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'Crime wave' talk aside, Texas crime way down, say the numbers

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Note to Dallas reporters writing panic-stricken stories about a "crime wave" because of a short-term spike in murders: Please read this analysis from the Brennan Center about crime in America in 2015. (Here's the full pdf version of the report.) Then calm the *bleep* down.Bottom line, crime remains "at historic lows" and increases in violent crime used to tout some sort of "Ferguson effect" last year were overstated.In terms of murder rates, "The 2015 murder rate rose by 13.3 percent in the 30 largest cities, with 19 cities seeing increases and 6 decreases. However, in absolute terms, murder rates are so low that a small numerical increase can lead to a large percentage change" (emphasis added).Beyond murders, "Overall crime rates in America’s 30 largest cities were nearly identical from 2014 to 2015, according to an analysis of final 2015 numbers. Crime declined over that time period by 0.1 percent. The data show…

NV: Neither a warrant nor probable cause is required to get CLSI information

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Neither a warrant nor probable cause is required to get CLSI information. Taylor v. State, 132 Nev. Adv. Rep. 27, No. 16-12414 (April 21, 2016): This opinion addresses whether the State’s warrantless access of historical cell site location data obtained … Continue reading →

House of Representatives Panel Voted to Pass a New Email Privacy Bill

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As technology advances with computers and cell phones and newer forms of communication, old laws and cases do not always properly address how our privacy rights might be affected, and how the government can look at or seize our data in criminal cases. We have written previous articles about when and how the police can obtain data on cell phones before and after an arrest. In many cases, the state has broad authority to access this information because search and seizure case law does not properly characterize the data and the methods used to acquire the data. Emails are another form of data that are often the coveted by police officers looking to investigate criminal activity quickly and without the checks and balances found in search and seizure law. However, the House of Representatives recently took steps to pass a law that would protect old emails. An old law that people probably are not aware of allowed the government to look at old, private emails if they are more…

2016 Sentencing Commission Statistical Report Available

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Sentencing nerds rejoice. The North Carolina Sentencing and Policy Advisory Commission released its annual statistical report last week. The report is available here. This year’s report covers data from fiscal year 2014/15. At this point, most of the data cover offenses that are fully within the post–Justice Reinvestment universe. That is, we are mostly looking at sentences for offenses committed on or after December 1, 2011, that include post-release supervision for all felonies and substantial limits on revocation of probation. Most data in the report are very similar to previous years. Here are some of the highlights: As usual, a full quarter of all felony sentences imposed come just from two cells on the sentencing grid: Class H/Level I and Class H/Level II. 83 percent of felony offenders were men (84 percent last report). 48 percent of felony offenders were Black (49 percent last report). The Active/Intermediate/Community breakdown for felons was 38/32/30…

"Restoring Human Capabilities After Punishment: Our Political Responsibilities Toward Incarcerated Americans"

Which Black Lives Matter?

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The Chicago Tribune has released video of the unprovoked assault on a popular young black bartender by another black man on a crowded street corner.  William Lee of the Tribune has the story of the February 7 assault on 32 year-old Marques Gaines in front of a busy 7-Eleven store on the Near North Side of Chicago at about 4:20 AM.  The video shows what appears to be two men confronting Gaines as he steps out of the store with a bag of chips.  After a few moments Gains tries to step away and the larger of the two men cold cocks him in the head, knocking him unconscious.  Seconds after Gaines falls in the street, two people run up and begin rummaging through his pockets.  As several dozen people walk by, going in and out of the store, waiting for the light to change before crossing the street, all within a few feet of the injured man, nobody stops to help or even try and prevent the cab which accidently ran him over.  Gaines died later in…

NY2: SW for house and yard didn’t include shed behind the house

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Where the search warrant was for the residence and yard, a shed on the yard could not be searched. Thus, defense counsel was ineffective for not challenging the search. Reversed. People v. Velez, 2016 NY Slip Op 03027, 2016 N.Y. … Continue reading →

