Beth A. Colgan (Stanford Law School) has posted Reviving the Excessive Fines Clause (California Law Review, Vol. 102, No. 2, 2014) on SSRN. Here is the abstract: Millions of American adults and children struggle with debt stemming from economic sanctions...
Colgan on the Excessive Fines Clause
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Manning's Sentence Upheld
AP reports that the 35-year court-martial sentence of mass leaker Pvt. Bradley Manning, who now calls himself Chelsea, has been confirmed by the commanding officer, Maj. Gen. Jeffery S. Buchanan. The sentence can be further appealed to the Army Court...
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Dallas Morning News Chats with Robert Blecker
"Q&A: Death penalty proponent Robert Blecker," is the Sunday ViewPoints feature in the Dallas Morning News. The interview is conducted by editorial board member Rodger Jones. Our Q&A is with New York Law School professor Robert Blecker, death penalty proponent...
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The record is clear that he obtained $450
A Queens Grand Larceny Lawyer said that, this is an appeal by defendant: (1) from a judgment of the Supreme Court, Queens County, entered October 3, 1963, after a nonjury trial, convicting him of two counts of grand larceny in...
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Innocence Project Urges Congress to Pass Justice for All Reauthorization Act of 2013 to Strengthen the Criminal Justice System
The Innocence Project joins Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) and Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) in calling on the Senate to continue to work towards reauthorizing the Justice for All Act. In recognition of National Crime Victims' Rights Week and National Sexual Assault Awareness Month, both senators are urged reauthorization of the legislation last week. The Justice for All Reauthorization Act encompasses a variety of initiatives to ensure safety and justice for women and men across the country. Among its many components, the legislation will improve and expand the DNA testing capacity of federal, state, and local crime laboratories, increase research and development of new DNA testing technologies and provide post-conviction DNA testing. Together they serve the criminal justice system in ways greater than each of their parts. The bill was introduced on April 25, 2013 and the Senate Judiciary Committee passed it out of committee a few months later. Now the full Senate is considering passage of this critical legislation.Read a statement from Stephen Saloom, senior policy advisor at the Innocence Project, which is affiliated with Cardozo School of Law.
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Commissioner of Motor Vehicles
In this Criminal action, DWI charges were commenced by filing simplified traffic informations and supporting depositions rather than misdemeanor informations. Under our law as it applies in this case, simplified information is "a written accusation by a police officer filed...
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ALI CLE Criminal Enforcement of Environmental Crimes Conference
On June 5, 2014, my good friend, Jud Starr, will be hosting the ALI CLE Criminal Enforcement of Environmental Crimes Conference in Washington, D.C. The conference has been put on annually for the last eighteen years or so and is...
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Out of Control: SEC Says Lack of Internal Controls Led to HP Paying More Than $108 Million to Settle FCPA Actions
On April 9, 2014, the Securities and Exchange Commission announced that Hewlett-Packard had agreed to pay more than $108 million to settle Foreign Corrupt Practices Act actions brought by the SEC and the Department of Justice. These actions were based Read More
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What Happens in Massachusetts if You Obliterate a Firearm Serial Number
Today’s Lawrence Eagle Tribune has an article about two Lawrence men who were trying to melt a gun in a microwave at a local hotel. Socorro Vargas-Martinez and Hector Perez were renting a room at the hotel in which there was an explosion. Investigating officers determined that the explosion originated from within the microwave as […]
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How Long After A Motorcycle Accident Do I Have To File An Injury Claim?
Spring is finally here, and although you’ll have to keep an eye out for potholes, it’s almost time to uncover your two-wheel beauty for the season. If you’re like a lot of riders in the Twin Cities, you’ve already had your bike out for a spin, but it’s important to remember that motorcycle riding comes […]
The post How Long After A Motorcycle Accident Do I Have To File An Injury Claim? appeared first on Paul Edlund.
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Another Reason We Don't Need the Smarter Sentencing Act
It's no surprise at this point that I have been doing what I can to oppose the so-called Smarter Sentencing Act. I made probably my most comprehensive case against it here.I'm delighted to see that, since I published that post,...
