Legislation governing the ownership and use of firearms, and the operation of gun shops, typically originates on the federal and/or state level. As any New Jersey gun owner knows, our State already has some of the most restrictive gun laws in the country. Certain cities and towns in different states including New Jersey are, however, apparently attempting to take action on the municipal level by implementing local ordinances that sharply restrict the operation of gun shops in their areas. Officials in New Jersey who are purportedly fed up with what they perceive as insufficient federal or state action on gun control are using local-level policy rarely used to regulate gun dealers by adopting local zoning regulations that effectively ban gun shops from their municipalities. Piscataway, a suburb of New Brunswick, does not have a single licensed gun dealer, and almost certainly will not at anytime in the near future. A Town Council resolution adopted on June 14…
Can New Jersey Municipalities Ban Gun Shops With Zoning Regulations? At Least One is Trying.
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Thursday Open Thread
Stehen Miller's great-grandfather flunked his citizenship test. Check out #Resistance Genealogy. "Unless your ancestors came on a slave ship or youre Native American, you came here as an immigrant, says Jennifer Mendelsohn, who created... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
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Computer Hacker Faces Up to 23 Years in Federal Case
A 35-year-old Richmond, California man was recently found guilty of damaging a protected computer and computer intrusion into newspaper sites following a six-day federal trial. He no faces up to 23 years in federal prison for his actions. What exactly happened? In 2015, the man hacked into an email account for Embarcadero Media, an operating company of several California newspapers, including the Almanac in Menlo Park, the Mountain View Voice, the Palo Alto Weekly, and the Pleasanton Weekly. The man altered the operating company’s online identity, changed emails, and disrupted publication of the four newspapers. For nearly 24 hours, the newspaper websites featured an image of Guy Fawkes, a political activist from England in the 1600s. Fawkes was sentenced to death for treason, and his image has come to represent the hacker movement Anonymous. Embarcadero Media reportedly had $32,000 in damages due to the man’s actions, and for that…
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The Korematsu Case - Have We Learned Nothing?
Historical Deep Dive - Korematsu v. United States - The Supreme Court Decision We Want to Forget - But Have We Learned Anything?By: Don Murray, Esq.On February 19, 1942, in the aftermath of the attack on Pearl Harbor, President Franklin Roosevelt issued Executive Order 9066 (an order number likely to resonate with Star Wars fans). Executive Order 9066 handed the War Department authority to create "military areas" in this country from which anyone, including American citizens could be excluded as the military saw fit. Executive Order 9066 also allowed for the creation of places where any people displaced by the military would be housed and fed. The War Department took this authority and used it. Ultimately, on the authority of Executive Order 9066, all persons of Japanese ancestry (whether United States citizens, or not) were required to leave certain locations in order to be moved to "relocation camps."For people who haven't…
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Innocence Project’s Director of Policy Rebecca Brown Discusses Wrongful Convictions with H. Jack Miller
Rebecca Brown, the Director of Policy at the Innocence Project, was recently featured on H. Jack Miller’s “Down to Business” podcast to discuss mass incarceration, wrongful convictions and the Innocence Project’s procedures and goals. “We are an incarceration nation,” said Brown. “We have 2.3 million people behind bars and many millions more on probation or parole. We have five percent of the world’s population, but 25 percent of the world’s prison population.” On the podcast, Brown described some of the larger systemic problems that unfairly contribute to so many people getting wrapped up in the system, including cash bail and how it’s closely linked to innocent people pleading guilty to crimes they didn’t commit. “If people can’t make bail, they often plead guilty to avoid a harsher sentence, which can inevitably lead to wrongful convictions. Ten percent of the 356 people exonerated by DNA…
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Oral Argument in US v Cal Sanctuary Case
Yesterday, U.S. District Judge John Mendez heard oral arguments in Sacramento in the federal government's suit against California over a triad of state laws. Associated Press has this story.The argument was unusual in a couple of ways. First, it went all day. That was common in olden times, but these days it is unusual for any oral argument to go more than an hour, at least in my experience. Second, the judge told the parties up front to put aside their prepared remarks and go straight to Q & A.According to the AP story, the judge was most skeptical of the California law regulating employer cooperation with the federal immigration authorities. " 'The statute really puts the employer between a rock and a hard place,' he said." I also think that is the most vulnerable of the three, and CJLF's amicus brief focused on it. The other bills may, all or in part, fall into the category that Justice Scalia…
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Vehicle Crash with Blockage EB SH53 at Pleasantview
The Idaho State Police are currently responding to an injury crash with road blockage, SH53 at Pleasantview (Milepost2.1). The road will be blocked for an unknown period of time. Please consider alternate routes of travel. MKS
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The Basics of False Imprisonment in Florida
False imprisonment can come as something of a surprise to those who have been charged with the crime, in Florida and elsewhere. Oftentimes, the defendant does not realize that they must have legal authority (or must be otherwise legally privileged) in order to keep another person confined or restrained against their will.
