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The Bloodiest in 40 Years

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Four days ago, as May wound down, I asked what happens when we paint the police as villains, rather than pointing to the thieves, thugs and muggers.  This is a particularly acute question in Baltimore, and a good deal of evidence was already in.May ended yesterday.  We now have an even clearer idea of what happens when, on account of the Cops-Are-Devils campaign, we exchange enthusiastic, proactive policing for timid, by-the-book policing.This happens.Those who think the record low crime we've been enjoying just fell out of the sky are in for a rude awakening.  If we are deluded enough to think that we can cut back the things that have produced low crime  --  more police, more proactive policing, and more incarceration  --  and nothing will happen, we'll deserve what we get.  And, in Baltimore, are getting.

Meet Fault Lines, And Show It Some Love

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Remember that “vertical” that caused some consternation?  Well, it’s alive! Meet Fault Lines, the new criminal law and justice section at Mimesis Law.  If you like what you read here (or hate it, we’re not picky about who reads), take a quick trip to Fault Lines, where you will get more pie than ever before. The good news is that there will be posts from me, as well as Cristian Farias and Tamara Tabo, our inaugural team of writers.  Expect more writers as well, the primary criteria being that they be knowledgeable and honest.  We hope to have people writing from varying perspectives, challenging bias and each other. We look forward to making this as real as it gets when it comes to criminal justice issues. The better news is that there will be no moderation of comments, except for spam. So if your comments failed to meet the threshold for thoughtfulness here, there is a soapbox for you at Fault Lines. Now, please show Fault Lines…

Seriously exploring — finally! — execution alternatives to lethal injection

Grits' end-of-session reading list

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Now that session is ending, Grits has quite a bit of backlogged reading in front of him. For my own convenience I'm gathering links here, and maybe some of y'all will be interested in the same titles.Texas Indigent Defense Commission, et. al., "Guideline for Indigent Defense Caseloads." This one's from January but I never fully vetted the 114 page document after Grits initial coverage. One wonders how many attorneys with above guideline caseloads are actually fulfilling their basic duties articulated in the state bar's "Performance Guidelines for Non-Capital Criminal Defense Representation"?Texas Defender Service/Texas Appleseed, "Toward More Transparent Justice: The Michael Morton Act's First Year."Texas Municipal Courts, The Recorder, "The Fair Defense Act and the Role of the Magistrate."Can't vouch for this paper, but the topic of "Brain Science and the Theory of Juvenile Mens Rea" is certainly…

Unanswered Questions in the Facebook Threats Case

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The U.S. Supreme Court today decided the Facebook threats case, United States v. Elonis.  Unfortunately, the Court left unanswered two major questions -- one on the required mental state for the offense and the other on the limits of the First Amendment.Elonis made statements on his Facebook page regarding his wife and others that, in context, most reasonable people would regard as threats.  The jury was instructed on a "reasonable person" test, in accordance with the overwhelming weight of authority, and found him guilty.Citing a Ninth Circuit case, Elonis argued that he could only be convicted if he subjectively intended the statements to be threats, regardless of how obviously they are threatening.  Today's opinion, citing the oral argument transcript says, "There is no dispute that the mental state requirement in Section 875(c) is satisfied if the defendant transmits a communication for the purpose of issuing a threat, or with knowledge…

DeKalb County Corruption Case

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Attorney Page Pate offers comments for Atlanta news station, WSB-TV, on the federal conspiracy plea for a local businessman cooperating in the DeKalb County bribery probe. The post DeKalb County Corruption Case appeared first on .

Pols are pols and do what they do: when O'Malley loved the DLC

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FTR, a 2007 Martin O'Malley and Harold Ford (!) column in defense of "the vital center" (and the DLC): Some liberals are so confident about Democratic prospects that they contend the centrism that vaulted Democrats to victory in the 1990s no... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

Florida’s State Appellate Court Process

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West Palm Beach Criminal Trial Lawyer, Andrew D. Stine, has also built a solid foundation in the practice of law regarding Appeals. Attorney Andrew D Stine has filed initial briefs, answer briefs, response briefs, writ of mandamus, writ of prohibition and writs of mandamus in the 4th District Court of Appeals, 5th District Court of Appeals and throughout the Federal Courts comprising all of the Florida Federal District Courts. The Appellate process can be the last hope for many individuals. Representation by Attorney Andrew D. Stine of many clients in the Appellate process have included some of following matters: felony criminal matters; foreclosure and bankruptcy proceedings; Appeals of final orders regarding DCF matters; driver’s license issues regarding DMV suspensions; emergency writs to prohibit a court, entity or individual from acting that would cause serious and irreparable harm to another; emergency writs of mandamus ordering courts to release prisoners and many…

Via similar 7-2 rulings, SCOTUS narrows reach of federal criminal and deportation statutes in Elonis and Mellouli

