There has been much discussion lately of the direct costs of the criminal justice system. Many people (too many, in my opinion) of conservative leanings have been sipping the soft-on-crime Kool-Aid because they are appalled by the high costs of locking up the very large number of criminals we have, and they have been too quick to accept the line they that aren't really that bad.As long as we are talking dollars, we must not forget the economic costs of crime. Crime causes people to spend time, effort, and money on unproductive self-defense measures that could be spent more productively. Crime causes people to abandon or sell cheaply real estate that could be much more valuable. Crime is a drag on the economy, like driving with one foot resting on the brake pedal while the other pushes the accelerator.Stockton, California is a chronically depressed city. Its government is just emerging from bankruptcy, and Forbes infamously branded it…
Crime and the Economy
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Rodwin on Sanctions on Pharmaceutical Firms
Marc A. Rodwin (Suffolk University Law School) has posted Do We Need Stronger Sanctions to Ensure Legal Compliance by Pharmaceutical Firms? (Food and Drug Law Journal, Vol. 70, No. 3, Fall 2015) on SSRN. Here is the abstract: The increasing...
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Integrated Domestic Violence Court...cont
Proof of service by mail to an address not specified in the part of the Dominican court record before this court was submitted to the Dominican court. The mother did not appear for the custody proceeding. In a decision dated April 17, 2002, the District Court found respondent in default for nonappearance and awarded full custody to the petitioner. Noting that the children had now been with their father for over a year, the court declined to move them again, citing the need for "stability and security in the future." The law guardian in the proceeding took the position that custody should be awarded to the father, noting that the mother "ceded custody of said children by means of an amicable agreement signed on the 1st of December of 2000," and urged adherence to that agreement. The mother, who asserts that she learned of the renewed custody proceeding only when she personal appeared in the Dominican Republic for a visit with the children in April 2002, filed…
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Mexico’s Journey of Death: ‘I opened the coffin and I knew it was not my daughter’
© AFP PHOTO/ JOSE Cabezas By Josefina Salomón, News Writer at Amnesty International in Mexico @josefinasalomon It was the most difficult day of her life. On the morning of 5 September 2010, Mirna Solórzano stood in front of a cargo plane in San Salvador’s airport, watching as soldiers unloaded a coffin. They said it contained the remains of her daughter, Glenda. The 23 year old had been murdered alongside another 71 men and women in the Mexican town of San Fernando, in Tamaulipas, near the border with Texas, a few weeks earlier on 22 August. Most were attempting to cross Mexico hoping to reach the USA and find jobs that would help them support their relatives back home. But the journey is known to be one of the most dangerous in the world, with those traveling routinely facing abductions, torture and death. Struggling to keep calm, Mirna took the coffin home where her relatives were waiting for her to decide, together, what to do next. Authorities…
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COOK COUNTY JUDGE CHALLENGES ILLINOIS SPEEDING LAW
A Cook County Circuit Court Judge has held that denying supervision to first-time excessive speeders in all cases violates the Illinois Constitution. Under Illinois law, supervision is not available to drivers who violated the Excessive/Aggravated Speeding Law. Currently, this applies to driving more than 35 miles over the limit, a Class A Misdemeanor. As of January, 2016, those travelling more than 25 miles over the limit in an urban district are also barred from supervision on a first offense. Supervision is technically not a conviction. Judge Deborah J. Gubin found that supervision is generally available on first offenses for retail theft, DUI and drug crimes, but usually denied to first offenses involving bodily injury. Denying supervision to speeders without letting a judge consider mitigating factors is a disproportionate penalty which violates the Illinois Constitution, she reasoned. The Cook County State’s Attorney’s office is appealing the…
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**Update**One Vehicle Rollover Near Stage Stop
IDAHO STATE POLICE NEWS RELEASE - generated by our News Release ListServer DO NOT REPLY --------------------------------------------------------------------------- IDAHO STATE POLICE NEWS RELEASE District 3 Patrol 700 S. Stratford Dr., Meridian 83642 (208) 846-7550 Fax (208) 846-7520 For Immediate Release: 09-14-2015 2:00 p.m. Please direct questions to the District Office ***Update** The passengers of the vehicle were Karen Anderson,47, of Clark Fork, and Sykayla Ordaz,26, of Boise. SG/NEH **end of update** ***********************Correction****************** The crash occurred on Sunday, September 13th, at 10:15p.m. SM/KJ **************************************************** On Monday, September 14, 2015, at approximately 10:15p.m., the Idaho State Police investigated a one vehicle rollover crash on Interstate 84, at milepost 69, east of Boise. Lora Ordaz, 41 from Boise, ID, was westbound in a 2002 Dodge Dakota. The truck suffered a tire failure, causing Ordaz to lose…
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Does the Law Protect People with Behavioral Disabilities?