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The Probation Violation: Where Second Chances Fall Apart
In the state of Michigan, one issue that has been on the rise in the field of criminal law is the probation violation. It has been established that when a client is guilty of a crime and the attorney gets obtains a sentence of probation, a major victory has been achieved but that is not where the story ends. The probation department in each jurisdiction handles violations in a very different manner. To learn more about probation violations, we turned to various criminal law experts in the field to provide their insight on the topic. Scott Grabel is the founder of Grabel and Associates and has developed the top criminal law firm in the state of Michigan. When asked about the probation violation (PV), Grabel stated, “The biggest flaw that you have in fighting a PV is the attorney that does not do their homework. When we look at a PV from a broad perspective, we have to look at the history of the defendant. Is this an isolated mistake or do we see a pattern of misconduct?…
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Oops
Occasionally Supreme Court Justices admit they got it wrong in a previous opinion. In the interstate sales tax case today, South Dakota v. Wayfair, Justice Thomas gives us a nice little variation on this theme. He admits that 26 years ago he was wrong for not joining Justice White's admission that he had been wrong 25 years before that. Here is Justice Thomas's concurrence in its entirety.Justice Byron White joined the majority opinion in National Bellas Hess, Inc. v. Department of Revenue of Ill., 386 U. S. 753 (1967). Twenty-five years later, we had the opportunity to overrule Bellas Hess in Quill Corp. v. North Dakota, 504 U. S. 298 (1992). Only Justice White voted to do so. See id., at 322 (opinion concurring in part and dissenting in part). I should have joined his opinion. Today, I am slightly further removed from Quill than Justice White was from Bellas Hess. And like Justice White, a quarter century of experience has convinced me that Bellas…
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Evaluating Ability to Pay
Today’s post considers when a court should—and sometimes must—evaluate a defendant’s ability to pay a monetary obligation in a criminal case. The statutes governing different monetary obligations vary in their approach to evaluating a defendant’s ability to pay at the point of imposition. For example, the restitution statutes expressly require the court to consider the defendant’s ability to pay before imposing restitution. The law even gives some guidance on what factors the court must consider, saying the judge “shall take into consideration the resources of the defendant including all real and personal property owned by the defendant and the income derived from the property, the defendant’s ability to earn, the defendant’s obligation to support dependents, and any other matters that pertain to the defendant’s ability to make restitution.” G.S. 15A-1340.36. The court may discount the restitution amount and…
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Recent Survey Shows Cops Kill Civilians At Twice The Number Previously Believed
Seven Las Vegas Metro Police officers volleyed a combined 58 shots and killed an 18-year-old who was accused of multiple armed robberies in northwest Las Vegas. The Thursday morning shooting occurred when a cop spotted Terrence Dewayne White Jr. Sleeping in a stolen Durano Thursday morning. The officer called for backup, White woke up and started to drive away. “There’s nowhere for you to go. Stop now!” should a police officer. “You will be shot if you come this way.” The cop fired three shotgun blasts. Another turned 14 rounds into the SUV. Five more fired up to 19 times — each. All seven officers are on paid leave while the district attorney tries to sort it all out. White, who died was the fourth victim of police shooting in 2018 and the eighth involving Las Vegas police. Cop shootings are only under-counted. According to an analysis of the 50 largest local police departments in America show cops shot over twice as many Americans as…
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D.Mont.: Exclusionary rule doesn’t apply to sentencing
“Rankin claimed counsel should have sought to suppress some of the evidence used at sentencing, but the exclusionary rule does not apply at sentencing.” United States v. Rankin, 2018 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 100129 (D. Mont. June 15, 2018). The affidavit … Continue reading →
