Follow Us
On Facebook:
On Twitter:
Category Archives: Criminal Justice Issues
The Hit-and-Run Homicide and the Fifth Amendment
On August 23 of last year, in Minneapolis (MN), Amy Senser apparently driving both while talking on a cellphone and possibly after a few drinks, hit a man and drove off without either stopping or notifying the police. The man died, though he might have been saved if help had … Continue reading
Public Enemies #9 and 10: How to Break Into the FBI Most Wanted List (and more Tuesday Morning Miscellany)
Michigan lawyer Gbenga Anjorin was quite active during the three years he practiced: now the state has to figure out what to do after discovering he didn’t have a license to practice Public Enemies Number 9 and 10 — how does somebody break into the FBI list? When a Hazing … Continue reading
Posted in Articles, Criminal Justice Issues, Lawsuits
Tagged FBI, hazing, lawsuits, lawyers, Most Wanted, Titanic
Leave a comment
Update: Federal Investigators Decrypt Ramona Fricosu’s Hard Drive
And just like that, all the court decisions made, all the court decisions waiting to be made, and all the constitutional issues are rendered moot.February 28, 2012: The case of the Colorado woman ordered to turn over the contents of her hard drive to federal investigators is on hold: at … Continue reading
Posted in Articles, Court Rulings, Criminal Justice Issues, Polls
Tagged Constitution, Fifth Amendment, polls, search warrants
42 Comments
When Should a Justice Be Recused?
Hamilton County (Ohio) prosecutor Joe Deters, in response to Ohio Supreme Court justice Paul Pfeifer’s recent comment that the death penalty system is “broken” and should be scrapped, sent out letters to prosecutors and judges across the state questioning whether Justice Pfeifer can be “fair to both sides,” and suggested … Continue reading
Wednesday Morning Miscellany
Ignorance is Bliss: Why, for forensic scientists, it’s sometimes better not to know so much Payback is a– Well, Actually It’s Sometimes a National Security Crisis: Don’t mess with your teenage daughter and her friends Sort of related: Appeals Court Rules Man Can Be Charged With Felony For Reading Wife’s … Continue reading
Why a California Assemblywoman Got Probation for Shoplifting
Last week, California Assemblywoman Mary Hayashi had shoplifting charges against her reduced to a misdemeanor, and was sentenced to three years probation. On October 23 of last year, she was arrested after leaving the upscale Nieman Marcus store in San Francisco with about $2500 worth of unpaid merchandise. Her lawyer … Continue reading
Can Police Execute a Warrantless Search Based on Smell Alone?
If police see evidence of a crime in plain sight — for example half a dozen bags sitting on the windowsill of your home, all labeled First National Bank with dollar signs underneath, just after the First National Bank was robbed — they can execute a search without a warrant. … Continue reading
Posted in Articles, Court Rulings, Criminal Justice Issues, Polls
Tagged Constitution, exigent circumstances, warrantless searches
19 Comments
Why New Yorkers Would Be Safer During Occupy Wall Street If More Of Them Had Guns
Press Release from the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms [October 24, 2011] A spike in crime over the past few weeks while New York City policemen and women have been diverted to deal with the on-going Occupy Wall Street protest proves that Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s … Continue reading
Assault With a Deadly Weapon, or Prosecutorial Over-reach?
When Prisscilla Mechell [spelling is correct] was arrested for abducting her friend’s baby and leaving her in a dumpster (the child was found and suffered no serious harm), she was charged with aggravated kidnapping, injury to a child, child abandonment… and assault with a deadly weapon. The dumpster was the … Continue reading
A Jury of Your Peers
A while back, I came across the story of a 78-year-old woman, facing trial for killing her 85-year-old former boyfriend, who claimed she couldn’t get a fair trial because, with state law offering automatic exemptions for jurors over the age of 70, she couldn’t get a “jury of her peers” … Continue reading
