A lawsuit currently before the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans could determine the fate of cash bail in the United States. Earlier this year, Chief United States District Judge Lee Rosenthal ruled that the cash bail policies and practices of Harris County, Texas, violated the equal protection and due process clauses of the U.S. Constitution by detaining defendants who are unable to make bail or pay a bondsman. Judge Rosenthal issued a preliminary injunction banning the county from holding misdemeanor defendants for more than 24 hours if they cannot afford bail. Under the injunction, over 4,000 people charged with misdemeanor offenses have been released from pretrial detention. But Harris County is doubling down to defend its current bail system, citing recent reforms and calling the ruling a step too far. Last Tuesday, lawyers for the county made their case before the federal appeals court, saying the Constitution does not guarantee affordable bail. If…
Lawsuit Challenging Cash Bail in Texas Could Change Nationwide Policy
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Sekhon on Dangerous Warrants
Nirej Sekhon (Georgia State University College of Law) has posted Dangerous Warrants (Washington Law Review, Vol. 93, 2017, Forthcoming) on SSRN. Here is the abstract: The Supreme Court has cast judicial warrants as the Fourth Amendment gold standard for regulating...
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WaPo: Commit a crime? Your Fitbit, key fob or pacemaker could snitch on you.
WaPo: Commit a crime? Your Fitbit, key fob or pacemaker could snitch on you. by Justin Jouvenal: With no witnesses other than Richard, detectives turned to the vast array of data and sensors that increasingly surround us. An important bit … Continue reading →
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The Bogus Theory of Implicit Bias
Implicit bias theory has become widespread in academia. It's used in criminal law as a high-brow form of accusing one's opponent of racism -- i.e., of calling whites bigots, and therefore incapable of giving a fair shake to minorities, without seeming too nasty about it.This is condescension impersonating charity, but that's not the worst thing about it. The worst thing is that implicit bias theory is baloney, as Heather MacDonald illustrates here. She starts off:Few academic ideas have been as eagerly absorbed into public discourse lately as "implicit bias." Embraced by Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and most of the press, implicit bias has spawned a multimillion-dollar consulting industry, along with a movement to remove the concept of individual agency from the law. Yet its scientific basis is crumbling. Implicit-bias theory burst onto the academic scene in 1998 with the rollout of an instrument called the implicit…
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Blockage Westbound I84 in Nampa
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: 10/10/2017 4:40 p.m. Please direct questions to the District Office Idaho State Police is currently investigating a single vehicle injury crash westbound I84 at milepost 36, near the Franklin exit in Nampa. The left lane is currently blocked. Updates will be sent as they become available. 4055 / 2850 -------------
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The Urge to Criminalize Enters the Twilight Zone
The movement against "overcriminalization" covers too much territory to allow me to take a position on it. To the extent it condemns non-mens rea offenses, or seeks to scale back using criminal law as the cudgel of the nanny state, I'm for it. To the extent it's just cover for the movement to legalize heroin and other drugs, I'm against.The following example, however, shows why the campaign against overcriminalization has merit, now more than ever. When we threaten our fellow citizens with a year in the slammer simply for being boorish, things are out of hand. Here's the story:California can now start jailing people that refuse to use the preferred gender pronouns of nursing home residents after Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown signed the bill Thursday.The law's effect is limited to nursing homes and other long-term care facilities, but mandates that those who "willfully and repeatedly" refuse "to use a…
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Update: Westbound I84 in Nampa
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: 10/10/2017 4:50 p.m. Please direct questions to the District Office UPDATE: There is no longer blockage near the Franklin exit in Nampa. Idaho State Police is currently investigating a single vehicle injury crash westbound I84 at milepost 36, near the Franklin exit in Nampa. The left lane is currently blocked. Updates will be sent as they become available. 4055 / 2850 -------------
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Holden & Ehrlich on Esports and Gambling
John T. Holden and Sam C Ehrlich (Florida State University and Florida State University - Department of Sport Management, Students) have posted Esports, Skins Betting and Wire Fraud Vulnerability (21(8) Gaming Law Review Economics, Regulation, Compliance and Strategy 566-574 (2017))...
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How Can I Clear My Criminal Record?
Each year thousands of defendants are arrested or cited for crimes they did not commit, and thankfully a large percentage of these cases are dismissed in court. Defendants who are not fortunate enough to have their cases dismissed may still walk out of court without a permanent criminal conviction, and others may be given the opportunity to have the conviction stricken down the road. Exiting through the front door of the courthouse without a criminal conviction is only half the battle, as cases do not simply disappear upon being closed or dismissed. While it is certainly a relief to have your criminal case closed, the record of its existence could still be extremely damaging and stressful for years to some. The question for many former defendants in the days following the closure of their cases is how to limit others from finding out about it. This includes current and prospective employers, academic institutions and professional organizations. Those who are searching for a…
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"The one change we need to surveillance law"
Geoffrey Stone and Michael Morrell have this piece in the Washington Post, via the NACDL news scan: Congress is about to make a major decision about privacy protection, civil liberties and national security. The 2008 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Amendments Act,...
