I asked Senior United States District Judge John Kane (D.Colo.) his thoughts about Judge Jack Weinstein’s plan to push law firms to allow younger female lawyers the opportunity to speak in court. This is his response: Just about anything Jack Weinstein does or says is great in my book. I admire him for this as well as a host of other actions he has taken. I must state, however, that I haven’t noticed a paucity of female lawyers in the cases before me. That is probably because our U.S. Attorney’s Office and our Federal Public Defender’s Office are about equally balanced between women and men. We also do quite a few Section 1983 cases because Colorado has the largest federal prison complex in the country and a very active and dispersed state prison system. Many of the defendants are represented by insurance defense firms that have a fairly large complement of women, and so do the municipal governments and the state Attorney General’s office.…
Judge Kane On Women In The Trenches
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Mabel Huertas - El Comercio y el DU Nº 011-2017
http://elcomercio.pe/opinion/colaboradores/jalados-mabel-huertas-noticia-453952 “Vaya usted a saber qué dirá mañana, porque la plataforma de lucha de esta huelga –que se volvió abusiva– ya no existe; el decreto de urgencia que reconoce el aumento salarial, entre otros beneficios, se la tumbó”. ¡¡Dios mío!!, que esta señora tenga la gentileza y sabiduría para explicarnos en que parte del Decreto Urgencia Nº 011-2017 se dispone el aumento del que habla y el reconocimiento de todos los reclamos del Magisterio. Si nos va a contar algún cuento por favor primero revise el significado de autorizar (hacer algo y en el caso de los profesores además cumplir con ciertos requisitos). Que nos explique cómo se aumentará a los maestros sin exigir mayores recursos al Tesoro Público. Fatalmente la manipulación y la…
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Silence Of The Judges
If you didn’t know better, Joan Biskupic’s post at CNN might give rise to a serious concern: why are the judges not condemning this atrocity? President Donald Trump’s pardon of former Sheriff Joe Arpaio has been widely denounced as another instance of the President’s scorn for the judiciary. Yet one set of voices has been missing: that of Chief Justice John Roberts and the nation’s leading judges. They have been silent since the beginning, when Trump derided a judge of Mexican heritage during the 2016 presidential campaign and during the furor over an immigrant travel ban early in his presidency when he referred to a “so-called judge.” Wait, what? Oh my god, she’s right!!! Except this is utter nonsense, as she begs the question by falsely suggesting that judges are politicians who can, or should, show up on the Rachel Maddow Show with furious tears in their eyes for this affront to the Least Dangerous Branch. That pattern held…
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Man Spends 90 Days in Jail After Officers Mistake Drywall Residue with Cocaine
Law enforcement agents make mistakes. Contrary to popular belief, these perceived moral enforcers are capable of making mistakes and abusing the inordinate level of authority they are granted by state and federal governments. A plethora of stories pertaining to false arrests and police misconduct have blazed headlines for years, causing some to develop leery feelings of the institution and causing others to come to its defense. Whichever side of the public opinion spectrum individuals fall on, it’s safe to say that all parties agree on the fact that innocent people shouldn’t be charged, convicted and forced to serve time for crimes that they didn’t commit. Unfortunately, this miscarriage of justice continues to occur often, affecting large numbers of law abiding citizens who undergo this treatment and are exonerated, but aren’t fairly compensated for their baffling experience with the criminal justice system. According to recent articles, a Florida man…
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Five reasons you need to hire a Criminal Defense Attorney if you are arrested on Labor Day Weekend
Labor Day Weekend is usually a busy weekend, with time spent enjoying backyard barbeques, spending time at the lake or taking a road trip. If you happen to find yourself arrested over the holiday weekend, odds are you don’t know…Read more ›
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Self-Defense and Retreat from Places Where the Defendant Has a “Lawful Right to Be”
Our appellate courts are beginning to issue decisions concerning the impact of the General Assembly’s 2011 changes to North Carolina law on self-defense. A case earlier this summer addressed whether a defendant has a duty to retreat before using deadly force in self-defense in a place where he or she has a “lawful right to be.” See State v. Bass, ___ N.C. App. ___, 802 S.E.2d 477, temp. stay and rev. granted, ___ N.C. ___, 800 S.E.2d 421 (2017). In Bass, the Court of Appeals held that the defendant did not have a duty to retreat and further had the right to have the jury instructed that he did not have a duty to retreat. Defendant’s evidence. The case concerned an ongoing conflict between the defendant, Bass, and the alleged victim, Fogg, which resulted in Bass shooting Fogg. Bass was charged with attempted murder and assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill inflicting serious injury. The jury convicted him of assault with a deadly weapon…
