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Crime & Federalism 
Discussing recent news and court opinions, with an emphasis on federalism, criminal law, and civil rights actions.
Post Frequency: 8.6/day Last Entry: April 01, 2011 at 15:45:19 Recent Entries: 1840
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The NYTPicker
Posted on September 09, 2009Media bias discussions are frustrating. The ones who mention media bias are right-wing goons. The Left has no problem with the Times. One cannot have an interesting discussion with fools. There is no doubt that the New York Times is incredibly biased...
SEC and BOA Conspire to Trick Judge Rakoff
Posted on September 09, 2009When two people pretend to be adversaries to commit fraud on a federal judge, a problem emerges: Keeping a bunch of lawyers "on message" ain't easy. The SEC and Bank of America lawyers are going to learn this lesson, as Judge Jed S. Rakoff is not going to like their latest ruse...
Scalia's New Police Professionalism: Two Counter-Memes
Posted on September 08, 2009In Hudson v. Michigan, Justice Antonin Scalia argued that the exclusionary rule was unnecessary because of "[a]nother development over the past half-century that deters civil-rights violations," namely, "the increasing professionalism of police forces, including a new emphasis on internal police discipline...
Al-Kidd v. Ashcroft and Material Witness Warrants
Posted on September 08, 2009There seems to be a lot of confusion regarding the history, purpose, and actual law of the material witness statute, 18 U.S.C. 3144. In 2005, the Congressional Research Service published a characteristically helpful summary of the material witness statute: "Arrest and Detention of Material Witnesses:Federal Law In Brief and Section 12 of the USA PATRIOT and Terrorism Prevention Reauthorization Act...
Southern Justice
Posted on September 06, 2009Fire chief shot by police for complaining, in open court, about excessive ticketing.
On Vacation: Reading, Not Writing
Posted on September 04, 2009Norm Pattis peeks behind the curtain. Three parts: I, II, III. Lots of drama and name calling in the comments. Anonymous people call other anonymous people cowards for being anonymous. Lawyers claim that tax records and lease agreements don't mean anything...
"Chasing Small Fry, S.E.C. Let Madoff Get Away"
Posted on September 03, 2009The modern American prosecutorial novella has a simple theme. Federal prosecutors ignore rich and powerful people like Bernie Madoff. Instead, they prosecute small targets. This June, 2009 New York Times article is typical: Three months ago, in a courtroom in Bridgeport, Conn...
Prosecutorial Misconduct in the United States Department of Justice
Posted on September 02, 2009In 2009 alone, federal judges have identified several cases of prosecutorial misconduct. All of these prosecutors are still serving with the Department of Justice: Sean Cronin Rachel Cannon Adam Reeves Juliet Sorensen Brenda Morris William Welch II Karen Ann Escobar Suzanne Sullivan Andrea Hoffman Again, that is from 2009 alone...
American Bar Association Issues New Guidelines on Prosecutorial Ethics
Posted on September 02, 2009The American Bar Associate recently issued an important opinion expanding a prosecutor's ethical duties. Significantly, the ABA has interpreted the Rules of Professional Conduct to be more demanding than constitutional requirements under Brady v. Maryland...
"Prosecutors Run Amok"
Posted on September 02, 2009Kathleen Ridolfi has a must-read column in the Daily Journal (subscription only) about prosecutorial misconduct. This statistic should make everyone queasy: I was a contributor to a recent study published by the California Commission on the Fair Administration of Justice that detailed how California appellate courts found prosecutors committed misconduct in 444 cases...
Judge Stephen Reinhardt's Footnote Five
Posted on September 02, 2009Today in a fascinating criminal case, Judge Stephen Reinhardt inserted an interesting footnote into his concurring opinion. After critizing the Ninth Circuit and Supreme Court for making up the defintions of words - i.e., engaging in judicial activism - in order to affirm criminal convictions, he wrote: Other ways, of course, [to earn more public trust and respect than we...