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Challenge to 90-day Travel Ban Moot, Dismissed
The U.S. Supreme Court has issued the following order in Trump v. IRAP, No. 16-1436, the Fourth Circuit case challenging the 90-day ban on travel from six countries where the U.S. was unable to properly vet admittees (bold-face added):We granted certiorari in this case to resolve a challenge to "the temporary suspension of entry of aliens abroad under Section 2(c) of Executive Order No. 13,780." Because that provision of the Order "expired by its own terms" on September 24, 2017, the appeal no longer presents a "live case or controversy." Burke v. Barnes, 479 U. S. 361, 363 (1987). Following our established practice in such cases, the judgment is therefore vacated, and the case is remanded to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit with instructions to dismiss as moot the challenge to Executive Order No. 13,780. United States v. Munsingwear, Inc., 340 U. S. 36, 39 (1950). We express no view on the merits. Justice Sotomayor…
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October Newsletter from King Law- Quick Business Tips
Quick Tips for Business Collection, Meet Jeanne Unangst and Where has John Crotts been? King Law’s October 2017 newsletter has been released. This month’s newsletter speaks to business owners about Quick Tips for handling Your Businesses’ Collections, introduces team member Jeanne Unangst and tells you about a recent event that Attorney John Crotts participated in. To read the October newsletter click here. If you are a business owner or manager, visit the Business Law section of our page for more information about matters that mean the most to you. The post October Newsletter from King Law- Quick Business Tips appeared first on King Law.
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"Default Mens Rea Requirements"
Kent Scheidegger has this post at Crime & Consequences, providing an extended critique of the recent federal proposal.
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Auto Broker Cheats Car Buyers and Sellers out of Millions
Scott Radtke, owner of California Motoring Company in Clovis, CA works as a broker by matching interested buyers with sellers of automobiles. Court documents allege Radtke conned at least $2.8 million from 17 car dealerships, 11 financial institutions and 48 customers through fraudulent car sales transactions. Beginning in September 2016 the Department of Motor Vehicles started receiving several complaints from Radtke’s customers who had purchased cars and never received titles or registration, and car dealerships that never received money for sales. DMV issued a statement that they have a zero tolerance policy for business conducted in this manner and they opened an investigation. Radtke is suspected of employing several methods of stealing money from clients, many of whom were reported as elderly. Some of the accusations include scamming customers who had purchased vehicles for which he accepted payment. He then forged their names on fraudulent loan applications or…
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To End the Death Penalty: Lie More
Except for punishment for outright perjury or planning to kill government witnesses, there is no penalty known to me against the defense side's engaging in perverse or deceitful behavior in order to advance the ball. Indeed, such behavior is not merely condoned but commended: The client is presumed innocent; and the state employs politically ambitious and morally tone-deaf prosecutors; the cops cheat; and criminal punishment is per se the outcropping of a backward, racist American culture that needs stiff blowback in order even to start to straighten up. So if this particular client is guilty or even worse than guilty, hey, look, this is not my problem. The state has all the resources, and we need to wake up -- have a "national conversation" about justice, that is.Ever heard that one before? I mention it here because of an entry Doug Berman has up today titled, "Could poor health help save the life of Ohio's…
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State v. Thompson Tells a Tale of Two Facebook Screenshots
After Roshawn Thompson picked up his cousin Kendall Rascoe from the Greenville mall in November 2014, Thompson and a friend, Andre Grey, robbed Rascoe at gunpoint. At Thompson’s armed robbery trial, his defense attorney sought to cross examine Rascoe about Facebook messages he sent to Thompson earlier in the day asking whether Thompson could get some marijuana for him while he was in Greenville. Rascoe denied sending the message and testified that he just happened to run into Thompson at the mall. The State objected to the admission of the screenshot of the messages. Later in the trial, the State sought to introduce a screenshot of a picture of Thompson and Grey copied from Thompson’s Facebook page. Rascoe showed the investigating detective the picture for purposes of identifying Thompson and Grey. Thompson objected to the admission of the screenshot, in which both of his middle fingers were extended. How did the trial court rule? Did it make the right call? …
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Psutka & Sheehy on Strip-Searching Women in Canada
Michelle Psutka and Elizabeth A. Sheehy (University of Ottawa and University of Ottawa - Common Law Section) have posted Strip-Searching of Women in Canada: Wrongs and Rights ((2016) 94 Canadian Bar Review 241-279) on SSRN. Here is the abstract: This...
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Bloom & Clark on Cell Site Location Information
Robert M. Bloom and William Clark (Boston College Law School and Boston College, Law School, Students) have posted Small Cells, Big Problems: The Increasing Precision of Cell Site Location Information and the Need for Fourth Amendment Protections (The Journal of...
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Florida Kindergarten Teacher Could Not be Convicted of Battery For Non-abusive Discipline of Student
In Florida, the definition of battery is very broad. Of course, if you hit a person or strike them in a violent way, that would qualify as a battery without a reasonable defense, like a valid self defense claim. But the Florida definition of battery also includes an unauthorized touching. People touch other people in all sorts of ways. According to the Florida battery statute, that contact can be considered a criminal battery if the touching was unauthorized. With a statute worded so broadly, we rely on the police and the prosecutor to only make arrests and file charges when the conduct is intentionally malicious and properly serious. Of course, giving the government broad powers and relying on them to use their powers with deliberation and reservation is a scary thought. In any case, it is rare to see the state charge a person with battery when the contact is minimal. It does happen, but fortunately it is not common. In a recent case…
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Default Mens Rea, Continued
Professor Gideon Yaffe of Yale Law School has posted a thoughtful comment to my post of last Thursday on the Mens Rea Reform Act of 2017, S. 1902. I thank him for his comment and continue the discussion here.Prof. Yaffe's first disagreement is that the term "willful" as used in federal criminal law is broader than I believe it is, and therefore setting willfulness as the default mens rea (which the bill does) would not be as harmful as I think. He says that term does not require intent but rather that knowledge of the nature, probable result, etc. along with knowledge of the illegality is sufficient, citing Cheek v. United States (1991).I see a couple of problems with relying on the case law definition of "willful." First, as the Court has noted many times, "The word 'willfully' is sometimes said to be 'a word of many meanings whose construction is often dependent on the context in which it appears.'…
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