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Third Party Payments and Supplemental Environmental Projects Under Scrutiny
On June 5, 2017, Attorney General Jeff Sessions (“Sessions Memo”) issued his memorandum that stated that the USDOJ will no longer agree to settlements that include “payments” by a defendant to a third party organization. On July 28, 2017, he issued another memorandum, directing a compilation of a list of all civil or criminal settlement agreements that include payments to third parties. While this certainly suggests that the USDOJ will be less inclined to include third party payments or SEPs in settlements, I would suggest that the practice should not be abandoned. I previously posted about this on June 12, 2017. Certain “news” outlets have depicted these types of payments as “slush funds” for left wing groups. As a friend of mine (Jim Smith) noted in a Linked-in post: “An article posted by the Competitive Enterprise Institute (“CEI”) in its Energy and Environment section specifically mentions settlements…
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THE QUALITY OF MERCY
Rumpole's Trial Lessons: #12: Always have a good quote memorized. A good trial lawyer has a bag of quotes ready to go at a moment's notice. For example:"Injustice anywhere is injustice everywhere." Dr. MLK. Today's topic is "Mercy". The quality of mercy is not strain'd,It droppeth as the gentle rain from heavenUpon the place beneath: it is twice blest;It blesseth him that gives and him that takes:'Tis mightiest in the mightiest: it becomesThe throned monarch better than his crown;His sceptre shows the force of temporal power,The attribute to awe and majesty,Wherein doth sit the dread and fear of kings;But mercy is above this sceptred sway;It is enthroned in the hearts of kings,It is an attribute to God himself;And earthly power doth then show likest God'sWhen mercy seasons justice. Therefore, Jew,Though justice be thy plea, consider this,That, in the course of justice, none of usShould see salvation: we…
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Third Circuit panel rejects various challenges to severe stash-house sting sentence
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du Bois-Pedain on Sentencing Discretion
Antje du Bois-Pedain (University of Cambridge, Faculty of Law) has posted In Defense of Substantial Sentencing Discretion (Criminal Law Forum, Forthcoming) on SSRN. Here is the abstract: This article develops an ideal of sentencing discretion as consisting in sufficient dispositional...
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Police Body Cameras: Tools of Abuse and Accountability
Police body cameras are a device worn by law enforcement that allow the police to document and gather evidence at a crime scene, and probably more importantly, to record the interactions between law enforcement and the public. The Brennan Center for Justice has listed a list of nine types of situations when police body cameras should be required to record. They are: All calls for service and while en-route to emergency calls. Pedestrian stops, including consensual encounters and “Terry Stops” (a brief detention of a person by police on reasonable suspicion of involvement in criminal activity). Traffic stops. Foot and vehicle pursuits. Consensual or warrantless searches. Executing search warrants. Arrests and detentions. Transports (driving with a suspect or prisoner); Other adversarial encounters or situations where criminal activity is likely to be recorded. Body Camera at Center of Political Feud in Rockport, TX A police body camera…
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"A Conservative Approach to Smarter Federal Marijuana Policy"
The title of this post is the title of this notable Cato Institute Capitol Hill Briefing slated for September. Here is how the event is described from the Cato website: Featuring Tom Garrett (R-VA-05), U.S. Congressman; Ilya Somin, Professor of Law, Antonin Scalia Law School, George Mason University; Trevor Burrus,...<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/MarijuanaLaw/~4/X_J4FkmbgMQ" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>
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Erasmo Carlos
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Conditional Vs. Unconditional Bail in Minnesota
As we mentioned in a previous blog, bail is a set amount of money that a person accused of a crime must pay if they fail to show up to future court dates. For example, a judge in Minnesota may set bail at $12,000 for an individual who has been charged with a DUI. They can then pay that money or have a bond agent put up the sum and they’ll be released from jail until their court date. If they go to all their appearances, their bail money will be returned to them (this is not the case if you use a bail bond company). However, Minnesota can set some stipulations along with your bail amount. That’s the focus of today’s blog where we examine the differences between conditional and unconditional bail. Conditional Bail in Minnesota As the name implies, conditional bail means that the set monetary amount comes with some additional conditions that must be met. What is interesting about conditional bail is that the judge has some free reign to decide what these…
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Augusto Álvarez Rodrich y las inversiones en las fronteras
