
(866) 635-2689 for Personal Injury or (866) 635-9402 for Criminal Defense
Find a Local Lawyer
Divorce (866) 635-6190
Personal Injury (866) 635-2689
Criminal Defense (866) 635-9402
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.
Norm Pattis is Blogging Again
Posted on January 12, 2009Connecticut lawyer Norm Pattis has returned to blogging. He originally blogged at Crime & Federalism. Then we both quit, though I kept paying the light bills (or he did; I can't remember) in case one or both of us returned. For his first return, he blogged at his own site...
Alberto Gonzales Walks Into a Bar
Posted on January 12, 2009Alberto Gonzales, a rabbi, and Hindu priest were traveling and had to stop for the night at a farmer's house. Having only 2 extra beds, someone had to sleep in the barn.The rabbi agreed to go but soon returned because a pig was in the barn and being unclean he could not stay in the same space with it...
Free Jury Consultants
Posted on January 12, 2009Here's a post advising a lawyer who is looking to pay $5,000 for a jury consultant. Depending on what one needs, that can be done. Still, jury consultants are everywhere. You just need to know where to find them.It's amazing hearing lawyers talk about their cases with other lawyers...
Why I Don't Respect "Science" or the Washington Post
Posted on January 12, 2009Scientist are amazed (yes, really) that the most successful traders on Wall Street have the highest testosterone levels. Really? Wow! Amazing! It's a good thing I waited my entire life for science to prove that! What will science prove next? That estrogen makes you brooding? The "scientists" and the Washington Post, of course, have to reconcile political correctness with biological...
Why This Libertarian Voted for Obama
Posted on January 11, 2009According to The Right Coast's Mike Rappaport, we are now "in a cold war with Iran." Yeah, I missed that memo, too.After a trillion or so spent fighting Iraq, people like Rappaport (who never served a day in the Armed Forces, by the way) have decided we need to become afraid of yet another country...
"My Genome, My Self"
Posted on January 11, 2009I must get one of these done.For four-hundred bucks, you can get a whole bunch of relevant informaion from 23andMe. My Health Care Flexible Spending Account allows reimbursements for "genetic testing to determine possible defects." I wonder if that covers 23andMe? Anyone know the answer?
Warren Buffett v. Henry Paulson
Posted on January 10, 2009Compare the deal Warren Buffet made with Goldman Sachs vs. the one Henry Paulson (who used to work at and has many friends at) made with Goldman Sachs. Why hasn't Henry Paulson been prosecuted for treason? He should literally be in prison right now. Yet people are obsessed with Blagojevich's penny's worth of corruption.
Summary of Skilling Case
Posted on January 08, 2009Tom Kirkendall has a fantastic summary here. I started reading the opinion, until I saw that the Fifth Circuit ignored the blatant prosecutorial misconduct.Here is what the media did not report: A lot of people within Enron did not believe that Skilling actually committed many of the crimes he was charged with...
Can Charisma Be Learned?
Posted on January 08, 2009The Boston Herald explores whether charisma can be learned. I've met many powerful and rich people. Only two were charismatics - Arnold Schwarzengger and Gerry Spence. Everyone I know who has met Bill Clinton have noted his charisma.People who have charisma are few because they are alpha males who love you...
Judge Samuel Kent is Screwed
Posted on January 08, 2009If you haven't heard much about the prosecution of federal Judge Samuel Kent (a federal judge who most assuredly deserves a pay increase) who was recently charged with sexual sexual assault, it's because the trial court issued one of the most restrictive gag orders ever...
Chickenhawks: Set to Music
Posted on January 08, 2009Bush will soon be gone. But, alas, we'll be left with these loathsome animals:
Sending Wall Street to Jail
Posted on January 06, 2009Fortune has a very interesting article about who might be prosecuted - and why - available for your reading pleasure.
Oscar Grant Shot by BART Police
Posted on January 06, 2009This graphic video shows a BART police officer murdering a young black man, Oscar Grant. (Via Paul.) Here is a better angle of the shot:
"The Gray Lady Is A Tramp"
Posted on January 05, 2009I wonder if the New York Times isn't failing because it has alienated right-wing readers? Ms. Torre, while overstating how bad the Times is, does make a good point: Why publish the McCain-lobbyist (non)scandal on the slimmest of evidence while ignoring the John Edwards' love child story - which was supported by eyewitness and video evidence?I used to think it...
