Eric Adams has a singularly unique position in the controversy over the killings of Michael Brown, Eric Garner, Tamir Rice, and, well, every person of any color needless killed by a cop. He’s the Brooklyn Borough President. He’s a former New York State Senator. He’s a former NYPD captain. He’s the epitome of the establishment guy. He’s also the co-founder of 100 Blacks in Law Enforcement Who Care. Adams offers an op-ed in the New York Times today that addresses issues that need addressing, that admits truths that need admitting. Remember, this is a career cop turned career politician, and there can’t be background less suited to acknowledging the harsh reality on the streets than a guy in positions dedicated to making excuses and rationalizing harm. Yet, here’s Eric Adams: As a 15-year-old, living in South Jamaica, Queens, I was arrested on a criminal trespass charge after unlawfully entering and remaining in…
True Confessions: They Shoot Blacks, Don’t They?
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District Judge pushes federal prosecutors to back off extreme trial penalty sentence
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The New Revenge Porn: Racism
Assuming every legislator, from Congress to state, decides to end the blight of revenge porn by criminalizing all expression that its advocates demand. Problem solved, right? Ah, have you forgotten the apocryphal story of Timmy and the rat? Those who truly seek to do harm, when foreclosed from one avenue, will find another. Via Gawker comes the next new thing. It’s a well-known fact that unsourced, unverifiable, anonymous Tumblr posts are an agent of social progress and meaningful change. So it’s surprising that some prick used “Racists Getting Fired,” an enormously popular new web attraction, to smear his ex. The premise of RGF is simple, and a perfectly representative product of 2014 Internet: send screenshots of people saying racist shit on Facebook or Twitter to their employers, get them canned, and thus end American racism, or something. This is foolproof until someone uses the formula to frame someone who didn’t actually…
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Take Care - Health Matters: Magalie Lerman
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Robinson on the Rise and Degradation of Criminal Codes
From the CrimProf Blog, I learned about Paul Robinson's essay, The Rise and Fall and Resurrection of American Criminal Codes. Here is the abstract:This brief essay summarizes the virtues of the modern American codification movement of the 1960s and 70s, putting it in a larger global context, then describes how these once-enviable codes have been systematically degraded with thoughtless amendments, a process of degradation that is accelerating each year. After exploring the political dynamics that promote such degradation, the essay suggests the principles and procedures for fixing the current codes and, more importantly, structural changes to the process that could avoid the restart of degradation in the future.The essay is a transcript of Robinson's keynote address at the Third Annual Forum on Criminal Law Reform that was held in Louisville, Kentucky. Because of the location of the address, many of the examples discussed in the essay are specific to Kentucky, but the…
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Njal's Saga Available Online
I'm a big fan of Njal's Saga, which I read during my second year in law school after learning about it through a remedies course taught by Professor Samuel Bray. I just discovered that the entire saga is available online here as part of the Icelandic Saga Database. The language of this 1861 translation is a bit cumbersome compared to the Magnus Magnusson and Hermann Palsson translation that I'm familiar with, but it's still worth checking out.The saga tells the story of Njal, a lawyer and warrior who lived in 11th Century Iceland, and his friend Gunnar -- a warrior of unparalleled strength and prowess in battle. The saga includes a wide array of additional characters and spans a significant time period. The saga centers around battles, murders, and rivalries, but it devotes an almost equal amount of time to discussing the legal ramifications of the characters' violent actions -- and often rapidly pivots between violence and legal proceedings. Since…
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POLICE MISCONDUCT, "HOW CAN I BE SURE THAT LAW ENFORCEMENT WILL NOT KILL ME IF I AM A SUSPECT?"