http://larepublica.pe/politica/1080272-inversion-o-invasion-en-50-kilometro “Es una decisión absurda que usa una prohibición constitucional que tenía sentido hace un siglo, pero que hoy carece de lógica y que sirve, más bien, como biombo para los intereses de empresarios inescrupulosos interesados solo en su beneficio particular. Es algo que se debe corregir, asegurando, sin duda, un trato similar a las inversiones peruanas en Arica.” Vamos a ver, los amos del Perú quieren que inversionistas extranjeros compren por cualquier título, terrenos, fuentes de energía (hidrocarburos), concesiones mineras, bajo el manto protector e inicial de un inofensivo “Centro Comercial” –en realidad varios- si se aprobara mediante Decreto Supremos que, LA CONSTRUCCIÓN DE UNO O MÁS CENTROS COMERCIALES es de NECESIDAD PÚBLICA. Sin analizar el tema del desarrollo del…
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Release Decisions By Computer
Eric Siddall of the L.A. Association of Deputy District Attorneys has this post.As stories emerge about the Arnold Foundation's "algorithm" pretrial release tool, we should be disturbed about the results. As covered in a previous blog, use of the tool is linked to two murders and the wholesale release of dangerous felons. However, a Wired story raises even more questions about the Arnold Foundation algorithm. It turns out the tool was given to San Francisco for free, but with conditions that bars the disclosure of "any information about the use of the Tool, including any information about the development, operation and presentation of the Tool."There is something to be said for having decisions made according to a formula rather the subjective judgment of a human decision-maker. In terms of practical effects, the formula may predict dangerousness better than a seat-of-the-pants judgment. In terms of fairness, a formula…
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Sandra Bland Act implementation, inadmissible forensics, the case for corroboration, and other stories
A few tidbits to clear Grits' browser tabs while your correspondent is focused elsewhere and the entire state prays for Houston to dry out:Here are links to all the handouts and biographies of witnesses at a recent Texas House County Affairs Committee hearing on implementation of the Sandra Bland Act.A municipal court judge from Corsicana highlights some less-discussed bills that take effect September 1st.Grits had noted when the Forensic Science Commission asked the Attorney General about the admissibility of forensics which are neither accredited nor exempt from accreditation. But I never noticed when the opinion came out in January. The AG says Texas courts would likely interpret the Code of Criminal Procedure to hold such forensic evidence inadmissible.Read a summary of major, recent criminal-justice reforms in Louisiana that's receiving rave reviews.A pair of heavy hitters in the corrections field recently…
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How Do I Get A Maryland Gun Permit?
There are two main types of gun permits that everyday citizens may decide to pursue, and before discussing the question of how a person goes about obtaining a Maryland gun permit it is important to distinguish between these two types. In 2013 state lawmakers passed the firearms safety act, which drastically changed the process for everyday citizens to purchase handguns. In addition to outlawing the sale of any gun with a magazine capacity over ten rounds (including the popular 15 round capacity Beretta M9) lawmakers also decided to require all citizens to obtain a Handgun Qualification License before purchasing any type of handgun. The stated goal of the HQL license was to assure that only the most qualified and educated individuals could purchase handguns, but in reality the state really just maintains extreme control on the legal gun market going forward. The HQL license is not particularly difficult to obtain, as it requires the individual to take a four-hour class (unless…
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Russell & Denholtz on Procedures for Proportionate Sentences
Sarah French Russell and Tracy L. Denholtz (Quinnipiac University School of Law and Quinnipiac University - School of Law) have posted Procedures for Proportionate Sentences: The Next Wave of Eighth Amendment Noncapital Litigation on SSRN. Here is the abstract: With...
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Courts punt on forensics surrounding DNA mixtures
In our final excerpt from Just Liberty's August "Reasonably Suspicious" podcast, let's focus on a recent Texas appellate case regarding DNA mixture evidence - one of the first to arise since it was revealed in 2015 that most Texas crime labs were using flawed mathematics to interpret results from mixed DNA samples. The trial court punted on its gate keeping function in this one, allowing multiple, conflicting forensic results into evidence and telling the jury to pick the one they liked. Tyler's 12th Court of Appeals affirmed that approach. Listen to Grits and Texas Defender Service Executive Director Amanda Marzullo discuss the implications of the case:This blog first broke the story that DNA mixture evidence had been widely misinterpreted after the Forensic Science Commission began investigating the question. The rise of "touch DNA" has exacerbated this greatly, as many people's DNA might be…
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