The city of Richmond, California has started a unique program to attempt to decrease gun violence. The program is run by a government agency called Richmond Office of Neighborhood Safety (ONS) and targets a small “focus” group of 50 or so individuals who are at “high risk” of gun violence. Officials work with the group to prevent predicted dangerous behavior. As an incentive to shoot guns, members of the focus group, called “fellows,” receive a monthly stipend of between $300 and $1,000, depending on how successful they are in the program. The program lasts for 18 months and fellows can receive the stipend for up to half of their time. The ONS staff works with the fellows on a “life map” of goals, and to achieve personal stability before the age of 25. According to ONS Director Devone Boggan, the agency is tasked with “identifying the city’s most lethal young men and asking them to partner with us in a very unique way…
Should People Be Paid Not to Shoot Guns?
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"Dignity and the Eighth Amendment: A New Approach to Challenging Solitary Confinement "
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Barry Scheck Urges Oklahoma Governor to Stay Glossip Execution
Innocence Project Co-Founder Barry Scheck co-authored a letter along with Sen. Tom Coburn, Barry Switzer, John W. Raley and Samuel Gross urging Ohlahoma Governor Mary Fallin to stay the execution of Richard Glossip. It was published Friday in the Huffington Post. Is Oklahoma About to Execute An Innocent Man? Dear Governor Mary Fallin: We urge you to stay the execution of Richard Glossip so that deep concerns about his guilt can be addressed. On September 16, unless you act, the State of Oklahoma will put Mr. Glossip to death for the murder of Barry Van Treese. Justin Sneed—who by his own admission beat Van Tresse to death with a baseball bat—will not meet that fate. Why this stunning difference? Sneed testified at Glossip’s trial and said that Glossip persuaded him to do the killing. In return, Sneed was allowed to plead guilty and avoid a death sentence. Sneed’s testimony is the only evidence that connects Glossip to this…
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Elitist generosity with other people's safety
Peggy Noonan has this column in the WSJ. She is writing about the debate in Europe over how to deal with the refugee crisis, but what she says applies just as much to debates in this country over crime and punishment.But here is a problem with Europe's decision-makers, and it connects to decision-makers in America.Damning "the elites" is often a mindless, phony and manipulative game. Malice and delusion combine to produce the refrains: "Those fancy people in their Georgetown cocktail parties," "Those left-wing poseurs in their apartments in Brussels." This is social resentment parading as insight, envy posing as authenticity.But in this crisis talk of "the elites" is pertinent. The gap between those who run governments and those who are governed has now grown huge and portends nothing good.Rules on immigration and refugees are made by safe people. These are the people who help run countries, who have nice homes in nice …
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Otchie on Reaching a Safe Haven in the Law of Duress
Andrew Akuafo Otchie has posted Reaching a Safe Haven in the Law of Duress? (Criminal Bar Quarterly, Issue 3, Autumn 2013) on SSRN. Here is the abstract: Welcomes the Court of Appeal ruling in R. v GAC on whether a...
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News Scan
SF Jails to Segregate Inmates by Gender Preference: Los Angeles Times writer James Queally reports that by the end of this year, inmates in San Francisco jails will be housed based upon their preferred gender. "It's not going to be based on genitalia alone," said San Francisco Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi. "We will have advisory committee, experts that help represent the transgender population," he added. The announcement was hailed by head of the New York based Transgender Legal Defense & Education Fund as a possible "model for the nation." Last month California became the first state in the nation to agree to pay for a transgender inmate's reassignment surgery. Missouri Child Rapist Executed: After 26 years of appeals, Roderick Nunley was executed by lethal injection last week for the kidnap, rape and stabbing murder of 15-year-old Ann Harrison in 1989. Kasey Babbitt and Monica Evans of…
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Maryland’s Highest Court Disallows State’s Amendment of “Charging Document”
Criminal charges fall within two commonly known and distinct categories: misdemeanors and felonies. Misdemeanors generally include less serious offenses and carry a less severe sentence than felonies. Despite the differences, both types of criminal charges are serious matters to be addressed as soon as a person is arrested. Keep in mind that there may be many different ways to respond to a criminal arrest or charge, depending on the circumstances of the case. In order to be sure you are presenting the strongest defense for your particular charges, it is critical that you contact an experienced Maryland criminal defense attorney as soon as possible. In any criminal case, it is important to pay close attention to the specific charges. In a recent case, Counts v. State of Maryland, the State charged the defendant with five counts of burglary and other related crimes. The issue in this case concerns Count 4, which charged the defendant with stealing property having a value of…
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[VIDEO] How Much Jail Are You facing For Virginia Reckless Driving?