There is much to be said about race relations, police officers and grand juries… not to mention the interaction of the three. However, let's deal with the facts as they exist today. We know that there are times when the police interact with someone and things get out of hand. Sometimes, someone is badly injured or killed. Usually, that is not the police officer. If the person is not actually killed, that person will face very serious charges even if the original allegations against him or her where relatively minor. In the event that the suspect is killed, there will likely be a police investigation. There may or may not be a grand jury presentation. Either way, the officer will most likely not be prosecuted. These are the facts that we have discussed time and time again. The only difference in the last couple of weeks is that we have seen them played out on a national stage. Again. Now, why is it critical that you understand these facts? Attorney Sam's…
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Man Charged with Running Advanced Fee Loan Scheme
Mortgage Fraud Blog. Octavio Lombardo, a/k/a Otto Lombardo, 67, was arrested on wire fraud charges stemming from his advance fee loan scheme, which allegedly defrauded victims of more than $1 million. Among other false and misleading statements, Lombardo allegedly lied to small business owners by claiming to have the ability and expertise to structure investment loans for their businesses through Lombardo’s exclusive relationships with small community banks across the United States, when in fact he did not have the ability to obtain such financing. In connection with the scheme, Lombardo induced over 30 business owners to pay an upfront fee that was purportedly to pay for expenses incurred during the due diligence process prior to the loan’s closing. Instead, Lombardo used the vast majority of the money he received from the business owners – over $1 million in total – on his own personal expenses, including rental payments,…
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Fraudster Sent to Prison for Making False Statements to Bank
Mortgage Fraud Blog. Christian Peterson, 45, Madison, Wisconsin, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Barbara B. Crabb to seven years in federal prison following his convictions for bank fraud, money laundering, and making false statements to banks. Peterson was previously convicted of lying about the purpose of a $1.1 million loan for real estate development. Judge Crabb also sentenced Peterson to five years in prison for stealing his employees’ 401(k) funds, with that sentence to run concurrently with the other sentence. Peterson was convicted of these charges following an eight-day jury trial in May 2014. Peterson is the former owner of a company called Maverick, Inc., which brokered poly-scrap foam for use in the manufacture of carpet cushion. He also was the owner of the Pancake Café in Fitchburg, Wis., the Pancake Café in Madison, the Country Inn & Suites hotel in Fitchburg, and the Managing Member of a real estate development limited…
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Analyses of the Garner grand jury's decision
Sean Davis has a post at The Federalist, arguing that probable cause existed to indict for reckless manslaughter, as the officer used a restraining technique that had previously been explicitly banned by the department because of its ability to cause...
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Transparency International Releases 2014 Corruption Perceptions Index
Transparency International has released their 2014 Corruption Perceptions Index. The Index contains a wealth of information regarding the perceived levels of public sector corruption in 175 countries and territories. Topping this year’s list with the highest score, thus indicating very...
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Obama's New Racial Profiling Rules
Eric Holder will announce the Obama Administration's new racial profiling rules next week. There will be curbs on racial profiling by law enforcement, including the DEA. Exempted will be most of the Department of Homeland Security (TSA,... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
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NY Protesters Stage "Die In" at Apple Store and Macy's
The protests in New York over the grand jury's failure to indict the officer who killed Eric Garner and over-aggressive police conduct in general continue. Earlier tonight, about 100 protesters staged a "die in" at the Apple store on 59th &... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
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Other Offenses Commonly Associated with DWI in New Jersey
An arrest for alleged driving while intoxicated (DWI) in New Jersey has serious consequences, even before charges are filed or the case goes to trial. A driver could face license suspension and other administrative penalties that are largely separate from the court procedures for a DWI case. He or she also may face a charge of refusal to submit to chemical testing, and in some cases courts have held that simply not blowing hard enough into a breathalyzer machine could support a refusal conviction. Certain other criminal charges are common in alleged DWI cases, some of which could significantly increase the penalties that a prosecutor might seek in court. Other Traffic Charges Many, possibly most, DWI cases begin when a police officer pulls a driver over. An officer must have reasonable suspicion that a traffic offense has occurred for any evidence collected during the traffic stop to be admissible in court. If the officer can prove that he or she witnessed the driver…
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United States Supreme Court to determine whether threats are protected free speech under First Amendment