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Homicide Charges in Las Vegas
Find Help for Homicide Charges in Las Vegas Las Vegas courts will only charge individuals with homicide if the court determines that enough evidence exists to prove the charge. Before the court charges you with homicide, the prosecutor will argue to the grand jury that he or she has enough evidence to push the case […]
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"Is SCOTUS now no longer all that interested in criminal justice issues?"
Doug Berman has this post at Sentencing Law & Policy. In part: The question in the title of this post is prompted by this chart concerning the make-up of the Supreme Court's merits docket this Term from the latest Stat...
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The Smarter Sentencing Act - Tell Congress We Want Smarter Sentencing!
One of the benefits of belonging to the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL) is getting updates on their efforts to encourage Congress to make better laws.NACDL uses congressional district working periods as opportunities to encourage its members to meet with their Washington representatives about important legislative issues.This upcoming Spring Recess gives us an opportune time to meet with elected officials in Washington about the benefits of the bi-partisan Smarter Sentencing Act.The Smarter Sentencing Act is truly a bi-partisan effort and has a great deal of support from both sides of the aisle.The NACDL is encouraging its members to help educate our representatives on the positive impact this legislation will have on the criminal justice system. Opponents are increasing their efforts to derail this much needed reform.So it is important to call, write and visit your representative. According to the NACDL, the Smarter Sentencing Act would:"Cut mandatory minimum sentences for most drug offenses in half;Expand the drug offense safety valve to include more defendants with minor criminal histories;Make the reduced crack cocaine penalties under the Fair Sentencing Act fully retroactive; andRequire the Department of Justice (DOJ) and other agencies to publicly identify every offense within their purview, as well as the applicable mens rea and penalty." Contact your representative and ask them to vote in favor of the bill and oppose efforts to undercut the bill with harmful amendments.Leave a message below and I'll fax it over if I get any comments. Better yet, make a call.If you live in Tampa, contact:Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL)Washington, D.C. Office:284 Russell Senate Office Building,District of Columbia 20510Phone: (202) 224-3041Fax: (202) 228-0285Orlando Office:201 South Orange Avenue, Suite 350Orlando, Florida 32801Phone: (407) 254-2573Fax: (407) 423-0941Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL)Washington, D.C. Office:716 Hart Senate Office Building,District of Columbia 20510Phone: (202) 224-5274Fax: (202) 228-2183Orlando Office:225 East Robinson Street, Suite 410Orlando, Florida 32801Phone: (407) 872-7161Fax: (407) 872-7165Rep. Kathy Castor (D-FL-14th)Website: castor.house.govWashington, D.C. Office:205 Cannon House Office Building,District of Columbia 20515Phone: (202) 225-3376Fax: (202) 225-5652 Tampa Office: (more district offices)4144 North Armenia Avenue, Suite 300Tampa, Florida 33607Phone: (813) 871-2817Fax: (813) 871-2864
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Confessing to a crime via social media: Is it the new social norm?
What makes a person confess to a crime – online?Given my background in clinical psychology, the driving force behind what makes someone confess to a crime via social media fascinates me. Take the case of Derek Medina in Florida. By now we all have heard about how Derek confessed on Facebook to killing his wife, and how he even posted a picture of her corpse. Sharing too much on the various social media platforms is nothing new. But just what is it that makes someone take that leap of logic and post on social media their involvement in a crime?Physical isolation.An article in CNN Tech by Dough Gross, Why people share murder, rape on Facebook, touches on the psychology behind cases like that of Derek Medina’s. In this article, Gross paraphrased Michele Nealon-Woods, national president of the Chicago School of Professional Psychology, in suggesting that "[t]he physically isolating aspect of social media is probably part of the equation .... When we can communicate with other people without seeing or hearing them, something in the brain makes it harder to remember that there are still consequences for what we say ...."False sense of privacy.In general, text messaging and social media forums have created in us a seeming need to announce and share our every move and thought. This, coupled with a false sense of privacy one gets when communicating with friends (or others we have let into our social circles) via Facebook or Twitter, or some other social media, is why sharing incriminating info online is likely to be unaffected by the potential for arrest.Recent Examples.There are many recent examples in the news of people taking photos or videotaping their involvement in a crime and then posting it on social media. See When oversharing online can get you arrested, by Lauren Russel on CNN Tech. Two 2013 incidents include: 1) the two Steubenville football players who were found guilty in early 2013 of raping a drunken 16-year-old-girl, and 2) a Facebook status update posted by Astoria, Oregon resident Jacob Cox-Brown, 18, which read, "Drivin drunk... classsic ;) but to whoever's vehicle i hit i am sorry. :P"The new social norm?The inability to keep secret or confess one’s involvement in a crime is nothing new. What is new is the use of social media to do it. As Professor Susan Rozelle at Stetson University College of Law said in Russell’s article, "People have always said foolish things … but now they have the ability to say it louder and to more people."
