If any of you remember my disastrous move last September when the movers set the place on fire as I was moving in, I'm glad to report that today, after five months, the flooring company arrived to begin tearing out the hardwood floors and... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
Monday Open Thread
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Oregon Health Authority report calls for "the creation of an independent, free‐standing Oregon Institute for Cannabis"
I was intrigued and pleased to see this notable new press story out of Oregon reporting on this notable new public health task force report titled "Researching the medical and public health properties of cannabis." Here are the basics via the press coverage: Oregon should fund an independent marijuana institute...<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/MarijuanaLaw/~4/x0B3wUHFqzI" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>
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Politico reporting that (minor?) changes are being made to Senate's SRCA bill to appease GOP critics
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[Ed. note: The Arizona FPD represented the codefendant in this case.]Smith v. Schriro, Nos. 96-99025, 96-99026, 10-99011 (Reinhardt with Schroeder, dissent by Callahan) --- The Ninth Circuit reversed the district court's denial of an Arizona state prisoner's claim that he was ineligible to be executed under Atkins v. Virginia, 536 U.S. 304 (2002), and remanded with instructions to grant the writ and order the state courts to resentence the petitioner to something other than death.The petitioner was convicted of sexual assault and first-degree murder in 1982, and filed his federal habeas petition in 1987, before the effective date of AEDPA. Thus the limitation on relief set forth at 28 U.S.C. § 2254(d) does not govern the Atkins claim in this appeal.While the petitioner's appeal from the denial of his 1987 habeas petition was pending, the Supreme Court decided Atkins. The Ninth Circuit stayed proceedings to allow the petitioner to exhaust his…
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United States v. Johnson, No. 14-10113 (Rosenthal, DJ (S.D. Tex.) with Kozinski and Tallman) --- The Ninth Circuit vacated a sentence for false statements and perjury and remanded for resentencing because the sentencing judge failed to make express findings of willfulness and materiality to support the obstruction-of-justice enhancement under U.S.S.G. § 3C1.1.The defendant, a retired cop, ran a private business training drug- and bomb-sniffing dogs. Some Hells Angels had hired him to ensure that their property wasn't tainted, and was heard on a wiretap alerting his clients to the presence of federal agents. During his interviews with federal agents, he denied tipping his clients off, and was charged with conspiracy, making false statements, and perjury before the grand jury. In a prior appeal, his conspiracy conviction was reversed, and the court remanded for resentencing. The sentencing judge computed his new advisory Guidelines range using an…
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DUVAL COUNTY SEX OFFENDER SITS ON ONE MILLION DOLLAR BOND
Reports say beat girlfriend’s 3 year old with a belt A registered sex offender was recently arrested and booked into the Duval County Pretrial Detention Facility on a first degree felony charge of aggravated child abuse. The allegations are that the defendant beat the three year old boy with a belt because the child kept falling asleep in the bathtub. A first degree felony, under Florida law, carries a maximum sentence of 30 years. The defendant was released from the Florida Department of Corrections in June of 2013. Records show that he went to prison twice on a 2007 case for lewd battery, victim between 12 to 15 years. He originally served 15 months, was released on probation, violated probation and was subsequently sentenced to what was a total of 6 years. He left prison as a designated sexual offender subject to lifetime registration. His residence will always be available by checking online with the Florida Department of Law…
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Assault With a Cold-Blooded Weapon
Terry Spencer reports for AP:Florida wildlife officials say that 24-year-old Joshua James threw a 3.5-foot alligator through a fast-food restaurant's drive-thru window in October, according to multiple news outlets. He's charged with assault with a deadly weapon. Bail was set Tuesday at $6,000.Officials say the incident occurred at a Palm Beach County Wendy's. They say that after an employee handed James his drink, he threw the alligator through the window and drove off. No one was hurt. James was arrested Monday.James also is charged with illegally possessing an alligator and petty theft.
