez was charged with five counts of making a criminal threat, one for each person at the officer’s table. Under California Penal Code Section 422 “any person who willfully threatens to commit a crime which will result in death or great bodily injury to another person, with the specific intent that the statement, made verbally, in writing, or by means of an electronic communication device, is to be taken as a threat, even if there is no intent of actually…
↧
Forgery a Serious Felony In Nevada
Some people don’t realize what a serious crime forgery is. They think that it’s no big deal if they sign their friend’s name on a contract or use someone else’s check. What they don’t realize is that Nevada’s courts take forgery seriously. In addition to facing possible jail time and fines, someone who has a record of forgery may have difficulty finding employment. If you’ve been accused of forgery, contact a Las Vegas criminal defense attorney. Forgery is defined under NRS 205.085 as creating or using a falsified document. Frequently, this crime involves checks, money orders, wills, court orders or powers of attorney. Most of these documents initially are legal and legitimate, but if someone tampers with or alters them in any way, then they may be guilty of forgery. This may mean erasing or obliterating some portion of the document or adding something to the contents of the document. Either way, the penalties for a forgery conviction…
↧
↧
Can I pick the test I take after a DUI arrest
Who gets to pick the test administered in a DUI arrest? The short answer is it depends. Let assume some hypothetical facts. First, the drivers is arrested, Georgia Implied Consent rights are read and the Officer designates either a blood, breath or urine test. Let's assume that the police officer chooses a breath test. When the Intoxilyzer 9000 is set up, the driver states that he will not perform a breath test but that he will only submit to a blood test. Implied consent is not reread and blood was never designated in the context of Implied Consent rights. O.C.G.A. 40-5-67.1 (b) plainly and expressly states that "At the time a chemical test or tests are requested, the arresting officer shall select and read to the person the appropriate implied consent." The Officer never read implied consent and designated blood. Did the Officer properly designate the state test? Did the driver request an independent test. In Ladow v. State,…
↧
"Facial Profiling: Race, Physical Appearance, and Punishment"
↧
Can Police Go Off of an Anonymous DUI Tip?
I am currently representing a person for a California DUI who was arrested after an anonymous tipster informed law enforcement that a possible drunk driver was on the road. Such a situation often raises the question, “Can law enforcement arrest someone based on an anonymous tip when the officers themselves have not witnessed any conduct that would lead them to believe a driver was driving under the influence?” Unfortunately, the United States Supreme Court recently held that law enforcement can go off of an anonymous tip of a potential drunk driver in the case of Navarette v. California _____ U.S. _____ (Docket No. 12-9490)(2014). In August 2008, a California Highway Patrol dispatcher received a call from a motorist who had been run off the Highway 1 near Fort Bragg by someone driving a pickup truck. The anonymous caller provided the license plate number of the pickup. A short time later, CHP spotted the pickup and pulled it over. As the CHP officers approached,…
↧
Updating the state and future of medical marijuana in Ohio one year after legislative enactment
Cleveland.com has this notable lengthy new article providing a kind of one-year-later update on Ohio's medical marijuana program under the headline "A year after Ohio's medical marijuana bill signed: Patients waiting, growers applying." Here are excerpts: The landscape has changed since Gov. John Kasich signed Ohio's medical marijuana law one...<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/MarijuanaLaw/~4/0Hs-QrhhRg4" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>
↧
↧
Stoever on Parental Abductions
Jane K. Stoever (University of California, Irvine School of Law) has posted Parental Abduction and the State Intervention Paradox (Washington Law Review, Vol. 92, 2017, Forthcoming) on SSRN. Here is the abstract: For most of America’s history, the common law...
↧
Fatal Crash near Portneuf River
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: 6/8/2017 12:50 p.m. Please direct questions to the District Office On June 8, 2017, at approximately 8:53 a.m., a single vehicle fatality crash occurred on Batiste (Frontage) Road at the Portneuf River, west of Chubbuck. A 1999 Ford Ranger, driven by Marc Tendoy, 22, of Fort Hall, was westbound on Batiste Road when he went off the left shoulder of the road, lost control and struck a tree on the bank of the Portneuf River. Tendoy and his two passengers; Shantel Martinez, 21, of Pocatello and Gralund Osborne, 33, of Pocatello, had to be extricated from the vehicle. Tendoy succumbed to his injuries at the scene. Martinez and Osborne were transported by ground ambulance to…
↧
Will Aggravated Speeding be the new DUI in Illinois?
