AG Sessions announces new initiatives to address violent crime
↧
↧
Dan on Privacy and Religion
Perry Dane (Rutgers Law School) has posted A Tale of Two Clauses: Privacy, Religion, and Constitutional Reason (William & Mary Bill of Rights, Forthcoming) on SSRN. Here is the abstract: This Article dissects two developments in widely separate areas of...
↧
Maryland Man Facing Gun Charges Secures Reversal of Conviction Due to an Officer’s Improper Search
In a criminal defense matter, a key to a successful outcome may be getting inadmissible evidence excluded. This is one of the many vitally important areas in which your experienced Maryland criminal defense lawyer can help. In one recent case from Baltimore, a defendant got a conviction reversed because the officer who searched him lacked the required level of reasonable suspicion to allow him to conduct a search. On March 4, 2016, a Baltimore law enforcement officer responded to a call about “a person being armed.” The officer spotted an individual who he believed matched the description dispatch had provided to him. As the officer approached the man, the man allegedly turned away from the officer. This body language, in the officer’s opinion, was consistent with someone carrying a gun. The officer made the man put his hands above his head, and, during the officer’s pat-down search, he recovered a gun from the man’s waistband. During the…
↧
Thursday News and Open Thread
The New York Times has released an extensive report with sexual harassment allegations against media honcho Harvey Weinstein. He has taken a temporary leave. The New Yorker reports that Donald Jr. and Ivanka were facing a possible Indictment in... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
↧
Divided Court lifts injunction to allow execution to proceed
The order is here. Justices Ginsburg, Breyer, and Sotomayor would have denied the motion to vacate the injunction.
↧
↧
Barry Scheck and Kevin Richardson Speak at Google Headquarters
The Innocence Project’s Barry Scheck and exoneree Kevin Richardson of the Central Park Five spoke to staff at Google as part of their Talks at Google speaker series last month. Scheck discussed the evolution of DNA testing, the history of the Innocence Project and the need for better funding for indigent defense to help prevent wrongful convictions. Kevin Richardson spoke about his wrongful arrest at age 14 and the public ire he and his codefendants faced during their trial for the 1989 rape and attempted murder of a 28-year-old jogger in Central Park. He recalled how crowds would gather at the entrance to the courthouse in Lower Manhattan, holding signs scrawled with racial slurs and calling for the execution of the five teenage defendants. “There was such a media frenzy, during that time . . . we were physically scared to come outside,” Richardson said. “I was 15 years old at the time, and I remember my family just hovering over me going to court,…
↧
News Scan
$500 to Snitch on a Drug Dealer: The town of Warren, Michigan is offering $500 to people providing law enforcement with information leading to the arrest of drug dealers. Jason Colthorp of click on Detroit reports that the program called People Against Illegal Drugs (PAID) will pay the rewards from drug forfeiture funds. "This program means that all Warren residents will be the eyes and ears in our war against drug pushers," said Warren Mayor Jim Fouts. The identity of the tipsters will remain confidential, but they will have to provide a contact name and number to receive the reward. CA Becomes Sanctuary State: Governor Jerry Brown signed SB 54 into law today, making California a sanctuary state...sort of. Fox News reports that in his signing statement the Governor noted that the new law will prevent the "commandeering of local officials" to do immigration work. But as reported in the LA Times, the Governor…
↧
Getting in the Weeds with Community Service: A Garden in Need
Community Service staff members Azem Dobrodoli and Corey Hatton hard at workEvery day as they clean the parks and streets of the Bronx, our community service team and clients provide the most visible presence for Bronx Community Solutions in the borough. Over the years, our "crew" (as we call them) has gained quite the reputation and, in turn receive weekly requests from local residents, businesses, politicians and other community members to bring their special touch and expertise to various projects around the Bronx. One recent request came from an employee of Children's Aid Society, who partners with schools to provide academic programming, health services and much more. Children's Aid works with the Bronx's P.S. 50 and recently acquired a community garden nearby where they plan to run their Go! Healthy Gardens program for students. But years of neglect had left the space overrun with weeds, trash and broken furniture.Enter…
↧
Charged With The Crime of Mayhem? Get a Lawyer
The Crime of Mayhem It is not uncommon when a fight breaks out at a bar or some other public place for the fight participants to do whatever it takes to win. The fighters might punch one another, slap each other, kick, or hurl objects at the other, and sometimes one of the fighters might even bite the other if the fight gets up close and personal. When a fight involves biting, or some other form of harm that is capable of producing long-term disfigurement or scarring, the individual who caused the injury is often charged with the crime of mayhem, on top of being charged with other criminal offenses, such as assault and battery. The charge of mayhem is often misapplied to criminal defendants, but it is a serious offense nonetheless. The consequences associated with a mayhem conviction are steep, which makes a strong criminal defense critically important. If you have been charged with mayhem in Massachusetts, or any other crime involving physical harm to another, you need to get…
↧
↧
CA11: Ordinance for rental property inspections not unconstitutional on face; has an admin warrant requirement
The City of Lauderhill’s rental property inspection ordinance is not unconstitutional on its face under the Fourth Amendment. It does provide for an administrative warrant if one is required. 2051 Lush Apts., LLC v. City of Lauderhill, 2017 U.S. App. … Continue reading →
↧
Kim & chae on Anchoring Effect of Prosecutor's Demand on Sentence
Jungwook Kim and Subok Chae (Korea Development Institute (KDI) and Korea Development Institute (KDI)) have posted Anchoring Effect of the Prosecutor's Demand on Sentence: Evidence from Korean Sexual Crime Case (KDI Journal of Economic Policy 2017, 39(3): 1–18) on SSRN....