Criminal Record Can Equal Arrested Career Development

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Jobs can be difficult to land. The process becomes even more difficult for those with an arrest or criminal conviction on their records. Criminal background checks have become routine for almost all jobs and the unfair reality is that even an old arrest or conviction can be used to deny or terminate employment or deny required industry licensure. It’s a problem that impacts many as one in four Americans has a criminal record. NPR recently highlighted the story of Tyrone Peak, who has struggled to obtain desirable employment or stay employed due to a criminal conviction over 30 years ago. No, it wasn’t an egregious crime. Peak and a friend, attempted to steal a car but were caught in the act. He received probation with no jail time and hasn’t been arrested since. Since then Peak has been fired from 3 jobs because of the conviction and isn’t allowed to work in his desired profession full-time in a nursing facility because a state law prohibits those with…

Innocence Project joins New Hampshire AG & NH Association of Chiefs of Police in announcing model eyewitness ID policy aimed at preventing misidentification

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Innocence Project & stakeholders applaud New Hampshire AG and Association of Chiefs of Police for policy that contains scientifically supported best practices  Contact:   Nick Moroni, nmoroni@innocenceproject.orgAmshula Jayaram ajayaram@innocenceproject.org (Concord, NH – June 1, 2015) The Innocence Project, the New Hampshire Association of Chiefs of Police, and other stakeholders joined representatives from New Hampshire Attorney General Joseph Foster’s office today at a press conference to announce a new model eyewitness identification policy. The best practices in the model policy have been scientifically proven to reduce the likelihood of misidentification, the leading contributing factor to wrongful convictions, playing a role in 72 percent of the 329 DNA exonerations nationally. These best practices are recommended by the National Academy of Sciences, the International Association of Chiefs of Police, the Innocence Project and…

Is China Rethinking the Death Penalty? Proposed reforms could continue the trend of decreasing executions in China

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Source: The Diplomat (26 Nov 2014)http://thediplomat.com/2014/11/is-china-rethinking-the-death-penalty/In October, the long-awaited Fourth Plenum in China dedicated itself to fostering the "rule of law." Since then, there's been a wealth of analysis on the topic, including here at The Diplomat. But one area for potential reform went largely overlooked. Signs at the Fourth Plenum (and since) indicate that Chinese leaders are serious about combating something human rights activists have long decried: heavy use of the death penalty.  According to the Dui Hua Foundation, China executed 2,400 people in 2013 – more than the rest of the world combined. However, according to Dui Hua's estimates, that figure also represents a 20 percent decline in executions since 2012 and a 75 percent drop since 2002. The Chinese government does not issue official statistics on the number of executions, so ironically the massive drop-off in execution rates has been kept…

Was ist eigentlich ein Tagessatz?

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Im Strafrecht werden Geldstrafen in Tagessätzen berechnet und verhängt, § 40 StGB. Ziel ist es, Menschen mit unterschiedlichem Einkommen im Urteil verhältnismäßig trotzdem gleich zu bestrafen. Dementsprechend wird im Urteil die Anzahl der Tagessätze und deren Höhe angegeben. Die Anzahl kann zwischen fünf und höchstens dreihundertsechzig volle Tagessätze betragen. Die Anzahl der Tagessätze Die Zahl der abgeurteilten Tagessätze bemisst sich nach der individuellen Schuld des Täters. Es bleibt das Einkommen des Angeklagten außer Betracht, so dass die Anzahl der Tagessätze bei jedem Täter gleich sein sollte und nur durch die Grundsätze der Strafzumessung gem. § 46 StGB bestimmt wird. So haben sich – regional unterschiedliche – Sätze herausgearbeitet, was einen Beschuldigten im Falle seiner Verurteilung erwartet. So beträgt das Strafmaß in etwa …

GPS Leads DUI Drivers Where They Didn’t Want to Go

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GPS is usually a pretty handy tool for people to have when they’re driving—especially if they’ve imbibed enough alcohol to get them arrested for a DUI in Los Angeles. It’s a lot easier to have a device calling out the directions than to read them on a map when your brain is a little fuzzy. But there are times when GPS is less than helpful. Just ask Richard Schnee and Ardean Marie Smith about their experience in Upper Dublin, Pennsylvania. Schnee, age 41, and Smith, age 44, are both out-of-towners who were trying to reach the Hilton Garden Inn in Fort Washington, Pennsylvania. Both were driving their own cars, with Schnee following Smith, who had supposedly programmed her GPS with the hotel address. No one quite knows how Smith ended up leading Schnee to the Upper Dublin police station—and into an area that was restricted to cops only. The officers who challenged them soon realized that there was something more going on than an incorrect GSP route;…

