Legislation to get Ohio back on track with lethal injections being fast-tracked
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Stamford Child Pornography Possession Arrest Nets 5 Year Jail Sentence for Stamford Plumber
A story in this week’s Stamford Advocate reports how a Stamford plumber was sentenced to 5 years jail and 20 years probation for Possession of Child Pornography in the First Degree. While I would never condone possession of child pornography, I still cannot understand how the Connecticut penal code can impose such tough sentences on certain people arrested in Stamford, Greenwich, Westport, New Canaan and Darien with Possession of Child Pornography for possession—not distribution—of Child Pornography under CGS 53a-196b. Especially when the downloading of the illegal images is mixed in with primarily legal pornographic images. How many images must you be in possession of to receive the mandatory minimum 5-year jail sentence? And does it matter that the illegal, pornographic images are downloaded accidentally? The answers are not what you think… How Police Catch Child Pornography Downloaders One of the most common ways Greenwich and Stamford…
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Rose & Fox on Social Media's Effect on Public Engagement with the Criminal Justice System
Michelle Katherine Larson Rose and Richard L. Fox (University of California and Loyola Marymount University) have posted Public Engagement with the Criminal Justice System in the Age of Social Media (Oñati Socio-Legal Series, Vol. 4, No. 4, 2014) on SSRN....
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The State Of Florida and Local Municipalities Are Contracting Away Floridian’s Constitutional Rights!
The State of Florida along with local Municipalities are contracting away many of Floridian’s valuable rights with big business. Local municipalities are giving away our rights to big business for the mighty dollar that is promised through fines, court costs and surcharges, when those fees are levied on Florida’s Drivers for “Red-Light” photo violations. In Palm Beach County, Florida “red-light” camera infractions are No More! The Fourth District Court of Appeals just held that Red Light Camera violations are unconstitutional as the local municipalities throughout Palm Beach County, Florida like West Palm Beach; Lake Worth, Delray Beach, Boynton Beach, Boca Raton, Jupiter, North Palm Beach, Royal Palm Beach and all others are not authorized under the Florida Constitution to delegate its police power’s to Private Vendors! See City of Hollywood v. Arem, 4D12-1312, 2014 WL 514915, at *1 (1st DCA Oct. 15, 2014). The Appellate court went on…
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What Happens When You Fail to Appear in Court in New Jersey?
I frequently help people when they fail to appear at a scheduled court date, in New Jersey. Failure to appear can be serious. How I approach the problem depends on several factors. I determine whether they have failed to appear in a New Jersey municipal court, or a superior court. I also determine how many times it has happened, as well as how serious the underlying charges are. All are factors which determine how a court will react to an absentee defendant. The consequences for missing court varies, and can be quite serious, therefore it is important to handle these types of situation very carefully. The remedies available to a judge are provided by Court Rule 7:8-9, under the portion of the rules which govern trials. In municipal court, if a defendant fails to appear for a scheduled court date, a judge may issue a “failure to appear” notice, and simply re-list the matter for a future date, or issue an arrest…
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"Did the Innocence Project Frame an Innocent Man?"
Kent Scheidegger at Crime & Consequences links to and excerpts an article from the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. From his commentary: An important change in the public perception of capital punishment occurred about 15 years ago as stories of death row inmates...