We are seeing many children, teens and young adults coming through the court system that have been diagnosed with ADHD, ADD, Autism Spectrum Disorder, Tourette Syndrome and other disabilities that impact behaviors and can be at the root of behaviors…Read more ›
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Pennsylvania Man Who Wrongly Served 34 Years Exonerated Based on New DNA Evidence
After Reinvestigation, Indiana County District Attorney Agreed to Dismiss Indictment Against Lewis “Jim” Fogle Contact: Paul Cates, 212-364-5346, cell 917-566-1294, pcates@innocenceproject.org (Pittsburgh, PA; September 14, 2015) – After a month long reinvestigation, Indiana County District Attorney Patrick Dougherty agreed today to not retry Lewis “Jim” Fogle for the 1976 murder of a 15-year-old girl. Last month an Indiana County judge vacated Fogle’s 1982 conviction based on DNA evidence pointing to another male and released him on an unsecured bond. He was surrounded by family and friends in court today when his 34-year struggle for justice finally came to an end. “We are grateful for the support and cooperation from District Attorney Patrick Dougherty in helping to close this extremely long and painful chapter in Mr. Fogle’s life,” said Karen Thompson, staff attorney…
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Supreme Court: Criminal Defendants Hiring Lawyers With Their Frozen Assets
If you should find yourself faced with criminal charges, the U.S. Constitution will provide you with some basic built-in protections. One of these is the right to hire the legal representation of your choice. Because a well-intentioned but overburdened court-appointed lawyer may not give your case the attention it deserves, the exercise of this right can mean the difference between winning in court and receiving a guilty sentence. Sometimes, though, the court will decide to freeze all the assets, good and bad, of a defendant who has no other means of hiring a lawyer. What happens then? The Case of Luis vs. the United States When Sila Luis, president of a Florida-based health care provider, found herself under indictment to the tune of $45 million in Medicare fraud, the federal government issued a freeze injunction against her financial resources, including monies whose ties to the alleged crime were in question. Luis fought the ruling, insisting that in addition to being free…
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Is a capital case the right kind of vehicle for SCOTUS to consider solitary confinement?
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The Suspect’s Wife and Her Authority to Consent a Laptop Search
After being convicted of bank fraud, conspiracy to commit bank fraud and aggravated identity theft, Jeffrey Groover appealed. U.S. v. Groover, 2015 WL 5011658 (U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit 2015). Prior to his trial, Groovermoved to suppress evidence obtained by law enforcement as a result of a warrantless search of [his] password-protected computer, and other items in his home. . . . After holding an evidentiary hearing, the district court denied the motion to suppress in a two-page order. . . . Brief of the Appellant, Jeffrey E. Groover, U.S. v. Groover, 2015 WL 1803410 (U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit 2015). You can, if you are interested, read more about the charges and allegations in this case in the news stories you can find here, here and here. To understand the issue involved here, you need to understand how the search of his laptop came about and why the issue of “consent” is the pivotal issue. The…
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"Why I Fight for Ohio Marijuana Legalization"
The title of this post is the title of this provocative new Huffington Post commentary authored by Russ Bellville. Here are excerpts: I'm somewhat of an outlier in the marijuana reform movement these days. Ohio has marijuana legalization on the ballot for 2015, and I'm one of the few high-profile...<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/MarijuanaLaw/~4/RH7tLxPYxHY" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>
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Middle School Boy Charged With Assault After Unwanted Kiss
A Baltimore County 8th grade boy was arrested last week and now faces assault charges for allegedly kissing a female classmate. Police officers responded to Pikesville Middle School on Wednesday after school administrators reported that the 13-year-old boy grabbed a 14-year-old female by the shirt, and then kissed her on the mouth without her permission. The female was also an 8th grade student at Pikesville Middle. The boy stated to officials that he kissed the girl in response to a dare from fellow classmates, and now the incident has sparked national debate whether the incident should have been handled differently. School officials could have handled the incident internally under the student code of conduct, but instead opted to involve county police. The officers who responded to the scene acted under state law in charging the boy with misdemeanor second degree assault. This offense carries a maximum penalty of ten years in jail, but because this incident will be filed as a…
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Lawsuit Against School District for Sexual Abuse
Former student Roxanne Pedro has filed a lawsuit against her former school district in the wake of sexual abuse she endured at the hands of the school’s janitor. Pedro filed the suit after it was revealed that the school district …The post Lawsuit Against School District for Sexual Abuse appeared first on Colorado Springs Accident Attorney | Quality Legal.
