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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
Go to Crime & Federalism, find other Criminal Law blogs, or browse all law blogs.
When Caught in a Lie: Deny, Deny, Deny
Posted on April 23, 2009This is hilarious. People get totally busted cheating on their girlfriends on the radio. The cheaters always deny it. No criminal lawyer will find any of this surprising. "But they have you on video." It wasn't me. Anyhow, this is funny. I haven't laughed so hard in weeks...
Liking Principle and Jury Persuasion
Posted on April 22, 2009According to the liking principle: People like people like them. Jurors are people. How can you show a juror that you are like him or her? Here is one lawyer's idea: [A trial lawyer] also showed some flair with his dress, sporting a tie that featured a wolf howling below a full moon...
The False Category of "Torture"
Posted on April 22, 2009Fire a missile into a building knowing that 100% of the enemy will not die. Fire a missile into a building knowing that some will survive. Some will have third-degree burns. Their skin will peel off of their legs when the clothing that has melted into the soldier's skin is removed...
Blagojevich: Profile in Pathological Narcissism
Posted on April 22, 2009If you look deep enough, this superficial article provides a great look into a pathological mind.
More Good Thoughts on Torture
Posted on April 22, 2009From a former Assistant United States Attorney; good reading. The entire discussion of torture is a great illustration of how morality shapes facts. The torture-related issues should be separate. First, is torture effective in gathering intelligence? Second, if so, should we use it? People don't reason that way...
Good Thoughts on Torture
Posted on April 21, 2009Good post. I've never opposed torture. It has its uses. It was just bothersome to hear hacks claim that water boarding wasn't torture. I've always said, "Yeah, water boarding is torture. So what?" If you know a guilty person has information that would save an innocent party, then the decision to torture is easy...
Tea Parties and Media Propoganda
Posted on April 21, 2009The people at these rallies seem a bit odd. Fair enough. Yet watch this video. Tell me that CNN did not deliberately lie in its coverage of the tea party. CNN is a propaganda agent for the Obama Administration.
Tea Party Protesters Boo Republican Gresham Barrett
Posted on April 21, 2009Think what you will of the people who attend these various tea parties. Maybe they are crazy. Who knows. That said, the media has lied about the tea parties. The people attending these rallies are not pleased with Republicans, either. The tea parties are not part of some Republican conspiracy...
We've Got a Friend in Israel
Posted on April 21, 2009Today it's being reported that Israel has an American Congressperson in their back pocket. Jane Harman of California made a deal with a pro-Israel lobby to sell out American interests in order to further Israeli interests. How lovely. Most Americans do not know this, but Israel blew up a United States naval vessel in 1967...
Coherent Stories are Better than True Stories
Posted on April 20, 2009At a story telling seminar, one lesson stuck to my ribs. It's something I've thought about for the past half-decade. This might be mundane to you. To me, it was life-altering: It's better that a story be coherent than true. We could talk about that idea for hours, from various angles...
The-World-As-Math
Posted on April 20, 2009I never got into hard math. It required some work. As a student, I wasn't interested in work. I could read/write/bullshit with ease. Over the past couple of years - as I've thought more about pluralistic perception - I've appreciated math. Math is everywhere...
Plea Agreement in International Drug Smuggling Cases Better Be International
Posted on April 20, 2009Because the barriers of entry to practice criminal law are low, you often see a lot of hacks practicing criminal law. You see a lot of malpractice. Usually, you feel sorry for the client. "How could the lawyer have been so incompetent?" Sometimes, though, you read a case that scares you...
TicketVoid.Com is Spam; Steven L. Hill is an Unethical Lawyer
Posted on April 19, 2009Colorado lawyer Steven L. Hill has hired a company to spam hundreds (thousands?) of websites, to promote his new company, TicketVoid.com. Spamming is unethical. Moreover, it appears that Steven Hill doesn't even have any experience with DUI law. You may read the details here.
Report on Right Wing Extremism
Posted on April 16, 2009For your review. (It could be a hoax report.) Download Extremismreport
Cognitive Dissonance, Racial Profiling, and Right-Wing Extremists
Posted on April 16, 2009Shouldn't all of these statements be true (or false)? Black people commit more crimes than whites. Therefore, racially profiling should be allowed. Muslim males were responsible for the first World Trade Center bombing. They were also responsible for 9/11...