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Barrock Lecture Explores Collision Between Criminal Law and Neuroscience
“Be of good cheer; everything is going to be all right.” With these words last week, Stephen Morse sought to reassure his audience at Marquette Law School that advances in neuroscience will not ultimately upset traditional understandings of criminal responsibility. Morse, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania, was in town to deliver Marquette’s annual Barrock Lecture on Criminal Law. A podcast of Morse’s engaging presentation is here. Neuroscience is increasingly giving us the ability to understand — and even, in the form of colorful MRI images, to see — some of the specific biological processes in the brain that produce thought and action. This suggests the possibility of “my brain made me do it” defenses, especially in cases involving defendants who have demonstrable neurological abnormalities. If a particular aspect of a defendant’s brain can be identified as a “but for”…
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Mortgage Fraudster Uses Bogus Real Estate Job to Deceive Probation Officer
Mortgage Fraud Blog. John Voloshin, 58, Woodbridge, Connecticut, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Robert N. Chatigny to nine months of imprisonment for violating the terms and conditions of his federal supervised release from his conviction for mortgage fraud. Shortly after his release from prison, Voloshin repeatedly lied to and misled his supervising probation officer by concocting a bogus job for a real estate concern in London. On May 17, 2012, Judge Chatigny sentenced Voloshin to 33 months of imprisonment and three years of supervised release for operating multiple fraud schemes that caused losses of more than $1.5 million to individuals and lenders. As part of the schemes, Voloshin forged signatures and used fabricated bank account statements, tax returns, mortgage releases and loan applications. Voloshin was released from prison on May 16, 2014, and began serving this three-year term of supervised release. Shortly after his release from prison, in an attempt to…
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"Amicus brief supporting the dismissal of the Gov. Rick Perry prosecution in Texas"
Eugene Volokh has this post at The Volokh Conspiracy listing the signatories and linking to the brief.
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"Massachusetts school deploys 'shooter detection system'"
From Reuters: A Massachusetts school has introduced a security system designed to alert authorities and administrators when shots are fired in the building, the first of its kind in the United States, according to the manufacturer. The technology, adapted from...
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Canadian sexual trials explained: protection of accused and empowerment of victims
Sexual assault trials in Canada: assumptions and misinformation clarified. Recent events surrounding Jian Ghomeshi has instigated a national outcry relating to the protection of sexual assault victims and the difficulties they face when struggling with the decision to come forward. This article seeks to clarify some widely held, incorrect beliefs about sexual assault trials. In better understanding the rules and realities of sexual assault […]by Sean Robichaud The post Canadian sexual trials explained: protection of accused and empowerment of victims appeared first on Robichaud's | Toronto Criminal Lawyers.
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Solving Nothing
The Arizona Republic recently reported about a Chandler police sergeant who was demoted and agreed to leave the department by the end of next year for ordering her subordinates to single out Native American shoplifters for being booked into jail instead of cited and released. She wasn’t fired, obviously, and it seems she will still be able to enjoy her pension. That’ll teach other officers not to do stuff like that in the future! Kidding aside, the article explains the sergeant’s patrol district borders the Gila River Indian Community and has a chronic shoplifting problem. This passage in the article forecasts what’s sure to be the Chandler Police Department’s new response to the problem: No one would have objected if Freeman had ordered all shoplifting suspects booked as a strong statement that the crime would not be tolerated. Although the countless Native Americans who will still be discriminated against and booked through jail by Chandler…
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Johnny G DeGirolamo is an Incompetent Attorney?
Johnny G DeGirolamo is a Florida attorney who has sued a leading First Amendment lawyer Marc Randazza. In my view, attorney Johnny G. DeGirolamo has either filed a frivolous lawsuit or he lacks an understanding of the relevant law. As a client, you must research a potential attorney carefully before hiring him or her. This is especially true when your business, livelihood, or even freedom is on the line. The client must make an informed decision before hiring a lawyer. Based on my review of the case filings DeGirolamo has filed, I would never hire Attorney DeGirolamo to represent me in traffic court, let alone a criminal court. For more details about Attorney DeGirolamo, check out Popehat's case summary. Was Johnny G. DeGirolamo arrested for theft? According to the website florida.arrests.org, Johnny G. Degirolamo was arrested for theft and obstructing a police officer. I would need to review the case file for myself to confirm.…
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Of course. But on the Other Hand, Not.
