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Susie Bannon with the Second Chance Democrats on Austin's Fair Chance Hiring Ordinance

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Last week, I sat down with Susie Bannon with the Second Chance Democrats to discuss the recent passage of Austin's Fair Chance Hiring Ordinance.  You can listen to the podcast here: Or find a transcript of the full interview below the jump. Hi this is Amanda Woog with Grits for Breakfast and the Institute for Urban Policy Research and Analysis. I'm here with Susie Bannon. Susie is a member of the Second Chance Democrats. She and her group had a major win at City Hall in Austin, last week and she's here to tell us more about it. Susie, thanks for being here. Why don't you start by telling us about you and the Second Chance Democrats.>> Thanks Amanda, thank you for having me. A little bit about me... I am a second year PhD student at UT Austin in the Department of Communications Studies. I study rhetoric and language, specifically the rhetoric of criminality, the stigma of criminal records, and the role of public policy in shaping both of those…

SJC to Hear Argument on Trial Court’s Discretion to Impose Sentence Below Minimum Mandatory

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In an upcoming case, Commonwealth v. Laltaprasad, the Supreme Judicial Court will hear oral argument on the question of whether a trial court judge has discretion to impose a sentence below the mandatory minimums prescribed by G. L. c. 94C, §§ 32(b) and 32A(d), pursuant to G. L. c. 211E, § 3(e).  G. L. c. 94C, §§ 32(b) and 32A(d) each set forth a three and a half-year mandatory minimum sentence for second and subsequent offenses of distributing or possessing with intent to distribute class A and class B drugs. G. L. c. 211E, § 3(e) states that except for murder, a “sentencing judge may . . . impose a sentence below any mandatory minimum term prescribed by statute . . . based on a finding that there exists one or more mitigating circumstances that should result in a sentence . . . below any applicable mandatory minimum term.” In Mr. Laltaprasad’s case, the trial court judge found such mitigating circumstances – the…

Virginia Man, Who Narrowly Escaped the Death Penalty, Exonerated by DNA Evidence To Be Released After Serving 33 Years

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Discredited Bite Mark Evidence Contributed to Wrongful Conviction  Contact: Paul Cates, 917-566-1294, pcates@innocenceproject.org (Richmond VA – April 8, 2016) After the Virginia Supreme Court granted a writ of actual innocence to Keith Allen Harward on Thursday, Harward is expected to walk out of a Virginia prison a free man today after wrongly serving more than 33 years of a life sentence for a rape and murder he did not commit. Harward, who narrowly escaped the death penalty, was convicted primarily on the testimony of two forensic dentists who said that Harward’s teeth matched marks left on the rape victim. During the course of his prosecution 6 forensic dentists falsely claimed that Harward’s teeth matched a bite mark on one of the victims.  New DNA evidence definitively proved Harward’s innocence and pointed to Jerry Crotty as the real assailant.   “Mr. Harward is at least the 25thperson to have been…

“HOW A CASE IS CHARGED CAN HAVE A HUGE IMPACT”

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Cops demonstrate their inherent bias through the charges they choose to level. Let’s talk about Sheila and George. Sheila was the trusted bookkeeper for a very successful company. Unfortunately, she wasn’t as trustworthy as the company thought. Over a period of two years Sheila diverted $350 a week of company receipts to her own bank account. George, on the other hand, was a successful black businessman who traveled abroad a lot. On one trip to China he came back through customs with a box full of DVDs. He had the receipt to show that he had paid for them, but customs declared them counterfeit and arrested George. Sheila could have been charged with approximately one hundred separate counts of grand theft (the amount of each theft over the two-year period was in excess of $300) and could have faced up to five hundred years in prison. Fortunately for her, she was charged with one count of organized scheme to defraud. That’s a first-degree felony punishable by…

FAQ For Driving on Suspended or Revoked License in Maryland

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Maryland driving on suspended and driving revoked defense lawyers.What are some of the most common questions we get from our clients in regards to driving on a suspended or revoked license in Maryland? Q: What is driving on a revoked license in Maryland? A: Driving on a revoked license in Maryland is a traffic violation in Maryland.  It is classified a crime in the Maryland Transportation Article 16-303(d) and 16-303(g). Q: What is driving on a suspended license in Maryland? A: Driving on a suspended license in Maryland is a traffic violation. It is classified as a crime under the Maryland Transportation Article 16-303(c), 16-303(f) and 16-303(h).  16-303(h) is the less serious offense and 16-303(c) and 16-303(f) are the more serious crimes. Q: Is driving on a revoked license in Maryland a misdemeanor or felony? A: Driving with or on a revoked license in Maryland is classified as a misdemeanor. Q: Is driving on a suspended license in Maryland a misdemeanor or felony…

Inazu on Unlawful Assembly

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John D. Inazu (Washington University in Saint Louis - School of Law) has posted Unlawful Assembly as Social Control (UCLA Law Review, Vol. 64, 2017) on SSRN. Here is the abstract: Recent public protests from Occupy to Ferguson have highlighted...

