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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

The Realpolitik of the Stevens Dismissal

Posted on April 08, 2009
George Washington University professor Jonathan Turley, the preeminent voice on corruption in Alaska politics, thinks that Attorney General Eric Holder moved to dismiss the Stevens cases to avoid further scrutiny of the DOJ's handling of the prosecution: The decision of Attorney General Eric Holder to drop the case was portrayed as an act of self-discipline by the Justice Department...

Federal Judge Fed Up With Brenda Morris and William Welch II

Posted on April 07, 2009
U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan has lost all patience with the unethical DOJ lawyers who prosecuted former Senator Ted Stevens: Note to the Justice Department, FBI and IRS: Don't destroy any evidence in the Ted Stevens prosecution. That order came from U...

Need Help From Texas Lawyer

Posted on April 07, 2009
Marcus Luttrell's dog was murdered. (Details here.) Four people were involved. Luttrell heard all four of the dog killers laughing and joking. Two of the dog killers are claiming to be "witnesses," and thus have no been identified by the media. Based on a quirk in the law, they might escape criminal prosecution...

Alfonso Hernadez and Michael Edmunds Murdered Marcus Luttrell's Dog

Posted on April 07, 2009
The very sad story is here. Four men aged 18-24 went around killing dogs. Two are claiming to be witnesses. If anyone finds out who these "witnesses" are, please let me know so that we can identify them prominently on the blog.

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Another Report from the Ted Stevens Case

Posted on April 07, 2009
Unfortunately I don't live in D.C., so I couldn't attend these hearings. Fortunately the Legal Times has been providing excellent coverage. The latest: U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan said Tuesday that in his 25 years on the bench, he had never seen anything approaching the "mishandling and misconduct" perpetrated by the government in the case of former Alaskan Sen...

Brenda Morris, Other Stevens Prosecutors to Face Criminal Contempt Proceedings

Posted on April 07, 2009
Wow. Dissatisfied with the pace of DOJ's internal investigation into the bungled prosecution, Sullivan said today that he would commence criminal contempt proceedings against the original trial team and their supervisor, and appoint a non-government lawyer to prosecute the case...

What is a "Cigar Band"?

Posted on April 06, 2009
EBay prohibits people from selling cigars on eBay. In order to get around this prohibition, sellers advertise their cigar products as CIGAR BAND ONLY. See, e.g., this auction: The Value is in the thirteen bands as the cigars were stored well but not for consumption...

Phoenix Police Raid Home of Local Police-Misconduct Blogger

Posted on April 06, 2009
This hasn't hit the national news yet. Nonetheless, Prison Planet reports: In what should send a frightening chill down the spine of every blogger, writer, journalist and First Amendment advocate in the United States, Phoenix police raided the home of a blogger who has been highly critical of the department...

Using Hypnotic Techniques for Persuasion

Posted on April 06, 2009
[Editor's note: This post is rough. I am still synthesizing these issues. I hope others will explore these issues with me. I've been reading Handbook of Hypnotic Suggestions and Metaphors (here); and My Voice Will Go With You: The Teaching Tales of Milton H...

George Orwell on Metaphors

Posted on April 05, 2009
From "Politics and the English Language": By using stale metaphors, similes, and idioms, you save much mental effort, at the cost of leaving your meaning vague, not only for your reader but for yourself. This is the significance of mixed metaphors. The sole aim of a metaphor is to call up a visual image...

Truckers Are Serial Killers

Posted on April 05, 2009
It took law enforcement how long to realize this? The FBI suspects that serial killers working as long-haul truckers are responsible for the slayings of hundreds of prostitutes, hitchhikers and stranded motorists whose bodies have been dumped near highways over the last three decades...

Little Brother is Watching

Posted on April 03, 2009
Another average citizen catches abusive government officials on tape (via Kirkendall):

Jurors Aren't Human Lie Detectors

Posted on April 03, 2009
This has been a common theme at Crime & Federalism: One of the most important take aways from his book is that there are no definitive signs of deceit itself, only clues that the emotions don?t fit the lines. Though most people are not good lie detectors, I will limit my discussion to jurors...

More on Brenda Morris' Prosecutorial Misconduct

Posted on April 02, 2009
Brenda Morris, the lead attorney who committed prosecutorial misconduct in the Ted Stevens case, might have a history of prosecutorial misconduct. I'll investigate later. In the meantime, read this article: Two weeks before tax day, married lawyers Alan and Jean Brown were signing their names to the back of a familiar-looking green and yellow U...