A lot of people, smart people, savvy people, devoted a lot of time and energy to proving that Roger Keith Coleman was factually innocent, that he didn't actually rape and murder his sister-in-law Wanda McCoy. They tried to prove it before he was killed by the State of Virginia, strapped into the electric chair. The case was, frankly, compelling. And Coleman himself, with his last words, seemed to seal it.An innocent man is going to be murdered tonight. When my innocence is proven, I hope America will realize the injustice of the death penalty as all other civilized countries have.Abolitionists were looking for the incontestably factually innocent guy. Coleman seemed like a good bet. There was, even after the execution, testable DNA. If it wasn't his, and surely it wasn't. There was litigation. The press wanted the testing done. Abolitionists wanted it done. Virginia didn't want it done.…
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Delgado on Law's Violence
Richard Delgado (University of Alabama - School of Law) has posted Law's Violence: Derrick Bell's Next Article (University of Pittsburgh Law Review, 2014, Forthcoming) on SSRN. Here is the abstract: Written for a symposium honoring Derrick Bell, Law's Violence identifies...
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Iraq (not U.S.) Provides Arms to Anbar Tribes
Iraq's Speaker of the Council of Representatives, Salim Al-Jabour, traveled to the Ain Asad military base in Anbar and gave a speech to the assembled tribal leaders and members. Shorter version: We gave you the arms you asked for, now do your... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
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De Blasio and the Central Park 5 Settlement Reprised
Curiouser and curiouser. The Daily News recently ran a story detailing how deeply the City's Law Department fought against the historic settlement of the Central Park 5 lawsuit. (Here). The News references an internal report issued by the lawyers which argued that the aggregate settlement ought to be capped at $15 million, and that a trial was quite winnable. The thrust of the story was that the lawyers thought the eventual settlement of $41 million was grossly overvalued and unnecessary.Today, however, Mayor de Blasio, put the responsibility for the settlement squarely on Zachary Carter, the head of the Law Department. (Here). De Blasio flatly denied knowing the amount prior to the agreement, playing any role in the process, or hearing any objections. It's a tough sale and reflects poorly on the Mayor.The backstory is simple: Bill de Blasio's 2013 campaign was driven in no small part by attacking basic NYPD practices and the way in which Mayor Bloomberg and the…
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November 2014 Maine Marijuana Ballot Initiative Split Vote
This November 2014 election, marijuana initiatives were on the ballot in South Portland and Lewiston. The results from this vote were split between the two cities. Lewiston rejected the marijuana initiative. South Portland approved the marijuana initiative. What does this result mean for these two cities? And what does this result mean for future marijuana […] The post November 2014 Maine Marijuana Ballot Initiative Split Vote appeared first on The Nielsen Group.
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Mike Cernovich Responds to Internet Stalkers
Mike Cernovich, a lawyer in California, has recently been attacked by several Internet stalkers. Mike Cernovich's home address as well as a street view image of his home was widely distributed to an online hate mob that included writers from Gawker Media who exchanged date-rape drug tips, a neo-Nazi, and a man who may or may not have covered up a rape. The Internet hate mob combed through Mike Cernovich's Twitter account, which included over 13,500 Twitter postings (called Tweets). Some of Mike Cernovich's Twitter postings made sense in contenxt. Some were tasteless jokes. Other Tweets were examples of "trolling," that is, provoking a response. Mike Cernovich has explained his Twitter postings in an official statement posted elsewhere. However, Mr. Cernovich believes it's important to examine the people who have been attacking him. Arthur Chu of Jeopardy fame knew about rape, said nothing. Arthur Chu wrote an article on the Daily Beast…
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Does the Sex Offender Registry Protect Children? Critics Say, 'Think Again'
11-12-2014 Maryland: Of the more than 8,000 people listed on Maryland’s sex offender registry, the vast majority have never been convicted of touching a child or assaulted another person. Instead, the registry lists those who have urinated in public or engaged in prostitution. Critics insist the registry has lost its purpose and is doing little to protect our children. At the dead-end of a
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