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Innocence Project Co-Director Barry Scheck Discusses Race Bias in the Courts
In a new article written for Salon.com, Innocence Project Co-Director Barry Scheck discusses race bias in the criminal justice system, focusing on a case before North Carolina's high court. Thirty years after Glenn Ford, who is African-American, was convicted by an all-white Louisiana jury, he was exonerated and released from prison in March. He spent 30 years on death row for a murder he did not commit. Now, a month later, the North Carolina Supreme Court is considering the fate of four people of color who have already shown that racial discrimination played a factor in their having received death sentences. Originally, they had all been sentenced to death, but with the passage of the Racial Justice Act in 2009, a lower court ruled that the discrimination in jury selection was a significant factor in their sentences. The prosecution is seeking to restore the death sentences after the state legislature eliminated the Racial Justice Act in 2013. Newly discovered evidence shows the discrimination in jury selection for the defendant's cases, and research conducted across the state found that rampant racial discrimination against African-American jurors by the prosecution was the norm. Scheck notes that this problem is not limited to Louisiana and North Carolina, though. According to data collected from across the country, all white juries or juries with only one or two people of color, deliberate less than diverse juries drawn from a range of backgrounds. Scheck writes:
The all-white or nearly all-white juries are more likely to rush to judgment and are more likely to get it wrong. We know there is a strong link between all-white juries and conviction of the innocent. And we know that diverse juries are more likely to challenge one another, and less likely to fall back on what may be unconscious stereotypes. Mistaken eyewitness identification, a major contributor to wrongful convictions, is more likely to be accepted by non-diverse juries.
North Carolina was the first state to enact legislation banning racial discrimination in jury selection in capital cases. But, despite the evidence of discrimination against the four defendants, that law, the Racial Justice Act, was repealed. Scheck concludes:
Now in North Carolina, it is up to the state's Supreme Court to acknowledge the evidence of discrimination in the cases that had the benefit of the Racial Justice Act. The superior court judge who had re-sentenced the prisoners to life without parole was overwhelmed by the evidence of pervasive and persistent bias. He wrote, "The Court takes hope that the acknowledgement of this ugly truth of race discrimination ... is the first step in creating a system of justice that is free from the pernicious influence of race, a system that truly lives up to our ideal of equal justice under the law." That judgment must stand.
Read the full article.
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//blawgsearch75.rssing.com/chan-6519914/article6537-live.html
United States v. Charles, No. 12-50150 (4-15-14)(Fernandez with Graber and Murguia). The defendant here was convicted of possession with intent to distribute crack. He was determined to be a career offender and sentenced under that provision. His appeal concerns the Fair Sentencing Act and guideline crack amendments 750 and 759. He loses. The defendant was sentenced before the FSA had opened the leniency door a crack. The 9th and all other circuits have held that the FSA is not retroactive. No different here. In this case, the 9th held emphatically that the FSA was prospective and was not a mandate to reduce past crack sentences. As for the guideline amendment for crack sentences, it doesn't apply to those sentenced as career offenders. The defendant here was sentenced as a career offender. The two provisions are mutually exclusive.
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"I Know My Rights"
If you've lived on Mother Earth long enough, you've encountered a smart-assed kid that (a) has no respect for authority, and (b) knows his rights. So, how do police officers respond to someone that tells them they "know their rights?" As a general rule, and I think you can find this in the FDLE Field Training Manual--most officers reach for their handcuffs and billy-club, though not necessarily in that order. I'm just saying.
