I can no longer remember a time when New York City’s police force was not informally referred to by NY politicians as “OUR FINEST.” Understandably, they never told us Finest What. Surely, they could not have meant NY’s finest citizens, thereby putting down the firefighters, emergency ambulance squads, and the people themselves. In truth, they…
Domestic Law
THE JACKSON/SHARPTON CAMARILLA
I regret I am not sufficiently steeped in the history of Jackson/Sharpton politics either to confirm or dispute the interpretation of these two civil rights leaders by the WSWS. [World Socialist Website] It is an extremely vigorous attack that borders on virulence and merits the attention of all those concerned with distinguishing socialist politics from…
ZAP ‘EM GOOD AND DEAD WITH TASERS
Reprinted with appreciation and without permission from World Socialist Website [WSWS] http://www.wsws.org/articles/2012/mar2012/tase-m10.shtml Over 10,000 mentally ill Michigan inmates face Tasers and torture By Debra Watson 10 March 2012 The recent authorization of the use of Tasers in Michigan prisons has focused attention on the inhuman conditions inflicted on mentally ill inmates. Civil rights organizations have…
MY MISERABLE FATE
Am I forever destined to be the only person in America with an understanding of criminal law? I do not see any other possible conclusion. Consider the agony I endured when I read about Thomas A. Drake, a former National Security Agency official who mishandled classified information and faced an indictment on ten felony counts…
BANG BANG/ GUNS ARE IN THE NEWS
In the light of a loony’s attack in Arizona, people are once again thinking hard about guns. PEW just did a poll and here is what it found. Men 57% say protect the right to own guns. 40% say gun control is more important. Women split 37% to 58% on that. 44% of those between…
HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL
As the tired old chestnut goes, this is the first year of the rest of your life. And, if you can enjoy it, you are a certifiable lunatic, utterly concentrated on your own good fortune and completely indifferent to the rest of the world. If you wish, I will send you a certificate suitable for…
LIFE WITHOUT A PREFRONTAL LOBE
When you are feeling bad about your life, remember this: you could be a lawyer. In 2006, the Supreme Court ruled juveniles cannot be executed for their crimes. This spring, the Court ruled life sentences for juvenile murderers without the possibility of parole is also a No No. Now, the Court is considering whether juveniles…
THE QUALITY OF MERCY IS NOT STRAINED
The Merchant of Venice, 1596. Portia speaks: The quality of mercy is not strain’d, It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven Upon the place beneath: it is twice blest; It blesseth him that gives and him that takes: ‘Tis mightiest in the mightiest: it becomes The throned monarch better than his crown; That being…
IS NO ADVICE GOOD ADVICE?
From the NY Times, March 21, 2010 The Supreme Court ruled that lawyers for people thinking of pleading guilty to a crime must advise their clients who are not citizens about the possibility that they will be deported. “It is our responsibility under the Constitution to ensure that no criminal defendant — whether a citizen…
LA TOYA JACKSON SINGS “HAPPY DAYS ARE HERE AGAIN”
U.S. Bankruptcy Judge James Peck in New York ruled for La Toya Jackson on Aug. 5 in rejecting a motion to reopen her Chapter 11 case. Jackson filed in 1995 and emerged from bankruptcy in 1999. A trust representing four unsecured creditors who were receiving monthly royalty payments from Jackson had not received any of…
QUI TAM LIVES
In common law, a writ of qui tam is a writ whereby a private individual who assists a prosecution can receive all or part of any penalty imposed. Creating qui tam and whistleblower protection is the best way to root out fraud in the government. On July 15, 2010 Congress passed the Wall Street Reform…
NOBODY NEEDS A LAWYER LIKE A LAWYER
No one doubts that on the whole lawyers are among the most incompetent people in any profession. They are also among the least honest, and now it turns out they are the most litigious, too. National Law. During 2009-2010 term, some 20 percent of the decision docket involved cases on lawyering. Marcia Coyle From client…
A SAD DAY FOR DEMOCRACY