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Violent Crime Spikes in Hennepin County in 2015
New statistics released last week show that Hennepin County saw a major increase in a wide variety of violent crimes in 2015. According to the statistics, Hennepin County saw rather large increases in a different types of violent crimes. According to the report: Homicides increased by 48 percent in 2015 (62 total). Rapes increased by 16 percent (703 reported). Aggravated assaults increased 13 percent. Muggings remained similar to the 2014 numbers. Motor vehicle theft increased 26 percent. Overall, violent crime increased 8 percent in Hennepin County in 2015. The numbers also show that violent crime has steadily been increasing since 2011, when the county recorded a nine-year low in violent crime. Although violent crimes increased for the fourth consecutive year in Hennepin County, officials did note that some types of crimes fell in 2015. Property crimes fell by 6 percent, and burglaries against businesses fell by 25 percent. Similar to National Trends Hennepin County Sheriff…
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The Government Waives Waiver (or Forfeits Forfeiture)
United States v. Soto-Rivera In this case, the First Circuit reviewed a sentencing court’s determination that Mr. Soto-Rivera qualified as a Career Offender. A defendant who is over 18 at the time he commits a “felony that is either a crime of violence or a controlled substance offense,” and who “has at least two prior felony convictions of either a crime of violence or a controlled substance offense,” is a Career Offender. U.S.S.G. § 4B1.1(a). Mr. Soto-Rivera pled guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 922(g)(1) and 924(a)(2). At sentencing, the court announced Mr. Soto-Rivera had two previous convictions for “controlled substance offenses.” The judge then stated, in “conclusory fashion,” that Mr. Soto-Rivera’s latest conviction for felon in possession of a firearm is “considered a crime of violence.” As a result, the…
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Ineffective assistance of counsel and standards of review – counsel’s failure to seek a continuance of sentencing found to violate the Strickland standard: United States v. Abney, _ F.3d _ (D.C. Circuit, No. 14-3074, February 5, 2016)
A 2-1 panel of the D.C. Circuit found ineffective assistance of counsel for failure to seek a continuance of sentencing that was about to occur in the short interval between the Fair Sentencing Act’s (“FSA”) passing Congress and its being signed into law. In a split opinion featuring an interesting alignment (Circuit Judges Rogers and Griffith comprising the majority with Circuit Judge Brown vigorously dissenting) the Circuit overturned Appellant’s ten year mandatory minimum sentence for possessing 68 grams of crack cocaine. The majority found that Abney satisfied the rigorous standards of Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668 (1994), to justify setting aside his sentence. Abney’s trial counsel knew that the FSA (Pub. L. No. 111-220, 124 Stat. 2372 (Aug. 3, 2010)) had just cleared Congress and that its provisions would cut Abney’s mandatory minimum in half, from ten years to five years. It was also clear at the time that numerous defense…
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Dominican Republic’s Absurd Laws Shatters Star Boxer’s Promising Career
Adonis was born in the Dominican Republic in 1994 to Haitians parents. His birth was never registered because his parents lack of documents. This results in statelessness. By Josefina Salomón, News Writer at Amnesty International When Adonis Peguero Louis won the pre-selection test to join the Dominican Republic’s national boxing team, the young man’s future played before him. As if watching a film, he saw himself headlining fights across the country, traveling to arenas in cities he had only visited through the small TV screen that rests in the corner of his crammed living room, coming face-to-face with his childhood heroes. He vividly imagined becoming a hero himself — the kind that starts life with empty pockets but then manages to save all those around him from poverty. It was not daydreaming. From the first time Adonis slipped on his blue boxing gloves, he had shown the kind of talent only stars are born with. The collection of medals that…
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Prez Obama signs into law the "International Megan's Law," and group immediately files suit against passport scarlet letter requirement
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Ignition Interlock Law in Texas Offering More Freedom to Former DUI Convicts
In summer of 2015, Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed a potentially game-changing law regarding driving after a DWI conviction. DWI convicts will now be able to have more freedom to drive as long as they opt for the installation of ignition interlocks onto their vehicles. This groundbreaking legislation means more DWI convicts will be able to keep up their work and school obligations despite their past record. How Ignition Interlocks Work An ignition interlock is installed via the glove department on the passenger’s side of your vehicle. The installer proceeds to hardwire the device into the car’s ignition system. A handheld sensor is then hooked up to the dashboard of the car. When you are ready to drive, you must first blow about 1 ½ liters of air through the sensor. For the car to start, the alcohol content in your breath must be below the preset threshold. In most cases, the blood alcohol content must not be above 0.04 for the vehicle to operate. To…
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First DWI Offense: What You Need to Know
If you’re like most people, when you realize you’ve received a DWI you’re hungover and feel like dirt. Knowing you tried to drive last night doesn’t make you feel any better. The fact that you feel such remorse shows you aren’t a bad person, but just someone who made a mistake. It’s different for someone […] The post First DWI Offense: What You Need to Know appeared first on .
