My friend and sometimes debate antagonist Wally Olson of the libertarian Cato Institute, in a remarkable display of the intellectual honesty for which he is renowned, brings to my attention (via Facebook) this article, titled "Crime Imprisons and Kills."...the most disadvantaged people have gained the most from the reduction in violent crime.Though homicide is not a common cause of death for most of the United States population, for African-American men between the ages of 15 and 34 it is the leading cause, which means that any change in the homicide rate has a disproportionate impact on them. The sociologist Michael Friedson and I calculated what the life expectancy would be today for blacks and whites had the homicide rate never shifted from its level in 1991. We found that the national decline in the homicide rate since then has increased the life expectancy of black men by roughly nine months....The everyday lived experience of urban poverty has also been…
Policing Saves and Extends Black Lives
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Chiropractic Care For Crash Recovery
The aftermath of a car crash is often more difficult to deal with than the crash itself. From insurance claims, to fixing a vehicle, and taking care of your body. Whiplash, back pain, and concussions are some of the most common injuries and ailments following a car crash. And while the method for dealing with these is often not much, you might benefit greatly from visiting a chiropractor. Chiropractic care following an accident often goes unconsidered, but it could be one of your greatest allies. You’re trying to find a means of getting your body back to 100%, and you ultimately cannot do that on your own. Chiropractic Care For Crash Recovery What can a chiropractor treat? A chiropractor deals with spinal misalignment. Ultimately any head and neck injury is rooted in your spine so they manipulate it from the stem of the injury. They do not deal with bones, bruises, or anything of the like— they just manipulate and help your body to decompress after an accident or…
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Can A Passenger Be Arrested for DUI in New Jersey?
You are probably aware that New Jersey has a rather unforgiving approach when it comes to driving under the influence of alcohol. According to New Jersey law, any driver operating a motor vehicle found with a blood alcohol content (BAC) level of 0.08% or higher can be charged with drunk driving. The penalties, which are mandatory, can be severe: License loss or suspension Prison time Community service Heavy fines Ignition lock systems All of these penalties are dependent on your BAC level and whether it’s your first, second, or third (and so on) DUI conviction. Clearly, this is all bad news for the driver, but what if you are a passenger in the car of the person who was arrested for DUI? And, what if you were under the influence of alcohol too? Many people don’t realize that N.J.S.A. 39:4-50(a) not only contains language about the driver of a motor vehicle who has been drinking alcohol but also language involving a passenger who is intoxicated:…
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Obtaining and Admitting Evidence from a Vehicle’s Black Box
The number of people killed in motor vehicle crashes in the United States increased in by 5.6 percent from 2015 to 2016. In 2016, 37,461 people were killed in crashes on U.S. roadways, compared to 35,485 the previous year. North Carolina’s fatality figures followed the national trend, with fatalities increasing from 1,379 in 2015 to 1,450 in 2016, a 5.1 percent increase. Many such fatalities result in criminal vehicular homicide charges, which number in the hundreds each year in North Carolina alone. Investigators and prosecutors in such cases are increasingly relying upon the vehicle itself to tell the story of what happened during and just before the crash. Many vehicles driven today (and nearly all manufactured in the past five years) are equipped with an Event Data Recorder (EDR) installed by the manufacturer. An EDR, often referred to as a car’s black box, contains data related to various aspects of the car’s operation seconds before a crash, including…
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Notable advocate for clemency on behalf of next condemned to die in Texas
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Florida’s Domestic Violence Laws
What is Domestic Violence? Florida Statute 741.28(2) defines domestic violence as, “Any assault, aggravated assault, battery, aggravated battery, sexual assault, sexual battery, stalking, aggravated stalking, kidnapping, false imprisonment, or any criminal offense resulting in physical injury or death of… The post Florida’s Domestic Violence Laws appeared first on Chapman Criminal Defense Firm.
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AG Sessions writes to Senator Grassley to say passages of SRCA "would be a grave error"
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SCOTUSBlog: Argument preview: Should courts read statutory exclusionary rules broadly?
SCOTUSBlog: Argument preview: Should courts read statutory exclusionary rules broadly? by Richard Re: Dahda v. United States arguably poses a clash between two of the Supreme Court’s recent passions: strict adherence to statutory texts and cutting back on the exclusionary … Continue reading →
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The New Racism: Ignoring Black Victims
In an essay on the nation's 20-year crime drop, New Yorker scribe Adam Gopnik announces that the "urban crime wave is over" and that anyone who says otherwise, especially President Trump, is a bigot feeding the racist American Imagination. Is Mr. Gopnik right? Probably not. Heather MacDonald's piece in today's City Journal suggests that ignoring the 20% increase in homicides between 2014 and 2016 and the almost 7% increase in violent crime may well represent actual racism, because most of the victims were blacks. While blacks make up just 13% of the U.S. population, over half of all murder victims are black. Specifically, 6,095 blacks were murdered in 2014, 7,039 were murdered in 2015, and 7,881 were murdered in 2016. That's an increase of 2,731 murdered black men, women and children in just three years. Mr. Gopnik called this a bump in the numbers. Perhaps the fact that almost all of these victims…
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A Lesson in Love: Marvin and Robin Anderson Show Us True Love is Real
What is true love? What does it look like? And how do you know when you’ve found it? For me, there are couples who embody the essence of true love. There are those in the public eye—Michelle and Barack Obama, Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee. And there are those in my own life, such as exoneree Marvin Anderson and his new wife Robin. Their relationship epitomizes unconditional love. It is a love like theirs that can serve as an inspiration to us all. Whenever you look at Marvin and Robin, they just exude love. I had the honor of witnessing the union of Marvin and Robin on December 29, 2017. Their love story is an exceptional one. Marvin and Robin met as teenagers. Marvin said he saw her across the room at school and wanted to know who she was. Their chance to pursue love, however, was abruptly interrupted. “Their relationship epitomizes unconditional love.” Kennedy Hobson When Marvin was only 18 years old, he was wrongfully convicted of rape, robbery, abduction…
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Chicago Police Officer Killed by Four-Time Felon
Annie Sweeney reports for the Chicago Tribune:On Tuesday, Bauer was fatally shot in the Loop by a four-time felon who had drawn the suspicion of tactical teams in the busy downtown area, police said. Officers tried to stop the man a few blocks from the Thompson Center, but he took off running, according to radio traffic of the incident.Bauer encountered him at the Thompson Center, where a physical struggle resulted at a stairwell outside the government building, Police Department spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said. Bauer was found by other officers. The suspect was taken into custody.Though the suspect had a lengthy record of interaction with police, he had not been arrested by Chicago police since 2014, and each of his felony arrests resulted in prison sentences, according to public records.We do not yet have information on what those priors were, but if they all resulted in prison sentences, it seems likely that a well-written and regularly enforced Three Strikes law…
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What can a Maine Judge consider when determining pre-conviction bail?