The Torture Memos Have Been Released
Posted on April 16, 2009Here are the full memos. Some pretty troubling stuff (via Gowder.)
Tour the AlloSphere
Posted on April 15, 2009Free yourself from distractions for the next 6 minutes. Turn off the phone and ignore your e-mail. Watch this video. Inhale the sights and sounds with your brain, as if you were taking a deep breath of oxygen. Whoa:
"My Stroke of Insight"
Posted on April 15, 2009This is a fantastic video. Brain scientist Jill Bolte Taylor had a massive stroke. What was her stroke like? What insights did she have? This is a must-watch video: She has a great book out, too: For years I have been able to do what she describes - namely split whether or not my left or right brain controlled my...
9/11, Cognitive Bias, and the Official Explanation
Posted on April 14, 2009We all know how the World Trade Center's Two Towers fell down. An airplane hit them. Jet fuel coated fire-resistant iron. There was a fire. The fire-resistant steel lost all strength. The building went into a controlled free fall - just like a building in a controlled demolition does...
Why Sir Thomas More is Burning in Hell
Posted on April 14, 2009Tom Kirkendall has "The Trial of St. Thomas More" videos here. I used to respect Thomas More; and I can quote A Man for All Seasons. Yet here is something most don't know: Thomas More burned Lutherans at the stake. So the man who would "give the Devil benefit of law," burned people to death for not accepting Catholic dogma...
Scientific Bias: Overt and Covert
Posted on April 14, 2009Imagine I promised a $1,000,000 prize to any group of scientists who could prove that 9/11 was caused by a controlled demolition. When researchers proved what I asked them to prove: Would you take their assertions seriously? Or would you say, "This is unreliable pay-for-play...
Storytelling Tip
Posted on April 14, 2009What words and phrases describe a subject's mental state? Lots of fantastic stuff here.
Lies That Scientists Tell (And that You Believed or Still Believe)
Posted on April 14, 2009A list I will update on my whim. Feel free to add to the list: Lie: Until very recently, scientists claimed that steroids "didn't work." The Physicians Desk Reference stated that "anabolic steroids have not been shown to enhance athletic ability." Truth: That claim was so moronic that anyone who believed it isn't even worth talking to...
Obama's Lifting of Cuba Travel Restrictions Violates Equal Protection Clause
Posted on April 13, 2009What about me? WASHINGTON ? President Barack Obama directed his administration Monday to allow unlimited travel and money transfers by Cuban Americans to family in Cuba, and to take other steps to ease U.S. restrictions on the island, a senior administration official told The Associated Press...
High Five to Norm Pattis
Posted on April 13, 2009Norm Pattis got an acquittal in a very difficult case. The defendant, a police officer, was charged with stealing funds intended for informants. The story is here.
Less Law in a Lawyer's Blog
Posted on April 12, 2009Norm Pattis is cutting down on his legal blogging, and he explains why. I applaud his decision. One-Dimensional Man may have been about materialism. It's a useful metaphor for lawyers, too.
Frank Ricci and Me and My White Privilege
Posted on April 12, 2009Frank Ricci was a firefighter with dyslexia. He wanted a promotion. He was willing to work for it. He worked several hours a day to prepare for a promotional exam. Since his reading wasn't very good, he hired someone to read firefighter's manuals onto audiotapes...
Federal Judge Sanctions Florida's United States Attorney (Sean Cronin and Andrea Hoffman Are Unethical Prosecutors)
Posted on April 10, 2009Another judge is taking prosecutorial misconduct seriously: In the wake of a prosecutorial misconduct scandal in the corruption case against former U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens in Washington, a Miami federal judge imposed extraordinary sanctions Thursday on federal prosecutors in South Florida for secretly taping the defense team of a physician who was ultimately acquitted in a prescription drug case...
Making an Unconscious Act a Conscious One
Posted on April 09, 2009How can you break bad habits? If that habit is the product of an unconscious act, there is a clever way of breaking the habit. From My Voice Will Go With You: A medically retired policeman told me, "I have emphysema, high blood pressure, and, as you can see, I am grossly overweight...
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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...

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...