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A few notable sentencing stories from the campaign trail
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The Black Lives That Didn't Matter
The National Association of Assistant US Attorneys has produced a short video (a little over a minute) about the murders of three African Americans, a mother and her two daughters, by Wendell Callahan. Callahan had a violent past, and had been sentenced to federal prison for trafficking in hard drugs (crack cocaine). Nonetheless, he was released early courtesy of Congress's 2010 version of "sentencing reform." But for his early release, his three victims would be alive today.When one black man, Michael Brown of Ferguson, MO -- a fellow who was 6'4" and weighed 292 pounds -- was shot by a policeman in legal self-defense, the story was the subject of hundreds of outraged national headlines. When the three defenseless black people in Columbus, OH got their throats slit by a man who earned his way to prison, but then was released early as a "low level, low-risk" prospect, not a single component of the national…
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Two opinions in noncapital habeas appeals. In the first, the en banc panel settles a question about what "clearly established federal law" governs a claim, and rules in favor of a California state prisoner. In the second, a divided panel reverses the denial of habeas relief for another California state prisoner, with an appended dissental about the panel majority's failure to heed the Supreme Court's warnings about AEDPA.1. Daire v. Lattimore, No. 12-55667 (per curiam en banc opinion; panel was Thomas, Reinhardt, McKeown, Tallman, Rawlinson, Bybee, Callahan, Bea, NR Smith, Murguia, and Watford) --- An en banc panel affirmed that the usual test for ineffective assistance of counsel found in Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668 (1984), is the "clearly established federal law" that governs claims of ineffective assistance of counsel in noncapital sentencing proceedings for purposes of 28 U.S.C. § 2254(d)(1).The petitioner was…
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St. Johns County police looking for men accused of stealing televisions
St. Johns County police have released surveillance video and are looking for two men accused of stealing flat-screen televisions from a local store Police said two men entered the Walmart about 1 a.m. and then loaded up a shopping cart with four flat-screen televisions, according to a report on News4Jax. When one of the men was stopped by an employee and asked to provide a receipt, he handed the worker the receipt and kept walking, the television station reported. After the worker realized the receipt was for food and not for the four televisions, she went to the parking lot and saw the men driving off with the televisions in the back of a pick-up truck, the television station reported. Police issued descriptions of the men and the truck in this St. Johns County Theft Case. If the suspects are eventually caught, they will almost certainly be facing felony charges. In St. Johns County Theft Cases, the severity of the charges – and the potential prison time on…
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Muhammed, What Were You Thinking About When You Accepted the Reality of Your Death?
Fayha Shalash, the wife of Palestinian journalist Muhammed al-Qiq, sits with her son at her home in the West Bank village of Dura on January 20, 2016. Al Qiq is seen in the poster. Photo: Wisam Hashlamoun/APA images Muhammed -What were you thinking about when you accepted the reality of your own death? What thoughts and images went through your mind when you realized you were willing to risk permanent physical damage or even death to gain your freedom? Were you thinking about the softness of your babies’ cheeks? How they smelled so fresh and their skin felt so soft after bath time? Muhammed al Qiq, a Palestinian journalist and father of two small children, has been on hunger strike for over seventy-five days – refusing everything but water, to protest the torture and other ill-treatment to which he says he was subjected to in Israeli custody, and to demand his release from detention he believes is motivated by his work as a journalist. He was placed under…
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Safer Internet Day: A Ransomware Story & Cyber-Security Tips
Today, February 9, is Safe Internet Day worldwide. It promotes online safety and responsibility for internet technology on desktop and mobile devices, especially among young people and children. You can click on your country’s flag at the Safer Internet Day site to learn about the organization’s activities near you: Safer Internet Activities Around the World. Below I’m including an article I recently wrote about cyber-criminals who hacked into an older woman’s personal computer, locked all the files, and demanded a ransom from her if she wanted the files back. This woman is also a writer who was finishing a novel — she lost access to all her book files and ended up paying a ransom to get them back. It’s a chilling tale of cybercrime in today’s world as cyber-attacks on personal computers are on the increase. If She Didn’t Pay, They Threatened to Destroy Her Hard Drive They informed her via an untraceable email that…
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