Authorities Mean Business When It Comes to Los Angeles DUI Charges

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Although it won’t ultimately solve the problem, some people respond to a Los Angeles DUI arrest by simply ignoring it. They miss their trials or continue to drive even if they’ve temporarily lost their licenses. That won’t work in Riverside County, California. When you’re charged with a DUI in that county, you’d better follow through on what you’re supposed to do. Otherwise the cops may come looking for you. On May 30th, beginning at 6 a.m., the Eastvale and Jurupa Valley Police Department Traffic Team hit the streets looking for high-risk DUI offenders who had either failed to show up for a court date or violated the terms of their probation in an outstanding DUI case. The cops attempted to serve 80 warrants by going into various neighborhoods; they netted 26 offenders. According to a press release from the Riverside County Sheriff’s office, people caught in such a sweep may face additional jail time. They also have to suffer the…

Half Police Car, Half Taxi: Police Aim to Curb Drunk Driving

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Police are always looking for creative ideas for public service campaigns to curb drunk driving. One of the reasons for this is drunk driving often results in serious personal injury and lost lives of innocent people who were not driving drunk. According to a recent news feature from News 6 South Florida, Miami police have come up with a creative idea of their own to warn people about the dangers of drunk driving. The police have taken a standard marked police car with full lights and sirens and painted the rear half of the vehicle to look like an ordinary yellow taxicab. The police car also features a warning that tells people they should choose their ride home after a night of drinking, in that they can take a cab and get home safe or they can drive drunk and risk getting a ride in a patrol car on their way to a holding cell after being arrested for drunk driving. Police say the car is designed to literally show people the choice they face for how they will end their…

Illinois Looks to Improve Eyewitness Line-up Procedures

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Chicago – As most of us know by now, eyewitness identifications are notoriously bad. Mistaken identifications by eyewitnesses account for the vast majority, roughly 85%, of wrongful convictions, according to some reports. Eyewitness misidentification is considered the single greatest cause of wrongful convictions. The State of Illinois alone has in fact released 21 individuals erroneously convicted and sentenced to death since 1993. As the United States Supreme Court has long recognized, “[T]he vagaries of eyewitness identification are well known; the annals of criminal law are rife with instances of mistaken identification. Mr. Justice Frankfurter once said: ‘What is the worth of identification testimony even when uncontradicted? The identification of strangers is proverbially untrustworthy. The hazards of such testimony are established by a formidable number of instances in the records of English and American trials.” United States v. Wade. Well…

Making Threats Against the President of the United States

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  Threats against President and Vice President 18 U.S. Code § 871 Under federal law, it is a crime to knowingly and willfully threaten the President of the United States.  This includes the following acts: Sends, mails any letter, paper, writing, print, missive, or document containing any threat to take the life of, to kidnap, or to inflict bodily harm upon the President of the United States. This offense also includes threats against the President-elect, the Vice President, Vice-President elect or other officer next in the order of succession to the office of President of the United States, Penalty Anyone found in violation of the statute shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than 5 years, or both. The U.S. Sentencing Guidelines set a base offense level of 12 for sending threatening communication, but when a threat to the President is involved, a 6-level “official victim” enhancement applies. More enhancements can be…

Does Tort Law Stifle Innovative Medical Treatments?

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Anna B. Laakmann, When Should Physicians Be Liable for Innovation?, 36 Cardozo L. Rev. 913 (2015). Mark Geistfeld The interaction between medical malpractice law and the provision of health care is the subject of an ongoing policy debate. Do physicians practice “defensive medicine” to avoid being sued? Does the high cost of liability insurance or the looming threat of unfounded malpractice claims drive physicians from particular specialties or regions of the country? These issues have dominated the debate for years. Recently, another issue has gained prominence. Does malpractice law deter physicians from adopting innovative procedures? This is probably more important than the question of whether tort law induces the practice of “defensive medicine.” Whereas “defensive medicine” ordinarily increases the cost of health care via the provision of unnecessary medical treatments, the deterrence of medical innovations has a direct impact on…

Stop & Frisk, The Summer Rerun

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That bastion of deep thought and tabloid integrity, the New York Post, asks the question: Just how many New Yorkers must die before Mayor de Blasio lets cops bring back stop-and-frisk? Stacey Calhoun has a right to know. His nephew Jahhad Marshall — a 23-year-old aspiring chef — was caught in the crossfire and shot to death in Queens early Saturday, one of four horrific murders this weekend. “We need stop-and-frisk,” a teary-eyed Calhoun told The Post. “Somebody has to put their foot down.” There was a crime, a tragedy, and an uncle whose loss demands the evisceration of constitutional rights?  It’s not that Stacey Calhoun should be blamed for the desire to prevent the needless taking of his nephew’s life. Families grasp at anything they can when tragedy strikes. But editorial boards that pander through a flagrant appeal to emotion know what they are doing, and add insult to injury when they cynically use a…
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