Stevens' Case Motion to Dismiss: Must Read

Posted on April 01, 2009
I've obtained a copy of the Motion to Dismiss the Department of Justice filed in the Ted Stevens prosecution. The motion itself is only two pages. You must read it. You may download it here. In the motion, DOJ admits that the prosecutors hid evidence from the defense...

Legal Experts Opine on Stevens Case Dismissal

Posted on April 01, 2009
Today, citing prosecutorial misconduct, Attorney General Eric Holder has moved to dismiss the corruption charges against former Senator Ted Stevens. Thus far, legal experts are not impressed. Law professor Jonathan Turley, who has followed corruption in Alaska politics for over a decade, states: The Justice Department will be dropping all charges against former Senator Ted Steven (R...

DOJ to Dismiss Charges in Senator Ted Stevens Case

Posted on April 01, 2009
Senator Ted Stevens was a corrupt man. He has probably broken as many laws as he shepherd through Congress. Finally, the Public Integrity Section of the Department of Justice was able to build a case against him. The case was strong. Unfortunately for the public, Ted Stevens will never see prison walls...

Wrongful Conviction Watch: Man Released From Prison After 12 Years

Posted on March 31, 2009
DNA Evidence Frees Black Man Convicted Of Bear Attack

Legal Nonsense

Posted on March 31, 2009
Only the law would make people hire an expensive expert witness to testify that poker is a game of skill rather than a game of luck. Whether the legal system is a game of luck or skill is perhaps a more interesting issue.

What is Incivility?

Posted on March 31, 2009
An friend is defending a client who is facing a frivolous lawsuit. There is no debate that the lawsuit is frivolous. My friend has written very polite letters. Imagine, though, that he wrote the following: Hey f--k sticks. This lawsuit is s--t. You are worthless f---s...

Twitter-Bloggers

Posted on March 30, 2009
I've recently started using Twitter. Most of the people I follow are bloggers. What do most of them Twitter about? Their blogs! The updates I read look like this: "I have a new blog post." That's all they do! Guys and gals, I already read your blogs. That's how I know you...

Crime and Credit Card Companies

Posted on March 30, 2009
Imagine you hired me to work for you. We agreed that you would pay me $1,000 a month. I decided to change the terms of the deal without telling you; or by whispering my raise to you while you were on the phone with an angry client. I'd look inside your office, whisper, "Raise," and you'd shoo me away...

Mental Health and Civil Litigation

Posted on March 30, 2009
Norm Pattis has a good post up about crazy litigants. He presents a problem that, alas, might not have a solution. Everyone knows that at least 90% of pro se litigants are nuts. They are called rabid pro se litigants for a reason. What do you do? Not let them file lawsuits? Would that be constitutional? Moral? Should judges mandate...

Power and Control

Posted on March 29, 2009
An excellent post on the true nature of government. Here is what happens to an ordinary citizen who does not respect a cop's authoritas. This post also illustrates why it's logically impossible to be politically liberal but claim to care about freedom...

Lovelle Mixon/Cop Killer Rally

Posted on March 27, 2009
This video segment raises many interesting issues: When the Klan or other white-sponsored hate groups march, there is usually a counter-march. Where was the counter-march during the pro-Lovelle Mixon rally? Should Al Sharpton and other leaders of the black community be condemned for not sponsoring a counter-march...

What's Your Excuse?

Posted on March 27, 2009

Lawyer-As-Insurance-Salesman

Posted on March 26, 2009
There is a low probability that you will be convicted. This low probability event would, however, be catastrophic. We must consider the risks. Yes, yes. Uh-hum. Therefore, you need to purchase Trial Insurance. Unfortunately, it's only sold by the State...

Science and Eastern Religious Concepts

Posted on March 26, 2009
Every (Western) religious person wants to reconcile science and religion. Why? I don't know. If faith is based on faith, then have faith. Seeking scientific validation is as unfaithful as it gets. Still, the fantastic irony is that science has not reconciled anything with Western religion...

Kiva.Org: The Unchartity

Posted on March 25, 2009
You should consider "giving" to Kiva.org. It's not a charity. Rather, it's a program that does everything that the United States welfare system does not do: Encourages the poor to do something other than bilk taxpayers. You can check the site out here...

Cops Don�t Deserve a Defense?

Posted on March 24, 2009
Tell a criminal defense lawyer that your client is accused of child rape, and that during the rape, an 8 year old had her vaginal wall torn. He won�t blink. He�ll probably make a joke. Tell him you�re representing a cop, and suddenly he gets righteous: "What's the matter with you?" The speaker is a good friend and a well-known...

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