Reviewing the SCOTUS week that was and the SCOTUS week to come via SCOTUSblog


QUINCY MAN IS REMEMBERED AFTER DEATH RESULTING FROM APPARENT ASSAULT AND BATTERY

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This is a case in which, it would appear, there has been no arrest…yet. The criminal investigation is continuing. I would suggest that the question is what the charges will be as opposed to whether there will be any charges. It is a story that brings an important reminder home to roost. Again. The incident took place in Dorchester this past Sunday at approximately 1:15 a.m. According to the Boston Herald , a fight began. It really does not matter why. A man from Quincy named Brian Hingston is said to have tried to break up that fight. He ended up dead. As mentioned, the Boston police are still investigating the case and no criminal charges have been brought yet. Word is that Mr. Hingston was either hit or pushed when he tried to break up the fight. He hit his head when he went down. His wife released a statement explaining that Mr. Hingston “was a devoted husband, father, son, brother” who enjoyed traveling and music and had previously run the Boston…

Davis & Dudley on Families in Juvenile Defense Work after Miller v. Alabama

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Peggy Cooper Davis and Richard G. Dudley (New York University Law School and Independent) have posted The Place of Families in Juvenile Defense Work after Miller v. Alabama (New England Journal on Criminal and Civil Confinement, Spring 2013) on SSRN....

MORE ABOUT TESTING FOR DRIVING UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF MARIJUANA IN CALIFORNIA

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Following up on my two previous posts that discussed chemical testing for driving under the influence of marijuana and marijuana per se laws, I think it would be interesting to the reader if I delved a bit more deeply into these topics. Driving under the influence of marijuana is sure to be a hot topic for the next few years as the legalization of recreational marijuana appears to be a trend. I mentioned in my previous posts that unlike blood alcohol testing, testing for marijuana in a person’s system is much more problematic, at least as far as testing to determine if a driver was under the influence of the drug. Urine testing will be positive for marijuana for 1 to 7 or more days after a person’s last use of the drug. A person can and likely will test positive for marijuana in a urine test even if he or she had not used the drug for days. Therefore, urine testing is unreliable proof that a person was driving under the influence. Besides that, while urine test can…

THE UNITED STATES LEADS THE WORLD IN PRISON POPULATION

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According to the London-based International Centre for Prison Studies (ICPS), which is an arm of the University of London Law School Institute for Criminal Policy Research, the United State ranks 2nd in the world for the number of prisoners locked up per capita. Based on the latest statistics (2014), only the tiny Seychelles outranks the U.S. for the number of people locked up per capita and that is almost certainly a statistical quirk since the Seychelles has a population of less than 100,000, which is the benchmark per capita rate. So for all intents and purposes, the United States has more prisoners per capita (693 per 100,000 in population) than any country in the world. That’s way behind countries like Russia (445/100,000), Saudi Arabia (161/100,000), and China (118/100,000). Some may argue that those countries’ statistics are not transparent, but the ICPS maintains that it gathers the data monthly from reputable sources. Whether the data is entirely accurate…

Victims of Annie Dookhan Debacle Unlikely to Get Compensation From State

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Victims of Annie DookhanCountless criminal defendants who received drug convictions based on evidence handled by the state drug labs have been closely watching the developments in the Annie Dookhan case. Annie Dookhan was a former crime lab analyst who in 2012 admitted to mishandling hundreds of evidence samples and labeling samples as drugs, even when the samples were not drugs or were not properly tested. Once Dookhan’s misconduct was discovered by state police during a lab audit, it came to light that there were potentially hundreds of wrongful convictions made on Dookhan’s test results. Criminal cases that involved Dookhan’s handling of drug samples began to be reviewed and hundreds of convictions have already been overturned. Conventional thought was that victims of Annie Dookhan would sue for being wronfully convicted.  David Jones Sues Dookhan’s Supervisors The Boston Globe recently reported that some of Dookhan’s victims have tried to…