The Perils of Good Lawyering
Posted on September 02, 2009This is the second time my friend's life has been in real danger.
Journalist has Proof that Paulson Lied to Congress about TARP
Posted on September 02, 2009Former Treasury Secretary Henry Pauslon requested $700 billion from Congress. He told Congress that he intended to use the money to buy mortgage-backed securities. Five days after he recieved the $700 billion, he used it to pay billions to Goldman Sachs via AIG...
Keeping the Heat on Sean Cronin
Posted on September 01, 2009John Pacenti, I like your style: Where in the world is federal prosecutor Sean Cronin? Those in the know are certainly not offering the whereabouts of the Miami Assistant U.S. Attorney at the center of a prosecutorial misconduct investigation. The Miami U...
"Dog Days Turn Deadly in America's Prisons"
Posted on September 01, 2009Mother Jones has this disturbing article about prison conditions: The summer of 2009 hadn't even begun when Marcia Powell, a 48-year old inmate at Arizona?s Perryville Prison, was baked to death. Powell, whom court records show had a history of schizophrenia, substance abuse, and mild mental retardation, was serving a 27-month sentence for prostitution...
Section 1983 Blog: Blog Spin-off
Posted on August 31, 2009We're spinning a blog off. All of Crime & Federalism's Section 1983-related posts are going to be posted to a new blog, creatively entitled: Section 1983 Blog. That blog will provide serious legal analysis only. It will be more technical than our postings here...
Prosecutorial Misconduct and the Problems of the Middle Class
Posted on August 30, 2009The Zhenli Ye Gon case was dismissed due to prosecutorial misconduct. (Details here.) How was the misconduct discovered? Zhenli Ye Gon was a rich drug dealer whom federal prosecutors deemed unworthy of a fair trial. And so prosecutors hid evidence. Fortunately for Ye Gon, he was able to pay lawyers to work tirelessly on his case...
Rachel Cannon, AUSA, is an Unethical Prosecutor
Posted on August 28, 2009Another day, another unethical federal prosecutor: A federal judge has found that a prosecutor in U.S. Atty. Patrick Fitzgerald's office committed prosecutorial misconduct by allowing a government witness to testify falsely in a drug conspiracy trial that resulted in the convictions of four defendants in March...
District Attorney David Paulson Found Liable for Retaliation
Posted on August 28, 2009This is an interesting jury verdict: Solano County, Calif., District Attorney David Paulson retaliated against a bail bondsman who slammed the prosecutor in a newspaper ad, a federal court jury decided Wednesday. Paulson and his chief investigator, Al Garza, acted with malice when they sought a temporary restraining order against Joel Thomas "Tom" Toler and then unsuccessfully pursued charges that...
Mike Tyson Talks About Prison
Posted on August 27, 2009This is part of an older series of videos with one of the most interesting men to ever live, Mike Tyson. The video will autoplay at 3:20 (where Mr. Tyson discusses his time in prison):
Barack Obama Gives Kickback to George Soros
Posted on August 27, 2009On August 15, 2008, Bloomberg repoted: Billionaire investor George Soros bought an $811 million stake in Petroleo Brasileiro SA in the second quarter, making the Brazilian state-controlled oil company his investment fund's largest holding. On August 19, 2009, the Wall Street Journal reported: Obama Underwrites Offshore Drilling You read that headline correctly...
A First Amendment Right to Receive Campaign Contributions?
Posted on August 27, 2009Dean v. Blumenthal (2d Cir.; here) held that if there is a right to receive campaign contribution, the right is not clearly established. Very interesting case.
Qualified Immunity: Reasonably Believed that it was Reasonable?
Posted on August 27, 2009The always excellent "Wait a Second" blog has a post on qualified immunity. It's "inside baseball" sure to give you a headache if you're not versed in the controversy over whether qualified immunity gives an officer two chances to show reasonableness...