Are Universities’ Views of Sexual Harassment on a Collision Course with the First Amendment?

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As explained in Jacob Gersen and Jeannie Suk’s forthcoming article, The Sex Bureaucracy, the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (“OCR”) guidance documents about Title IX have shaped college and university sexual harassment and sexual assault policies by threatening the withdrawal of federal funding if the schools do not adopt OCR’s recommendations. OCR has defined sexual harassment as “unwelcome conduct of a sexual nature,” but made clear that under Title IX schools only have an obligation to address such harassment when it rises to the level of creating a hostile environment, which it defines as harassment that “is sufficiently serious that it interferes with or limits a student’s ability to participate in or benefit from the school’s program.” This definition of sexual harassment provides the floor below which school’s policies may not fall, but nothing in Title IX or OCR guidance…

New draft article, "De-Policing," seems to provide empirical support for "Ferguson effect" claims


Possession with Intent to Distribute

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What is Intent to Distribute? Drug possession is a serious offense in Utah and the severity of the offense depends on a number of different factors such as where the possession took place, what type of drug was possessed, and if the drug was possessed for personal use or with the intent to distribute. If the state can show that an individual had the intent to distribute the drugs in their possession then the charges brought become much more severe as well as the penalties that will be imposed. For example if an individual has marijuana and is charged with just simple possession then that charge will be a class B misdemeanor. However, if the state can show that the individual had intent to distribute then the charge automatically jumps to a third degree felony which carries with it a potential penalty of 0-5 years in prison. The issue in cases of distribution is how does the state show what the individuals “intent” was. Proving Intent to Distribute? The difficulty…

Supreme Court Prevents Looters from Eviscerating Right to Counsel

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The Sixth Amendment right to counsel in this country is constitutionally sacrosanct.   It has long been popularly believed that every person in America has an undeniable right to retain the counsel of their choice; that the Government does not have either the power or authority to interfere with that right.   But in the modern era the Government has managed to place restrictions on the right to counsel in certain cases.   Freezing Assets Prior to Trial   For example, 18 U.S.C. § 1345, sometimes referred to as the fraud injunction statute, allows a federal judge, upon the motion of the government to issue an injunction enjoining a defendant charged with a banking or health care fraud violation from either attempting to dispose, or actually disposing of property, obtained as a result of his or her fraud-related conduct. The purpose of this amendment, which was part of the Crime Control Act of 1990, was to prevent individuals charged with certain criminal…

How Do Interlock Ignition Devices Work?

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By Associate Attorney The Gasper Law Group, PLLC Ignition interlocks, also known as Breath Alcohol Ignition Interlock Devices (BAIID), prevent inebriated people from operating motor vehicles. Continue reading →

News Scan

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GA Prepares for one Execution, Schedules Another:  The state of Georgia is preparing for an execution next week and signed a warrant Thursday for another, which will be the state's fifth execution this year.  Rhonda Cook of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that Kenneth Fults is scheduled to die by lethal injection on April 12 for murdering his 19-year-old neighbor in 1996, whom he shot five times after breaking into her home.  He had been engaged in a week-long crime spree at the time, breaking into houses to steal guns with the intent of using them to kill his ex-girlfriend's new boyfriend.  The other death row inmate, Daniel Anthony Lucas, is scheduled for execution April 27 for killing a man and his two children, aged 11 and 15, one by one as they came home separately while Lucas and a co-defendant burglarized it.  Lucas' co-defendant, Brandon Rhode, was put to death on Sept. 27, 2010.  Last year and 1987 were the only…

Detroit Woman Charged with Reckless Driving Causing Death Following Crash at Former Tiger Stadium Grounds