The Logic of Judicial Pay Raises
Posted on January 05, 2009The Washington Post has an embarrassing editorial filled with non-sequiturs and poorly-reasoned arguments. It begins, rather, confidently, that "There is no question that federal judges deserve substantial pay raises." Really, none? I know a lot of smart people who, in good faith, believe that a salary of at least $169,000, with health benefits, a generous pension, and lifetime job security...
Government Bailout to Protect Bernie Madoffs
Posted on January 05, 2009Imagine you're a hedge fund broker about to be exposed as a fraud. Your clients are demanding their money. But you don't have it. You've spent it all, ala Bernie Madoff. What do you do? Like Madoff, you could admit that you're broke, and turn yourself in...
Ultimatum, Human Rationality, and Goal Setting and Goal Attainment
Posted on January 04, 2009People are irrational, as the game Ultimatum proves. In Ultimatum, there are two players and a pot of booty. Each player has total power to make one move, and there is no negotiation. The first player gets to propose (only once) how to split the booty among the two players...
The Greatest Scam in the History of the World?
Posted on January 03, 2009You decide. And why aren't all of these people in prison for fraud? This comment nails it: This is a big part of why the anti-capitalist, anti-Wall-Street screechers are so wrong. Besides the pesky problem of predatory borrowers is the added failure of greed-damning malcontents to distinguish between regulation and criminal justice...
Assholes and Alphas
Posted on January 01, 2009One reason that alpha males and alpha females act like bullies is we let them, and actually subtly encourage them to, get away with it. Studies by Standford's Lara Tiedens and her colleagues [show that] strategic use of anger and blame can help push yourself up the hierarchy and knock others down...
Is Legal Ethics About Protecting Clients?
Posted on December 31, 2008If this post gets noticed, I expect it to be controversial. Some will use emotion or make other bad arguments. But those arguments all fail, when you look at lawyering from the client's perspective. If you were a client, what conduct would harm you most:1) You gave your lawyer a $5,000 retainer...
Last Book Blogging Post for '08
Posted on December 31, 2008Finished, "What Every BODY is Saying: An Ex-FBI Agent's Guide to Speed-Reading People," which is really good and which I intend to blog later.Other than drafting a complaint and doing a motion to suppress, doing some light reading for the next couple of days: Traffic : why we drive the way we do (and what it says about us) The...
Gerry Spence on Intellectuals
Posted on December 31, 2008My reading list varies between that of a law professor, or graduate student in psychology or philosophy; so I'm not anti-knowledge. Yet I, like Gerry Spence, don't think highly of intellectuals. If you were going to run for political office, would you really care about what John Rawls had to say? If you were going to organize a society and...
Fantastic Financial Advice for 2009
Posted on December 31, 2008This post is great. Note that, unlike every other commentator, Karl Denninger has published his predictions for 2008 - showing which ones were right, and which ones were wrong. How many other "financial advisers" are doing this? Will you continue to listen to people who have cost you money, and who will not hold themselves accountable? Insanity is doing the...
When Should a Lawyer's Conduct be Relevant to His Law License?
Posted on December 31, 2008At Simple Justice, there is an interesting post about a New York lawyer who solicited sex with a 13-year-old girl. To Catch a Predator Style, the lawyer had explicit chats with someone purporting to be 13-years old. He agreed agreed to meet her. Instead, he was greeted by law enforcement...
Your Own Private Aussie in Idaho
Posted on December 30, 2008Regulars know about Amicus, an Australian Shepherd. We've found his clone. In Idaho. If we had the space, I'd be on a plane tomorrow. Alas, we don't. Maybe you do? His name is Buster, and there is more information about him here.
Calorie Restriction and Life Extension
Posted on December 30, 2008Every study done on any species has shown that calorie restriction expands lifespan. A recent study (via David Lat's Facebook) was done on earth worms:Sometimes it?s not what you eat, but when you eat it. At least when it comes to longevity diets. For some time, scientists have known that animals kept on a strict diet live longer than their...
Crime & Section 8
Posted on December 30, 2008You mean when you move dead beats into a neighborhood, rather than being uplifted by the nicer neighborhood, they bring the neighborhood down? Who would have thought?As more and more black renters began moving into this mostly white San Francisco Bay Area suburb a few years ago, neighbors started complaining about loud parties, mean pit bulls, blaring car radios, prostitution,...
Argentina: The Most Delicious Place in the World?
Posted on December 29, 2008It seems so. (Via Gowder/Wolfson.)
Previous | Next
Missing Children
Databases and organizations
Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Career Choices
Descriptions of law enforcement occupations
Law & Order Depicts Police Procedures and Criminal Justice
Accuracy of Criminal Justice Depiction on Television
Sex Offender Lists
Registries by State and County
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...








