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"Calling 911 from a phone to obtain its number does not ‘search’ it, court rules"

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Orin Kerr has this post at The Volokh Conspiracy. In part: I don’t think that reasoning works, as it’s mixing up two different questions: (1) whether calling from the phone is a search of the phone, and (2) whether, once...

Has the drug war really "made policing more violent"?

"Texas Governor announces Police Protection Act"

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From Jurist: Texas Governor Greg Abbott announced[press release] on Monday that he plans to propose a law providing for additional punishment for crimes against law enforcement officers. The proposed Police Protection Act (PPA) would extend hate crime protections to law...

Post Falls Man Sentenced to Ten Years in Prison for Murder for Hire and Drug Charges

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COEUR D'ALENE – Darin Kyle Taylor, 56, of Post Falls, Idaho, was sentenced today for use of interstate facilities in the commission of murder for hire, and possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine, U.S. Attorney Wendy J. Olson announced.Senior U.S. District Judge Edward J. Lodge sentenced Taylor to 120 months in prison, to be followed by three years supervised release for the use of interstate facilities in the commission of murder hire and 121 months in prison, to be followed by five years supervised release for possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine. Taylor pleaded guilty on December 15, 2015.According to the plea agreements, on June 17 and June 30, 2015, the Idaho State Police worked with a confidential informant to purchase methamphetamine from Taylor at his Post Falls residence. On July 1, 2015, Idaho State Police detectives served a search warrant at Taylor’s residence and seized…

Supervised Release and Linguistics– trial court’s erroneous revocation of supervised release and imposition of a term of incarceration is vacated for lack of jurisdiction: United States v. Marsh, _ F.3d _ (D.C. Circuit, No. 12-3096, July 19, 2016)

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A unanimous panel of the D.C. Circuit (Tatel, Srinivasan and Pillard, JJ), found error and vacated for lack of jurisdiction a 36- month term of imprisonment imposed on an appellants who had violated his conditions of supervised release by committing another felony offense. One would hope that Brian Marsh, who had completed his 63-month sentence for drug dealing and was on a four year term of supervised release, would have stayed out of trouble. Alas, that was not to be: nine months before his supervised release was to end, Mr. Marsh was indicted, arrested, and detained for new trafficking offenses. He pled guilty to those charges and was sentenced – in both instances after his original term of supervised release had expired. That new term brought Mr. Marsh a 150-month term and another five years of supervised release. Doubtless displeased with Mr. Marsh’s misadventures, the Government successfully petitioned for revocation of his earlier supervised release. The…

Please Rehear This Case, But Not Now

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Well, this is different.One of the big cases, and big disappointments, of the last Supreme Court term was United States v. Texas, 15-674.  Texas challenged the Obama Administration's deferred action program for illegal immigrants.  Texas won in the Fifth Circuit, and the Supreme Court, minus the late Justice Scalia, divided 4-4.  That means the Fifth Circuit decision stands, but no Supreme Court precedent is established.  It is as if the high court had never taken the case up at all.Now the Acting Solicitor General has filed a petition for rehearing asking for "rehearing of this case before a full nine-Member Court."  But who knows when the Supreme Court will have nine Justices again?  Is this a "springing" rehearing petition, filed now but activated only when a ninth Justice is confirmed?  Sounds like some dimly remembered nightmare from property law class.

WHEN WE ARE WRONG WE ARE WRONG

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Yesterday we posted our disappointment in the speakers at the Republican National Convention. But then the wife of Donald Trump (motto "I'm de vife, del vit it")  spoke, and having filled her speech with the words of First Lady Michelle Obama from 2008, we are forced to reconsider our criticism. Sometimes when we're wrong, it just pays to admit it and move on. Site Feed

Perhaps previewing coming SCOTUS work in Beckles, four Eleventh Circuit judges make case against circuit's refusal to apply Johnson to guidelines


Earn money by participating in a focus group in Oklahoma City

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Laird Hammons Laird is looking for people of all walks of life for two focus groups this August in Oklahoma City. Focus groups help our attorneys prepare for trial and give our clients the best representation possible. All backgrounds are encouraged to apply. We have two focus groups planned: August 2 and August 16. The focus groups meet from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. in our office at 1332 SW 89th in Oklahoma City. The pay is $60, and we provide drinks and snacks. To apply, copy and paste the form below and email it to averi@lhllaw.com. You must complete the following questions in full. Applications without complete answers will not be considered. We will contact the participants of the August 2 focus group by July 26. The participants of the August 16 focus group will be contacted by August 9. If you are selected, we will send you more information about participating in the focus group. Focus Group Questions Full name: Cell phone: Home phone: Number you can be reached at between 9 a.m.…

Federal judge refuses to accept plea of LA County Sheriff Lee Baca for obstruction because of inadequacy of maximum sentence of six months in