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On Saturday, April 2, a woman was speeding along on Michigan Avenue near Trumbull on a stretch of bumpy and deteriorated road when she allegedly stuck another car that in turn struck a man who came to Detroit from Pelkie. His body was thrown over a fence, where he was pronounced dead. According to news reports, 33-year-old Shayla D. Tucker was driving the vehicle that started the chain reaction. The vehicle she struck at approximately 1 a.m. then struck 35-year-old Paul Pesola, whose body was propelled over an eight foot high fence into the former Tiger Stadium grounds. Initially police believed Pesola’s death was a homicide, however they put two and two together and connected his death to the prior morning’s crash the next day. Tucker was taken to an area hospital before being taken into custody by police. She has been charged with Reckless Driving Causing Death, and is scheduled to be arraigned on April 8. Continue reading

Etue on Johnson v. United States

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Crystal Marie Etue (Southern University Law Center, Students) has posted Johnson v. United States: A Breach in the Social Contract? (Southern University Law Review, Spring 2016, Forthcoming) on SSRN. Here is the abstract: John Adams once said, “It is more...

Injury Crash North Of Weiser

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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: 04/08/2016 2:53 pm Please direct questions to the District Office On April 8, 2016, at 12:38 pm, Idaho State Police investigated a single vehicle injury crash northbound on US95 at mile marker 86, north of Weiser, ID. Buck R. Hand, 68, of Weiser, was traveling northbound on US95 in a 2010 Chevrolet Silverado. Hand drove off the right side of the road where the vehicle rolled and came to rest in a creek bed on its side. Hand was transported by air ambulance to St. Alphonsus Regional Medical Center in Boise. He was not wearing a seatbelt. This crash is still under investigation by the Idaho State Police. LN/BO -------------

Hillary and Bernie Vie for Brooklyn

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So it took Hillary five swipes to get her metrocard to work in the New York Subway. At least she had a card. Bernie thought subways still use tokens. But in an interview with the editorial board of The Daily News this month, Mr. Sanders bungled a... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

NYTimes: Why Apple’s Stand Against the F.B.I. Hurts Its Own Customers

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NYTimes: Why Apple’s Stand Against the F.B.I. Hurts Its Own Customers by Jamil N. Jaffer and Daniel J. Rosenthal: Two weeks ago, privacy advocates across the country celebrated as the Federal Bureau of Investigation backed off its request for Apple … Continue reading →

But For Video: Skeptics Edition

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As video began emerging of police encounters, some embraced it as the solution, the thing that would answer all questions, solve all problem, fix everything. Others warned that it was a good thing, but hardly the solution. A little thought, and the issues with video became, well, apparent. From missing video, to doctored video, to incomplete video, to distorted video, problems were manifest. In the New York Times, police law prof Seth Stoughten did a demonstration of why, sometimes, your eyes do deceive when there is a video that appears to answer questions but really doesn’t.  His point wasn’t that video was unhelpful or a bad thing, but that the unsophisticated reliance on video, the view that video is the solution, fails to grasp that it’s not without flaws. Tim Cushing at Techdirt explains how the police have figured this out as well, and are now busy exploiting the flaws. Officers are actors and directors in their own scenes. Even when performances…

Appreciating Gender Studies

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I once suggested that the reason gender and deviant sexuality majors were underemployed and underappreciated was because it was a less than useful endeavor. I was taken to task, naturally, for my anti-intellectualism and lack of interest in how other genders feel.  I was not convinced. But now that there is a twitter account called Peer Reviewed, I have seen the error of my ways. On the misogyny of intellectual property laws https://t.co/IgbWntieJ2 pic.twitter.com/LL7CoiqZ4n — Peer-reviewed (@real_peerreview) April 9, 2016 Social marginalization of women in heavy metal… https://t.co/DMTg5OyqKu pic.twitter.com/hg4E16DJNK — Peer-reviewed (@real_peerreview) April 9, 2016 More research on women’s gossip is apparently needed. https://t.co/4Frr2nM8cS pic.twitter.com/DvBv71lWZG — Peer-reviewed (@real_peerreview) April 9, 2016 Allow me to introduce: duoethnography https://t.co/Z5TzyRdBqt pic.twitter.com/ieZLtlowlo — Peer-reviewed…

Girlfriend’s Verbal Taunting, Other Boyfriend Don’t Justify “Heat of Passion” Defense

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Charlotte DWI Lawyer Brad Smith answers the question: “If I simply intend to plead guilty, why do I need a lawyer?” A North Carolina state appellate court released a ruling this [week] refusing to accept the defendant’s claims that he was provoked into killing his girlfriend because he was jealous of her relationships with other men. The Durham County Court of Appeals’ decision in State v. Chaves provides too good an example of the elements required for a voluntary manslaughter charge to resist discussion, but be warned: the facts of this case read somewhat like a television show or soap opera. Continue reading →
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