The latest news about the faltering state of federal statutory sentencing reform

Hobbs Republican Party Meeting

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Got to meet Representative David Gallegos and members of the Pearce staff.  That was wonderful.Steve Pearce has the coolest staff on the planet earth.  I'm not saying anything, but I just wouldn't believe that Steve would surround himself with coolness.Steve brother, great hiring.Yes, yes readers Dianna Luce was there. The Republican Party is blind right now to that issue that is Dianna Luce.But as the injustices in the Fifth Judicial District continue to mount, and the list is long, the Republican Party will turn their back slowly and surely.As Hispanics and African-Americans are arrested at a much larger number than their Anglo counterparts, the Republican Party will turn their back.As Hispanics and African-Americans convictions are overturned at an alarming rate by our appellate courts, the Republican Party will turn their back.True Republicans will stand up to injustice.Steve Pearce may have the coolest staff in New Mexico, but if he would keep his eye…

Capra & Tartakovsky on Strickland and the Right to Testify

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Daniel J. Capra and Joseph Tartakovsky (Fordham University School of Law and Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP) has posted Why Strickland is the Wrong Test for Violations of the Right to Testify (Washington and Lee Law Review, Vol. 70, No....

Divorce, Joint Custody and the Emails

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This post examines a recent opinion from the Court of Appeals of Kentucky:  Wedding v. Harmon, 2016 WL 1534682 (2016).  The court begins the opinion by explaining thatJohn Michael Wedding (Father) appeals an order of the Jefferson Family Court granting Heather Lynn Harmon's (Mother) motion to prohibit Father from harassing her by copying and forwarding routine co-parenting emails to individuals within the parties' local community and from sending mass emails to the parties' friends, family and other members of their community regarding the parties' dissolution, custody proceedings and co-parenting. Father's sole contention on appeal is that the order is an unconstitutional infringement on his speech.Wedding v. Harmon, supra. It went on to provide the factual and litigation background of the case, to this point:The parties, who married September 27, 2003, have two children together. They were divorced on August 27, 2013, and were awarded joint…

Marijuana is Legal Now in Washington – Let the Controversy, Debates and Arrests Begin

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Washington has been in the foreground of marijuana legalization. It was one of the first states to legalize its medical use and then its recreational use. As you walk through the cities of our state it can be noticed that it has definitely become socially acceptable. Due to this legalization and social acceptance arrests involving marijuana have understandably declined. Although it’s technically illegal you can see people smoking it openly and the police do not seem to regularly enforce this illegality. Plus now there are shops that sell marijuana. It would probably be an exaggeration to say there is a marijuana store on every block but it sometimes does feel that way. As long as you have the proper license you will not get arrested for marijuana selling. As long as you buy from an authorized dealer you will not get arrested simply for buying or using. But there is one marijuana related arrest that is actually on the rise. Because marijuana does cause impairment it is…

News Scan

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ISIS Suspect Planned Route Through Mexico:  A document filed Wednesday by prosecutors in a case against an American man accused to trying to join the Islamic State terrorist group described the man's plan to open up routes from Syria to the U.S. through Mexico.  Fox News Latino reports that 21-year-old Gules Ali Omar and a group of his friends in Minnesota's Somali community plotted to join the Islamic State, communicating with the foreign terror group's members about the route so it could be used to send fighters to America to carry out terrorist attacks.  Omar and four others have pleaded not guilty to multiple charges, including conspiracy to commit murder outside the U.S.  Their trial begins May 9.  Five other men have pleaded guilty to one count each of conspiracy to support a foreign terrorist organization and another is at large, believed to be in Syria.  According to the FBI, approximately 12 people have left Minnesota in…

Dispute Between Neighbors Results in Court of Appeals Ruling Regarding Drunk Driving

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What began as a dispute between neighbors over loud music resulted in the Michigan Court of Appeals ruling that it is not illegal to operate a vehicle in your own driveway after drinking too much. According to a report at Michigan Public Radio Network, a man was charged with OWI after a neighbor called police repeatedly because of loud music. Apparently, the man who had consumed a substantial amount of liquor was sitting in his car in his own driveway, listening to music. When police arrived, an officer witnessed the man back his vehicle out of the garage, then drive it back in. Because he never left his driveway, the defendant argued there was no crime committed. In a two-to-one decision, the Michigan Court of Appeals agreed, finding the charge was not supportable as that specific area of the driveway was not generally accessible to other vehicles or the public. Continue reading
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