Many crimes require proof that the defendant specifically intended to cause the harm alleged by the crime. In Massachusetts, obtaining a civil harassment protective order requires the complainant to prove that the defendant intentionally placed someone in fear of harm using their words or acts. Just recently, however, the Supreme Court heard arguments to determine whether the First Amendment actually protects such expressions, if the speaker/actor did not intend to place anyone in fear. Threats and First Amendment Protection It is a federal offense to transmit any communication threatening to injure another person. The Supreme Court has repeatedly held the First Amendment does not protect individuals who threaten others, whether in person, by phone, email, or even social networking programs. But until today, the Court has never explained how a trial judge should determine what a "true threat" is, such that it would not be protected by the First Amendment. More…
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Worthy of Execution
Rarely have I said this, but I’m going to now: Yale law professor Stephen Carter’s opening sentence is profound: On the opening day of law school, I always counsel my first-year students never to support a law they are not willing to kill to enforce. Unsurprisingly, his 1Ls aren’t ready for a statement that deep, that real. Usually they greet this advice with something between skepticism and puzzlement, until I remind them that the police go armed to enforce the will of the state, and if you resist, they might kill you. The point isn’t that they will, or do, or even do so often that it’s a pervasive problem. It seems that way sometimes, but it’s not. Given the number of police interactions daily, the number of people killed by police is a relatively small number. But for the person killed, the family and friends of the person killed, the number one is all that matters. What makes this profound is that, in a nation with so many…
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Former-state Rep. Keith Farnham pleads guilty to child porn
See Also: Ex-State Rep. Keith Farnham pleads guilty in child porn case 12-6-2014 Illinois: Former state Rep. Keith Farnham faces a mandatory minimum of five years in prison after pleading guilty Friday to online trading of thousands of images and videos of child pornography depicting victims as young as toddlers. Federal prosecutors sought to take Farnham into custody after his guilty plea to
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When There Are No Men To Blame (Update)
After the “shitstorm” hit, that the Rolling Stone article about the UVA gang rape wasn’t all it was cracked up to be, I checked the twitter feed of one of my favorite feminists, Amanda Marcotte, who writes for Slate’s XX Factor. I actually felt bad for her, trying so desperately to salvage some tiny thread of dignity when her world view was shattered. The problem was that she didn’t need to demean herself. That one article turned out to be so poorly vetted as to raise substantial doubts as to its veracity, or the blind faith the replaced journalistic integrity in reporting it, proves nothing more than that his one instance isn’t what it purported to be. Any thoughtful person realizes this, just as any thoughtful person realizes that one anecdote doesn’t prove the opposite. The problem for Marcotte, of course, is that she, along with those who suffer from the same myopia, argue the opposite. When a rape occurs,…
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How does the Grand Jury work in New York?
The Michael Brown and Eric Garner cases have gotten a lot of attention lately. And because in both instances the grand jury failed to indict, the grand jury system has also gotten a lot of attention. It seems like the process itself has come under indictment attack. But how does the grand jury system work? A grand jury is a secretive body that is composed of regular people who get jury duty. There are two kinds of jury duty a person can get. The first is a summons to serve on a petit jury and the other is for a grand jury. Most people who watch TV or follow the news are familiar with a petit jury. This kind of jury is usually composed of 12 people and their job is to determine at trial whether the evidence proves beyond a reasonable doubt that a defendant is guilty. They usually sit to the side next to witness stand. A judge presides during the trial, the prosecutor is there, there is a defense attorney, the defendant, etc. They hear opening statements, testimony,…
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What is the purpose of the clerk magistrate or show cause hearing and what is a grand jury indictment?
In Massachusetts District Court cases can begin by either an arrest and application by the police for a criminal charge to be issued or an application for complaint requesting a clerk magistrates hearing also known as a show cause hearing. When the police are witnesses to an event or the charge is a felony they have the right to apply directly for the charge to be issued and an accused would be brought to court in custody or sent a summons for an arraignment. An arraignment is the formal reading the of charges in open court where a plea of not guilty is entered and the court inquires of the accused as to whether he has an attorney or is seeking a court-appointed attorney because they cannot afford a private attorney. A court appointed attorney is only provided to the indigent or those who make less than a certain amount every year. The amount of salary required to not qualify for a court appointed attorney is very low, if you work at all it is difficult to receive a…
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