Some clients have asked me the question (What can a Maine Judge consider when determining pre-conviction bail?). Bail in Maine is intended to accomplish two major goals: assure the defendant attends Court (i.e. the defendant does not skip town), and to not get into any more criminal trouble. While bail can be inconvenient, bail should […] The post What can a Maine Judge consider when determining pre-conviction bail? appeared first on The Nielsen Group.
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Nice Guys Finish Last
I remember years ago looking at a website for an American family law firm and perusing their “rules” for family law litigation. The one that most stuck in my mind was their admonition that “nice guys in family law cases finish last”. At the time I cynically thought they were correct, and I still do. An example of this truism is the recent British Columbia Supreme Court case of T.N. v. B.N. 2018 BCSC 201 where the parties were married for 22 years. At the date of separation the parties’ two children remained in the primary care of their mother who was a registered nurse who earned $28,000 per year working part-time. Prior to the birth of her children she held prominent high-paying nursing positions. Her husband was an academic with a Ph.D degree who earned $126,000 per annum. In 2007 the parties signed a separation agreement that resolved all issues including parenting and financial issues. Their agreement was completed just before the final…
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Mixed messages from US District Judge hearing legal challenge to federal marijuana prohibition
In this post earlier this week, I noted today's scheduled hearing in federal court concerning a lawsuit challenging marijuana's placement on Schedule 1 under the Controlled Substances Act and asked "Could a high-profile lawsuit help end federal marijuana prohibition?". This Bloomberg article, headlined "Trump Administration Battles Sick Kids on Access...<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/MarijuanaLaw/~4/6MAhatzEv5A" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>
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Declare Victory and Go Home
The Fifth Circuit has ruled on the Harris County misdemeanor judges’ 5-million-dollar appeal of Judge Rosenthal’s injunction requiring them to stop using bail as an instrument of oppression by denying personal bonds to indigent people. The Fifth Circuit vacated the injunction, requiring two changes: To give the courts 48, rather than 24 hours to make an individual bail assessment; and Not to require factfinders to make a written statement of the reasons for their bail decisions. 17-20333_ODonnell v. Harris County It’s time for the fourteen criminal court at law judges to declare victory and go home. ((Just between you and me, this opinion is a rout for the judges. The changes are small, and the current injunction remains in place until Judge Rosenthal modifies it.))
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Winter Puts Pedestrians in Peril of Vehicle Accidents
Pedestrians and drivers, alike, need to be aware of each other during winter weather. Each tends to focus on navigating snow and ice accumulations to avoid their own accidents. While distracted, they may not see each other until it is too late to avoid a collision. It is necessary for both sides to use greater caution during the winter in order to prevent a pedestrian injury. Sidewalks and Streets Illinois law states that pedestrians may not walk along the side of the road if there is an available sidewalk. However, snow can pile up on sidewalks because of a property owner not clearing it or a plow truck pushing snow from the street and onto the sidewalk. If the sidewalk is impassable, the pedestrian may need to walk in the street to continue forward. Pedestrians are instructed to stay on the edge of the road, so as to avoid vehicles. In this scenario, determining fault after a vehicle-pedestrian accident can vary: A pedestrian may share…
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NY4: Scope of search claim defaulted by not presenting it to trial court
A facial challenge to a search warrant is a question of law, and no hearing is required. On the application, probable cause was shown along with the CI’s reliability. Defendant’s claim the search exceeded the search warrant is defaulted for … Continue reading →
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LA2: IAC claim was fact intensive and denied w/o prejudice to pursue in post-conviction
“After reviewing this record, we find that the issue of ineffective assistance of counsel is not adequately developed in the record and would be more properly raised in an application for PCR. The defendant’s contention that the recording is inadmissible … Continue reading →
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E.D.Ky.: Subjective belief in implied consent to enter was unreasonable; motion to suppress granted
The officer’s subjective belief in implied consent was unreasonable. There was no implied consent, and the motion to suppress is granted, despite the R&R. “Here, it is undisputed that neither Officer Tackett nor Officer Stevens asked for permission to enter … Continue reading →
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E.D.Mich.: State coiurt’s finding def didn’t plead enough for Franks hearing was not “unreasonable” for AEDPA
Defendant didn’t plead enough to get a state court hearing on his Franks issue. The state court’s decision falls within Stone v. Powell’s “full and fair opportunity” to litigate, and he took that issue up on his state appeal. Rooks … Continue reading →
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