Contact me so we can discuss whether or not jail is a threat in your case and what you may actually be looking at as far as how many days. Video Transcription Hello, my name is Andrew Flusche. I’m your Virginia reckless driving lawyer. How much jail time might you have to serve for Virginia reckless driving in Virginia? This is the question that comes up time and time again because people get a reckless driving charge in Virginia typically for speed. They start researching about what may happen and they see Jail and it’s normal to freak out. From you thought was a speeding ticket, now you’re looking at misdemeanor, what you’ll understand as a misdemeanor and you actually are facing the possibility of jail. How much jail is possible? It definitely depends upon the facts of your case and upon your driving record and also upon the local court where your case is pending. This is why it’s critical to have a local attorney who knows the local court,…
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Nothing Better To Do
My biggest takeaway from State v. Foncette is that there must be no crime in Tempe. Officers stopped Foncette, apparently smelled marijuana, and brought a drug dog to the scene. The dog alerted, but they found nothing. They proceeded to follow him to a hotel and walked with the dog down the hallway outside of the room where he was staying. The dog alerted outside of his room, and officers knocked. When he opened the door, officers apparently smelled marijuana again. Foncette left the room when officers asked, but his companion did not. Police then detained both of them, and they subsequently got a warrant for a nighttime search of the hotel room. They found a lot of marijuana. Obviously, there were no burglaries in Tempe that night. I am sure there were no domestic violence incidents or assaults to solve either. The streets of Tempe were no doubt over-saturated with officers taking each and every dangerous drunk driver off of the road. At least a few officers seemed to waste…
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El Salvador Must Do More to Protect LGBT Rights
Following a wave of violence against the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community, El Salvador’s Legislative Assembly has passed a law establishing increased penalties for hate crimes. Erika Guevara-Rosas, Amnesty International’s Director for the Americas, emphasized that this law “should be a catalyst for a series of concrete measures to stop the alarming and growing wave of attacks against members of the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transexual community, who suffer grave threats and abuses on a daily basis.” Some recent examples of violence against the LGBT community include: The May 31 murder of Francela Méndez, a transgender woman active in the LGBT rights organization Alejandría Collective Association and a member of the Salvadoran Network of Human Rights Defenders. The June 18 murder of Jasmine Barrera, a transgender woman and member of the Alejandría Collective Association. The brutal beating of Alex…
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Kamin on Marijuana Legalization
Sam Kamin (University of Denver Sturm College of Law) has posted Marijuana Legalization in Colorado -- Lessons for Colombia on SSRN. Here is the abstract: In 2012 Colorado became the first jurisdiction anywhere in the world to legalize marijuana possession...
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Doe Fund Fights Sex Offender Relocation To Its East Williamsburg Shelter
9-11-15 New York: Management of an East Williamsburg homeless shelter says they would rather close the facility than make room for 50 sex offenders being sent there by New York City’s Department of Homeless Services. Administrators from The Doe Fund, a nonprofit organization which independently owns and operates the Peter Jay Sharp Center for Opportunity, believe the transfers to be level two
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How to Seal Records of State Criminal Charges in Massachusetts
Anyone who has gone through the criminal justice system—whatever the outcome—knows that criminal charges can have a significant and lasting effect on their lives. Especially if someone has been convicted of a crime, but even if the case ended in an acquittal or a dismissal, information about criminal charges can affect their employment, housing, and other important aspects of life. What can someone do to literally “close the books” on past criminal charges and move on? In the vast majority of cases, the possible remedy is to have records of these charges sealed. Sealed charges generally do not show up on a person’s CORI (criminal record) report and are not accessible to the public, although courts, law enforcement agencies, and a few other entities can access them. If asked in an employment application whether they have been convicted of or arrested for a crime, an individual whose records have been sealed can answer “no”…
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Wisconsin lawmaker seeks to change state law regarding local sex offender residency rules
9-11-15 Wisconsin: GREEN BAY, Wis. — A Wisconsin lawmaker has proposed a change in state law that would end the ability of the state's municipalities to set their own local rules on sex offender residency. The bill would create a statewide standard limiting sex offenders from coming within 1,000 feet of parks, schools and other gathering places for children. It also would require the state
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Police in Florida Can Only Arrest for Resisting Arrest if There is a Legal Basis for the Initial Arrest