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Credibility of Bloodstain Pattern Analysis, Like Many Forensics, Under Fire
Forensic science has played an increasingly larger role in criminal courtrooms across the country – particularly in cases involving more serious crimes, such as homicides, robberies and sexual assaults. However, the scientific veracity of this evidence has come under fire in recent years as even more advanced science has proven some of those convicted largely on these older forensics were indeed innocent as they’d always claimed. In 2015, The Washington Post reported the U.S. Department of Justice and the FBI both formally acknowledged that almost every examiner in the FBI forensics unit gave flawed testimony in nearly every trial in which they offered evidence against criminal defendants in the nearly two decades preceding 2000. Of the methods to which they testified were forensic hair analysis and forensic bite mark analysis. Among those cases effected, 32 were sentenced to die, with 14 having already been executed or died in prison. This was acknowledged by the…
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DWI- Refusal To Submit to a Breath Test in St. Louis County
One of the first questions I ask as client facing a DWI in St. Louis County is whether they refused a breath test. If you want a strong defense in court, don’t give the police any evidence to use against you. Alcohol in your mouth, around your teeth, and in your stomach can cause a breathalyzer to read higher than it should. If you have had anything to drink before driving, a breath test is likely a bad idea- and you should refuse. “I decline” may be a nicer way to say it. You have a right to refuse a chemical test of your breath or blood. Police officers will often try to scare you into taking a breath test. The truth is, if a police officer is asking you to take a breath test, there is a good chance that you will be arrested for DWI no matter what you choose to do. Don’t provide potentially damaging evidence to the officer. Refuse the test. If the police officer threatens to draw your blood, let them do what they need to do. Often blood draws take…
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How Social Media Can Lead to Criminal Charges in the State of Texas
In the state of Texas, cyberbullying is defined as a person who uses any means of electronic communications in order to engage in bullying or intimidation of another person. As a result, messages and posts on widely-used social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, can constitute cyberbullying, which can lead to various criminal charges in the state of Texas. For example, harassment is either a Class A or Class B misdemeanor under Texas law, depending on the circumstances. Harassment occurs when an individual intentionally communicates an obscene proposal, threatens, conveys a false report, or calls or sends a message that is intended to harass, annoy, alarm, embarrass, or torment another individual. Certain online activities, including messages and posts on social media, clearly could constitute harassment under Texas law. How Social Media Can Lead to Criminal Charges in the State of Texas A more serious criminal offense under Texas law may occur if an…
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Roadway clear SH53 at Pleasent View Rd
*** UPDATE *** The roadway is now clear. The Idaho State Police are currently responding to an injury crash with road blockage, SH53 at Pleasantview (Milepost2.1). The road will be blocked for an unknown period of time. Please consider alternate routes of travel. MKS
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NH Gov Vetoes Death Penalty Repeal
Kristen Carosa reports for WMUR in Manchester:Gov. Chris Sununu delivered Thursday morning on his promise to veto a measure passed in the New Hampshire House and Senate to repeal the state's death penalty law.The governor was flanked by law enforcement officials from departments across the state as he vetoed the bill."To repeal the death penalty today would deprive future victims of the justice they deserve," Sununu said. "Abolishing the death penalty would send the wrong message to those who would commit the most heinous offenses within our state borders."
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New Hampshire Gov (finally) vetoes state legislature's repeal the state's death penalty
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Fascinating accounting of prosecutorial role in considerable racial disparity in Florida sentencing
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