Selective Mourning

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We're often admonished by the Left not to draw conclusions until all the facts are in. That's sound advice, in the abstract.  The problem is how it gets applied.  When a Jihadist engages in mass murder shouting "Allahu Akbar," we are told not to "jump to conclusions" about his motives.  But when a white policeman shoots an African American, it is assumed on the spot that the motive is racism.  This itchy eagerness to smear the cops was nowhere better illustrated  --  and its injustice nowhere more evident  -- than with Officer Darren Wilson in Ferguson, MO.  It is being repeated full bore with the shooting episodes in Baton Rouge and in Minneapolis, even though in each of those cities, as was the case early on in Ferguson, the full facts are not yet known.The Washington Times reports that Hillary Clinton has nonetheless met with the family of the man shot in Minnesota, Philando Castile, as part of a campaign…

Contractor Indicted for Providing False Lien Affidavits to Lender

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Michael P Kennedy was indicted by a Kentucky grand jury and charged with one count of bank fraud. Kennedy was part owner and manager of Kennedy Homes LLC, Fort Mitchell, Kentucky, which contracted to construct new homes in the Northern Kentucky and Cincinnati Ohio areas. The indictment alleges that, in January 2011, Kennedy Homes, entered into a construction […]

"Refusing a search is a right, not a provocation"

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Radley Balko has this post at The Washington Post, featured on the NACDL website, criticizing this advice given by police to a mostly African-American crowd: If an officer stops your car, if they ask to search your person or vehicle,...

Alleged Fraudster Used DOL OIG’s Digital Signature on Fake Transcript

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Edgar Avila aka Michael Mendez aka Michael Edgar Avila-Mendez, aka Michael AvMen was indicted on one charge of mail fraud and one charge of bank fraud in connection with two separate fraud schemes. According to the affidavit in support of the arrest warrant, in January 2014, Avila submitted a loan application to purchase a residence […]

Photo Arrays and How Criminal Defense Attorneys Can Help

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In our last blog post, we recounted how law enforcement could easily manipulate eyewitnesses to make them give damning testimony against you if you've been charged with a crime. One way that this can happen is through photo arrays – a binder or computer database of mugshots. If these photos are not put together properly, or if they're organized in an intentionally misleading way, it can lead to an eyewitness identifying you as the person who they saw committing a crime, even if you were nowhere near the crime scene. However, just because an eyewitness incorrectly identifies you as the perpetrator does not mean that this evidence can't be challenged. Having a good criminal defense attorney on your side throughout the process can help immensely, especially if a photo array was used to help an eyewitness make an identification. Eyewitnesses Are Far From Reliable Despite the weight that the law and law enforcement puts on an eyewitness' testimony during…

Amending the Bill of Rights

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The WSJ has this editorial, titled Clinton to Madison: Get Me Rewrite."Today, I'm announcing that in my first 30 days as President, I will propose a constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United and give the American people--all of us--the chance to reclaim our democracy," Mrs. Clinton said in a taped speech to the Netroots Nation conference of progressives. First 30 days? Who knew the 225-year-old First Amendment was in need of such urgent revision?Is amending the Bill of Rights fair game?  How about getting rid of the defendant's privilege not to testify in a criminal case?  Can we give it the heave-ho?  Probably not.But those who agree with Mrs. Clinton would say her amendment does not change the real First Amendment, just a misinterpretation of it by the Supreme Court.  Fair enough.  Let's have an amendment to scrape off all the barnacles attached to the criminal law and procedure provisions of the Bill of Rights that…

Gross on Native American Jury Pool Representation

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Jordan Gross (University of Montana School of Law) has posted Let the Jury Fit the Crime: Increasing Native American Jury Pool Representation in Federal Judicial Districts with Indian Country Criminal Jurisdiction (Montana Law Review, Forthcoming) on SSRN. Here is the...

Tuesday Night Open Thread: RNC Alternative TV Watching

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Donald Trump is the official nominee of the Republican Party. More interesting: Last's night 3 hour finale for Senor de Los Cielos. Here is the last hour of the finale with the wedding and huge shootout (instigated by the Mexican marines and... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

Kleck et al. on Gun Control and Violent Crime

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Gary Kleck, Tomislav Victor Kovandzic and Jon Bellows (Florida State University College of Criminology and Criminal Justice, University of Alabama at Birmingham - Department of Justice Sciences and 18th Judicial District of North Carolina) have posted Does Gun Control Reduce...

"Swing Precints"

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If Hillary doesn't build her base in the urban areas to dismantle the vote in "swing precincts" she will lose the election.The story of the Obama campaign was that he built up such a reservoir of votes in the larger cities that he made the "swing precincts" virtually non-existent.He did that by appealing to huge pockets of the minority vote.Hillary doesn't have that luxury.  So she's going to have win some of those districts.She will take Virginia away from Trump by nominating Virginia's governor, Tim Kaine, as Vice-President.So we now know where this battle will be fought.The rural areas of Michigan, Ohio, and Florida. Colorado will go Democrat.Pennsylvania will go Republican.  I know that Hillary's ill made remarks on the coal industry were made right before the West Virginia primary, but they were heard loud and clear by Pennsylvania workers.  The labor base in Pennsylvania and West Virginia share a lot in common.…
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