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News Scan
Illinois Lawmaker Pushes to Restore Death Penalty: An Illinois lawmaker is planning to introduce a bill in the next legislative session that would restore capital punishment in certain cases. The death penalty was abolished in the state in 2011. Evie Allen of WSIL reports that Democratic state Senator Bill Haine, a former state's attorney for Madison County, will propose the bill to allow a death sentence in cases involving serial killings, the murder of a child, seniors, persons with disabilities, murders of witnesses, and murders of correctional and law enforcement officers. Capital punishment was abolished in the state in 2011 by Gov. Pat Quinn, 12 years after Gov. George Ryan suspended executions and commuted the sentences of 167 death row inmates to life in prison. Rookie Officer Killed in KY: A Kentucky State Trooper was shot and killed Sunday evening by a suspect who was later fatally shot when he refused orders to drop his…
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Having the Last Word on the Last Word: SEC Says Its ALJs are “Mere Employees”
In what will surely not be the last word on this continuing controversy, on September 3, 2015, a majority of the members of the Securities and Exchange Commission held that the appointment process for the Commission’s administrative law judges (“ALJ”) does not violate the Constitution. As we reported just last month, a federal judge in the Southern District of New York preliminarily enjoined a separate SEC administrative proceeding based in part on the judge’s view that the SEC ALJ appointment process is likely unconstitutional. In light of the key role ALJs play in SEC proceedings and the number of administrative cases brought each year, the question is likely to be addressed at the appellate level and could have significant implications for the securities defense bar. The issue came to the Commission through a securities fraud case involving former investment advisor Ray Lucia, Sr., host of the Ray Lucia financial talk radio show, and…
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College Student Drives Barbie Jeep After DUI Arrest
Many people get arrested for drunk driving and realize it is a serious matter and do whatever they can to get an expungement of their criminal record and stay out of trouble. This is especially true of college students who have goals of going to law school or medical school, entering the United States military or pursuing any other kind of future employment that requires a criminal background check. However, there are, of course, people on the other side of the spectrum that do not treat their arrest, possible conviction and criminal record with discretion. According to a recent news article from Time, a 20-year-old college student was arrested for drunk driving, and she refused to take an alcohol breath test. Under the law in her jurisdiction, as well as the law in most states, refusal to submit to chemical testing (blood, breath or urine) results in an automatic suspension of driving privileges in the state. As our Boston drunk driving accident attorneys can explain, a notice…
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Innocence Project Team Presents Startling New Evidence of Official Misconduct in Case Riddled With Many Previous Findings of Misconduct
(Dallas, TX – September 15, 2015) The Innocence Project and the Innocence Project of Texas filed court papers yesterday urging a Texas Court to declare Kerry Max Cook innocent of the 1977 murder for which he spent more than 20 years on death row based on new DNA and other evidence proving his innocence. Six rounds of recent DNA testing confirm Mr. Cook’s innocence and point to the victim’s ex-boyfriend as the real perpetrator. The papers also point to powerful new evidence that officials in Smith County, Texas, withheld favorable evidence to secure Mr. Cook’s 1999 “no contest” plea to murder (a highly unusual plea that required no admission of guilt and permitted Mr. Cook to maintain his factual innocence), and ordered a piece of highly probative evidence destroyed shortly after the state adopted a DNA testing law giving Mr. Cook the ability to request testing of the item for the purpose of securing his full legal…
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Lollar on Punitive Compensation
Cortney Lollar (University of Kentucky) has posted Punitive Compensation (Tulsa Law Review, Vol. 51, 2015) on SSRN. Here is the abstract: Criminal restitution is a core component of punishment. In its current form, this remedy rarely serves restitution’s traditional aim...
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Brawl at Semi Pro Football Game leads to Two Arrests
A large brawl took place at a semi-professional football game in Manchester, New Hampshire on Sunday night. Two individuals were arrested by the Manchester Police Department following the outburst. Responding officers are asking for assistance from any spectators that were present at the game when the incident took place in an effort to aid their investigation. According to preliminary reports, the Manchester Police Department received a phone call at approximately 6:00 PM Sunday evening indicating that there was a fight taking place at the West High School football field that involved players participating in a semi-professional football game. Upon their arrival on scene, Manchester Police found that the New Hampshire Wolfpack and the Whaling City Clippers had begun to brawl on the field prior to the end of their game. Multiple players on both sides of the issue have stated that the two teams have a longstanding grudge against one another. One member of the New Hampshire…
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