That is sort of a convoluted title, but the issue is when police can arrest someone for resisting an arrest. In Florida, resisting arrest can be a misdemeanor or felony charge in Florida. It is a misdemeanor if a person resists arrest without violence; it is a felony charge if a person resists arrest with violence. An old joke says that if the suspect wins the fight, it is going to be a felony, and if the police officer gets the upper hand, the suspect may have a shot at coming away with a misdemeanor. In any case, whether the charge is a felony or misdemeanor is based on the subjective determination of the police officer and then ultimately the prosecutor, unless it is clear that serious violence was used to resist arrest. However, the state cannot just arrest and charge anyone who resists the commands or arrest of an officer. The police officer must have a legal basis to stop, investigate and/or arrest the suspect to begin with. If a person is minding his own business…
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Does A Work Email Account Constitute a Place of Employment in Violation of Stalking Pursuant to NY PL PL 120.45(3)
When those not familiar with New York’s criminal justice system and the New York Penal Law think of Stalking and Stalking related crimes, the picture that comes to mind is often of a man who follows a woman around a public place, sends unwanted solicitations by text, phone or email and even threatens violence with knives, guns or other weapons. While this may be true in many circumstances, there are different “varieties” of Stalking. New York Criminal defense attorneys see or defend Stalking not merely as misdemeanors and felonies, but in wide variety of forms across varying types of conduct. In a recent case of first impression by a New York City Court Judge sitting in Manhattan (New York County), the Court had to render a decision as to whether or not a person’s work email address constituted their place of employment or business for the purpose of Stalking in the Fourth Degree. Although New York Penal Law 120.45(3) is the lowest level…
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Feds: But It Looked Really Spy-ish
Via Matt Apuzzo at the New York Times, it turns out the feds, who arrested Temple University’s head of its physics department, Dr. Xi Xiaoxing, for spying by sending schematics to China of a secret device, a “pocket heater,” blew it. The very serious looking schematic turned out to be the plans for, well, something else. It was an embarrassing acknowledgment that prosecutors and F.B.I. agents did not understand — and did not do enough to learn — the science at the heart of the case before bringing charges that jeopardized Dr. Xi’s career and left the impression that he was spying for China. He was arrested, led away in cuffs, reputation stained and life upended. Because he was a spy the agents had no clue what all the squiggly lines meant, but it sure looked spy-ish. “I don’t expect them to understand everything I do,” Dr. Xi, 57, said in a telephone interview. “But the fact that they don’t…
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James Blake and His Evil Innocent Twin
Some have questioned what the big deal is with a NYPD detective’s take down of tennis star James Blake. Now that the video has been released, two points are raised by those inclined to trivialize the incident. In his description in the Daily News, he said that the officer who rushed him was wearing shorts, and as the video shows, he was not. Aha, he’s lying. Except that this detail is irrelevant to what transpired, and a guy who, out of the blue, gets taken down sometimes misperceives details. There’s a video. The core description is not merely intact, but conclusively proven. The next challenge it that he wasn’t exactly “slammed to the ground,” as in a pile-driver type WWR move. Yet again, the video shows what happened, and even though police-defenders can claim they got a different impression from the description, that’s a problem with their imagination based on the description. It doesn’t change that he…
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One-termers
District Attorneys Susan Hawk in Dallas and Jana Duty in Williamson County both defeated incumbent DAs with widely reported problems, but both women have since run into troubles of their own.Duty defeated incumbent DA John Bradley in a GOP primary in 2012, essentially running the long-time prosecutor stalwart out of town. (He's now prosecuting fishing crimes in Palau.) But lately, she appears to be headed down her own dark path. Duty spent time in jail for contempt in August for violating a gag order and last week the same judge ruled she intentionally withheld evidence at a capital murder trial. Reported the Austin Statesman:Crispin Harmel can face a second trial because Duty did not intend to provoke a mistrial during his first trial, according to a court document filed Friday by District Judge Rick Kennon.“It is unknown to the court why Ms. Duty intentionally and willfully withheld the means to view time stamps on the Walmart Surveillance video other than from…
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OT: When All You Have Is A Spatula
Should there be a “Recipe of Remembrance” for 9/11? Sam Sifton, New York Times food editor, thinks so. The first restaurant meal we had in the chaotic, somber days after the 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center was downtown, in TriBeCa, with an awful, smoky stench in the air and a tiny child sleeping in a stroller beside us. The setting was the Odeon, a bistro that opened in 1980 and for a long time defined the neighborhood’s possibility, back when its streets were empty and dark. Some people remember 9/11 for the death and destruction. Some for the steak frites. As that city lay wounded, the Odeon seemed the very best place to take a newborn to dinner. We had country salad and steak frites that night. My old pal, Dan Arshack, didn’t really think that tying a recipe to the deaths of thousands was appropriate, and let Sifton know. This article is horrifyingly inappropriate. You could have added: A little sprinkle of cement dust and ground human…
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