↧
Anonymous v. Anonymous: The Secret Divorces
Anthony Weiner’s public and private activities have been splashed over media outlets around the world. Besides his unsuccessful run for mayor of New York in 2013, and the discovery of “Hillary” emails on his computer, there has been rampant media coverage of his arrest for sexting an underage teen, and his 21-month prison sentence. But even more recently was the news that Huma Abedin, Mr. Weiner’s wife, and former top aide to Hillary Clinton, made an application to the New York divorce court to keep their divorce proceedings private, with their names hidden from the public via an “Anonymous v. Anonymous” designation. In the world of celebrity divorce, where notoriety for the wrong reasons is to be avoided, celebrities often convince judges to ignore their written policies on open and transparent courts. New York is just like British Columbia, where divorce and family law files are not searchable by the general public or the media, but only…
↧
Scandinavian Prisons
Two chapters from a recent book, Scandinavian Penal History, Culture and Prison Practice: Embraced by the Welfare State (2017), PS Smith and T Ugelvik (eds), London: Palgrave, have been posted on SSRN. The first is Peter Scharff Smith and Thomas...
↧
↧
"ACLU sues Chicago police for disability and race violations"
From Jurist: The American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois(ACLU-IL) [advocacy website] filed a lawsuit [press release] Wednesday accusing the Chicago Police Department (CPD) [official site] of widespread abuses against people with disabilities and ethnic minorities. The suit [complaint, PDF] follows...
↧
"Prosecutors slammed for ‘lack of moral compass,’ withholding evidence in widening Mass. drug lab scandal"
From The Washington Post: All of this led to a six-day hearing in December 2016 on the prosecutorial misconduct of Kaczmarek and Foster, and then a scathing 127-page order in June by Superior Court Judge Richard J. Carey. Carey concluded...
↧
News Scan
Florida Executes Double-Murderer: A Florida man who murdered two people in 1988 was executed Thursday, using a new readily-available anesthetic called etomidate in the protocol. Mark Berman of the Washington Post reports that it was the state's first execution since the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in Hurst v. Florida which struck down the state's sentencing procedure for giving judges too much power. Mark Asay was convicted of murdering 34-year-old Robert Booker because Booker was black, and 26-year-old Robert McDowell, a transvesdite he thought was a female prostitute. Observers report that Asay was unconscious within two minutes of receiving the sedative and pronounced dead ten minutes later. Judge Stays Alabama Execution: Hours after the U.S. Supreme Court refused to stay the execution of double-murderer Jeffery Borden, a federal district judge granted one. Ivana Hrynkiw of AL.com reports that Borden's…
↧
South Florida Attorneys Arrested for Client Brokering….
According to the Florida Sun Sentinel, four Personal Injury attorneys were arrested on September 6 and charged with organized crime, money laundering, and brokering. The attorneys hired other people to appeal to victims of car accidents and then would receive “kick backs” from the doctors who they referred the victims to for medical treatment. The police also arrested six other people who were involved with the attorney’s “kick back” scam as well. One of the attorneys was from Boca Raton and other three from Fort Lauderdale and they have all been released on bond. According to investigators, they received $521,070.00 in “kick backs” from May 2015 to December 2016. Now the attorneys are all waiting to go to trial. Per Florida Statue 817.505 on Fraudulent Practices and the Florida Patient Brokering Act, it is unlawful for any person, including health care providers or facilities, to offer or pay, benefit, rebate,…
↧
↧
*Update* Injury Crash Blocks Lanes NB US93 South of Shoshone
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: 10/06/2017 12:30 pm Please direct questions to the District Office * Update * On October 6, 2017, at approximately 7:28 am, the Idaho State Police investigated a fatal crash on US93 near milepost 62, south of Shoshone. Kim Mclean, 57, of Twin Falls, was traveling southbound in a John Deere Tractor pulling a beet harvester. Charles Stein, 68, Twin Falls, was traveling northbound in a 2009 Ford Focus. Stein failed to yield for a flagger and collided with the harvester. Stein was transported by ground ambulance to St. Lukes Magic Valley in Twin Falls where he succumbed to his injuries. Next of kin has been notified. Mclean was not transported. Lanes were blocked for…
↧
Should recent research impact your custody decisions?
As you face your divorce proceedings, you may wonder how you will come out of the process successfully. Because success in relation to divorce can seem like an oxymoron, you could feel that any decisions made only indicate future hardships. However, when you have children and face custody proceedings, you may want to take a more positive approach. Of course, finding the best custody arrangements for your situation can depend heavily on the particular circumstances involved. When trying to determine what may work best for your kids, you may wish to take recent research into consideration. Possibility of conflict Though most people still believe that mothers obtain a more favorable custody outcome, recent research suggests that children may thrive better when both parents play an active role in their lives. This information may seem contradictory to decades of beliefs, but many of those commonly held ideas may not have as much impact as once thought. For instance, many…
↧
Patel on Legal Change and the Incidence of Insider Trading
Menesh Patel (Columbia Law School and Columbia Business School, Program in the Law and Economics of Capital Markets) has posted Does Insider Trading Law Change Behavior? An Empirical Analysis on SSRN. Here is the abstract: Few issues in securities law...
↧
More Pages to Explore .....