Sherlock Holmes Flips an Uncooperative Witness
Posted on August 26, 2009In "The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle," Sherlock Holmes discovers that a stolen gem had been hidden inside the carcass of a goose. In order to uncover the thief, Holmes had to learn who sold the goose to the butcher. The butcher was unwilling to answer Holmes question...
Was Cameron Todd Willingham the First Innocent Man to be Executed?
Posted on August 26, 2009I don't know enough about the case to have an opinion. This American Statesman article is troubling: The fatal house fire that led Texas to execute Cameron Todd Willingham in 2004 was erroneously ruled to be arson by fire investigators who relied on bad science, unproven theories and personal bias, a state-funded analysis concludes...
William D. Cohan is on Goldman Sachs' Payroll
Posted on August 26, 2009William D. Cohan wrote a puff-piece about Goldman Sachs in the most recent issue of Time. The end of the article describes Cohan thusly: "Cohan, a contributing editor at FORTUNE, is the author, most recently, of House of Cards: A Tale of Hubris and Wretched Excess on Wall Street...
A Fun Kindle 2 Experiment
Posted on August 26, 2009I recently received my Kindle 2. I thought of a lovely experiment you should consider trying. Many books are available for free download on the Kindle 2. These books are free because their copyrights have expired. They are, in a word, old. For the next 30 days, I am not going to purchase any books...
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Do parents have the right to NOT turn in a sexual offender?
No. The offender should be turned in regardless of any disability (1), or reason...
Can someone detained in a search w/ warrant, be charged with a crime related to the search if they were not arrested at the time of the search?
The police have fairly wide discretion on when they can make an arrest so long a...
I was a bookkeeper for a recreation center. The Center Director left and a new director took over. I went to work one day and some of my files were missing. I called our computer tech and her restored the files (I had ma
In order for a crime to be established you need to conclusively prove that the D...
If I was detained by citizens unlawfully, and then the police showed up...is everything they charged me with in-admissable?
Probably depends on the law of the state in which you live. Many states allow fo...
If I pay restitution, can I still be charged with a crime?
It sounds like the law in your area is treating it as a civil matter. That being...
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On 08-25 at 15:46PM
Acute perpendicular parking #NYPD #NYFD
On 08-18 at 22:18PM
Parallel parking gone bad. Too much gas UES NYC
On 08-18 at 21:41PM
UES NYC
On 08-18 at 21:25PM
Twitter suspends journalist critical of broadcast partner's coverage on dubious grounds @guyadams #nbcfail #twitterfail
On 07-30 at 17:57PM
Model example of 1st Amendment suppression by the People of New York City's Michael Bloomberg #OWS #NYPD
On 07-12 at 21:07PM
AG Holder lackadaisical on Operation in our Sites domain name seizures & RIAA lobbied free speech suppression @dajaz1
On 06-08 at 22:44PM
Why is the Catholic Church going to court over Obama contraception policy? @NewYorker commentary
On 05-31 at 10:08AM
Monks sue Louisiana for right to sell caskets made from forrest destroyed by Katrina
On 05-31 at 07:47AM
Are the abortion ultrasound laws headed for the Supreme Court?
On 05-15 at 21:52PM
Do parents have the right to NOT turn in a sexual offender?
No. The offender should be turned in regardless of any disability (1), or reason...
Can someone detained in a search w/ warrant, be charged with a crime related to the search if they were not arrested at the time of the search?
The police have fairly wide discretion on when they can make an arrest so long a...
I was a bookkeeper for a recreation center. The Center Director left and a new director took over. I went to work one day and some of my files were missing. I called our computer tech and her restored the files (I had ma
In order for a crime to be established you need to conclusively prove that the D...
If I was detained by citizens unlawfully, and then the police showed up...is everything they charged me with in-admissable?
Probably depends on the law of the state in which you live. Many states allow fo...
If I pay restitution, can I still be charged with a crime?
It sounds like the law in your area is treating it as a civil matter. That being...
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