Despite the fact that the liberal press is condemning Arizona for its new, anti-immigrant law, most Americans are happy with it. The PEW Research Center reports these depressing findings. Fully 73% of Americans say they approve of requiring people to produce documents verifying their legal status if police ask for them. Two-thirds (67%) approve of…
TOYOTA’S GROWING PROBLEMS
from National Law Journal……………..Dozens of lawsuits against Toyota Motor Corp. claiming unintended acceleration of its vehicles are moving along in state courts. Lobbyists for Toyota are scrambling to rebuild its image with lawmakers……………Since 2003, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration opened — and closed — five investigations of sudden unintended acceleration in Toyota and Lexus…
MEXICO AT WAR WITH ARIZONA
Mexico leader fires up immigration row at start of US visit. By Jordi Zamora, Agence France-Presse WASHINGTON—President Felipe Calderon hit out Wednesday at “discrimination” against Mexican immigrants in Arizona, as the row over the state’s draconian new immigration law risked overshadowing his US visit. Calderon refused to hold his punches at the start of his…
THE RIGHTS OF FELONS
Roanoke.com…………By Julian Walker The (Norfolk) Virginian-Pilot and Michael Sluss Felons who have fully paid their debts to society and properly applied to regain voting rights will receive a decision on their request to have their rights restored within 60 days under a plan Gov. Bob McDonnell called “the fastest and fairest procedure for restoring people’s…
A PRETTY GIRL IS LIKE A MELODY
A new Cornell University study found unattractive defendants are 22% more likely to be convicted and are likely to receive sentences that average 22 months longer than their better-looking counterparts. The study, “When Emotionality Trumps Reason,” was based on responses from 169 Cornell psychology students. Jack King, spokesman for the National Association of Criminal Defense…
SOME ARE MORE EQUAL THAN OTHERS
Mr. Obama does not like the “historic” health care bill he shepherded in and inflicted on the American people. At least, he does not like it for himself. He boasted that it will affect every American family but the new health care law exempts the president from having to participate in it. It also exempts…
IT’S THE LAW!
Skip the cops or it is no contest. There is not a single honest cop in any city whose population is over 250,000. In fact, there isn’t one who doesn’t commit at least two felonies per week – and if you want, I can prove that. However, the battle for the next most awful subculture…
SENSE VS. NONSENSE IN MARIJUANA POLICY
Not all is lost in the war against the war. Sane people are trying to change the mad laws against the use of marijuana. Among them is Steve Fox, the director of state campaigns for the Marijuana Policy Project, the nation’s largest organization dedicated to reforming marijuana laws. Previously, from 2002-2005, Steve lobbied Congress for…
PROSECUTORIAL IMMUNITY AND SHENANIGANS
National Law Journal – The U.S. Supreme Court announced late Monday that it had dismissed an important pending case over prosecutorial immunity after being alerted that the dispute had been settled. The action stops in its tracks a case that could have produced a landmark decision that many believed would have reined in the longstanding…
DECADE’S BIGGEST LAW STORIES
National Law Journal picks the most important law stories of the last ten years. For fuller accounts, please CLICK HERE. 1. War on terror tests the limits of law 2. Accounting scandals flood the courts 3. Court splits on race and gender 4. Prosecutors behaving badly 5. The ruling that picked a president 6. Death…
AND YOU’RE WORRYING ABOUT HEALTH CARE?
Bad health care is bad business, no doubt about it. Still, the problem pales in comparison to injustice and corruption. Take a peek at these facts – just for starters: 48 states prohibit prisoners from voting. 30 states also exclude felons on probation. In Alabama, Arizona, Florida, Kentucky, Mississippi, Nevada, Tennessee, and Virginia, certain ex-felons…
LAW AS A CAREER. LET’S HOPE NOT.
[SG: Law students never go through a phase that medical students do. That phase is an interest in one's future profession for the good that profession does. Almost half the people who go to medical school say they went into the field because they wanted to make sick people well. That is a pretty astoundingly…
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