In the case of G.T. v. State, a juvenile appealed her conviction for resisting an officer without violence. 120 So. 3d 141 (Fla. 4th DCA 2013) This incident began as most juvenile cases do, with a call from a neighbor complaining of a "disturbance of juveniles drinking and smoking." It shouldn't surprise you that juveniles do not understand the concept of "being quiet", and such immaturity provides a constant revenue stream for Crime Inc., so nobody seems to mind. Anyway, the police arrive at the apartment complex and see six teenagers hanging out, one is holding an empty "Bacardi Silver" bottle. Some alcohol connoisseurs may argue that this--in and of itself--is grounds to at least harass these teens, but you cannot pass judgment on teenage drink selections, as it is often a question only of what they can steal from their parents. So, blame the parents for poor taste. Once the officer detained the kids he noticed that several of the teens were drunk, because they had red, glossy eyes and slurred speech. The officer started things off by asking for their names, birthdays, and parental contact information
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All the teenagers played along with the name game, except G.T., she refused to give any information because she "knows her rights." Now, we all know somebody that "knows their rights"--and that's OK so long as they actually know what they're talking about (but that's kind of rare, unfortunately). As you might expect, and as my informal studies have shown, the police are not too fond of folks that "know their rights". Most people that "know their rights" get themselves arrested, and, depending on how much they know, the police may even provide a complimentary beat down. G.T. knew just enough about her rights to get herself arrested for resisting an officer without violence and disorderly intoxication. So, was G.T. right? Was she legally entitled to refuse to give her name and information to the police? Did she really know her rights?
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There does not appear to be any reported New York case ...cont
The case law of New York does not require that all of the stand-ins or fillers in a lineup be obvious fraternal twins of a suspect. The stand-ins, however, must appear reasonably similar to the defendant in their physical...
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Steps to Take after a Car Accident with Large Truck
Because of the size of a large truck in comparison to a car, an accident involving a large truck can cause serious injuries to drivers of passenger vehicles. It is not unusual for these accidents to result in a permanent injury or even death.In 2012, Pennsylvania contributed almost 4.6% to the nation’s total fatal truck accidents, which was the fourth most in the country. Fatal truck accidents made up nearly one-tenth of the fatal traffic accidents in the state.Victims of car accidents that involve large trucks should take certain steps after the accident to preserve their rights and pursue fair compensation for their damages if the truck driver is to blame for the accident. These cases involve not only the truck driver, but may involve the trucking company that’s responsible for its employee’s actions.Basic Steps after a Truck AccidentIf involved in a wreck with a large truck, take similar steps as you would after an accident with any other vehicle. For example, Pennsylvania Motor Vehicle Code §3744 requires drivers involved in a wreck render aid and share their information with other drivers involved and the police. It also requires you report the accident to the police, so be sure to dial 9-1-1.Other basic steps include:obtain photos of the scene;only move your vehicle if able to safely do so;gather witness contact information; andcontact your insurance company. Also see a doctor for a medical evaluation, even if you don’t feel injured. You will need to take additional steps to protect your liability claim from the trucking company and its insurance company or lawyers.How to Protect Yourself from the Trucking CompanyIf you sustained serious injuries in the accident, talk to an attorney about representation. A lawyer can be very helpful when pursuing what may be a complicated case against the trucking company for its driver’s negligent acts.Avoid any discussions with the trucking company or its insurance company or lawyers. If they request a statement, refer them to your own attorney, or speak with your attorney before providing any statements.One of the most important steps to take if involved in a truck accident is to collect evidence that’s in the trucking company’s possession. The driver’s hours-of-service logbook, for example, shows how many hours the driver spent behind the wheel and on duty and if he or she violated federal protocol. The driver’s qualification file may present evidence of poor hiring practices or a history of drug and alcohol violations.Your lawyer may send a spoliation letter to the trucking company to prevent destruction of these documents and other evidence, even the truck itself.Hire a Lawyer Familiar with Trucking AccidentsWhen seeking legal representation, find a law firm that has handled cases involving trucking companies. If you live in Doylestown or nearby, consult with an attorney at Saile & Saile LLP. Call 215-717-8471 to set up a free consultation to discuss your case.
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