Is Aggravated Speeding doomed to be the new Illinois DUI?Many shake their heads in disbelief. It might seem bizarre, but in Illinois Aggravated Speeding is a crime.What's more, while Illinois criminal penalties begin with Class C misdemeanors, punishable by up to 30 days in jail, Aggravated Speeding races right by that mark. At speeds as low as 26 MPH over the limit (so 81 miles per hour on the average Chicago area highway), motorists face a Class B misdemeanor offense. That's up to 180 days in jail and up to $1500 in fines plus court costs. Then at 35 miles per hour over the limit or more, Class A misdemeanor penalties apply, for up to 364 days in jail and up to $2500 in fines plus costs.Just like a DUI.Supervision may be available, but only in a non-urban district (what that means is as clear as mud under the statute), but it's only available for the offense of Aggravated Speeding one time, lifetime.Just like a DUI."But wait!", you say…
↧
More interesting new "Quick Facts" publications from the US Sentencing Commission
↧
↧
“Youthful Indiscretion,” Tweets and Terroristic Threats -- Revisited
This post does something I have not done before: Analyze an opinion in which a state Supreme Court reviews the State’s Court of Appeals’ ruling on issues in the case when it was on appeal to that court. The title of the case is State v. Rund, 2017 WL 2458130 (Minnesota Supreme Court 2017). You can find the post analyzing the Court of Appeals’ decision here. The Supreme Court begins its very recent opinion by explaining thatHarrison William Rund pleaded guilty to terroristic threats in connection with a series of threatening tweets directed at law enforcement officers. The district court granted Rund's motion for a downward durational sentencing departure. A divided panel of the court of appeals affirmed the departure. Appellant State of Minnesota filed a petition for review, which we granted. Because the district court based the departure on improper reasons and the record contains insufficient evidence to justify the…
↧
Priorities
The headline from the Victoria Advocate declaring that the Texas Legislature prioritized mental health treatment over incarceration is almost Orwellian.The bill they're touting will add $18 million or so statewide for mental health treatment over the next biennium. The prison system's biennial budget tops $7 billion.
↧
The Mental Element of Crimes, Express and Implied
My friend John Malcolm of the Heritage Foundation has this article at the Daily Signal criticizing the Back the Blue Act of 2017, which would make it a federal offense to kill, attempt to kill, or conspire to kill a federal judge, federal law enforcement officer, or "federally funded public safety officer." The latter is a public safety officer of a state or local government agency that receives federal funds. Putting aside the federalism question for the moment, John's criticism is that the bill does not contain an express mental state (mens rea) requirement for the "kill" prong.Because the bill does not require that a defendant intend to kill or even know his "victim" was a "federally funded public safety officer," its severe penalties would apply if someone accidentally crashed into an officer with a bicycle, motorcycle, or car, or unknowingly served him contaminated food, and the officer died.It would be better…
↧
****FINAL UPDATE***** Crash Slows Traffic I84/I184
IDAHO STATE POLICE NEWS RELEASE - generated by our News Release ListServer DO NOT REPLY --------------------------------------------------------------------------- IDAHO STATE POLICE NEWS RELEASE District 3 Patrol 700 S. Stratford Dr., Meridian 83642 (208) 846-7550 Fax (208) 846-7520 For Immediate Release: 06/08/2017 2:50 PM Please direct questions to the District Office ********FINAL UPDATE********* On Thursday, June 8, 2017, at 7:18 am, the Idaho State Police investigated an injury crash eastbound on I84 at mile marker 49, just east of the Flying Wye. Neal Farnworth, 54, of Nampa, ID, was driving eastbound on I84 on a 2017 Harley Davidson. Mary Romano, 19, of Nampa, was also eastbound in a 2016 Ford pickup. Romano was merging from the number 2 to the number 3 lane when she struck Farnworth. Farnworth and his motorcycle were separated and blocked several lanes of the interstate. Farnworth was not wearing a helmet and was transported to St Alphonsus in Boise. The lanes…
↧
↧
"Neither Justice Nor Treatment: Drug Courts in the United States"
↧
//blawgsearch75.rssing.com/chan-6519914/article25259-live.html
US v. Simon, No. 15-10203 (6-8-17)(Murguia for the en banc). In an en banc decision, the 9th affirmed a district court's use of 2X1.1, the provision for inchoate offenses. In this, a Hobbs Act robbery, the use of the conspiracy guideline, rather than the robbery guideline, determined the sentence, including relevant conduct and enhancements. Section 2X1.1 does not apply if an attempt, solicitation, or conspiracy is expressly covered by another guideline. A conspiracy to commit a Hobbs Act robbery is not expressly covered under the robbery guideline. The 9th overrules US v. Hernandez-Franco, 189 F.3d 1151 (9th Cir. 1999), in holding that the guidelines themselves must "expressly cover" the inchoate offense. A court starts with 2X1.1, and the application note, but can use other content from the guidelines. However, courts should avoid exclusive reliance on the US Code or non-guideline language.The decision is…
↧
"Measuring the Creative Plea Bargain"
↧
More Pages to Explore .....
