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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 Myth of the Rational Judge Lives
Posted on May 13, 2009I think that even most economists now reject the theory of the rational actor as a myth. Do lawyers still follow a version of this myth? Orin Kerr has a post about judging that makes me think he believes in rational judges. Do judges really objectively observe these things called "facts" and "legal arguments"? Is there any empirical support for...
Prosecutorial Discretion
Posted on May 12, 2009People say they trust prosecutors. They believe in prosecutorial discretion. Great. Here's my idea: Make everything a crime. I'm not even joking. Let's just make everything illegal, and leave it to prosecutors to sort out the good and bad amongst us. We trust these men and women, these prosecutors...
Class Action Lawsuit Against Austin, Texas for Equal Protection Violation?
Posted on May 12, 2009Red-light cameras in Austin, Texas have caught many motorists running a red light. If you're a police officer, you - unlike every else - won't get a traffic citation: Austin Police Chief Art Acevedo responded with a powerful statement: ?It is a concern...
How Does Marilyn vos Savant Eat?
Posted on May 12, 2009Dieting advice from the smartest person in the world.
Allen Stanford: Free Because War on Drugs Trumps Financial Fraud
Posted on May 11, 2009How important is the War on Drugs? It's so important that the SEC allowed investors to lose billions of dollars in a Ponzi scheme: Sir Allen Stanford, who is accused of bank fraud, is the subject of an investigation by the BBC's Panorama. Sources told Panorama that if he was a paid anti-drug agency informer, that could explain why a...
Subsidizing Stupidity
Posted on May 10, 2009When the United States has universal health care, we'll all be paying for the operations these morons need.
"Stepping Backward Enhances Cognitive Control"
Posted on May 09, 2009Via Tyler Cowen comes this interesting finding: The way in which we are moving influences how our brain is functioning ? and applying what is known about the relationship between movement and thought poses interesting challenges for designers Koch and his colleagues found that ?Stepping backward significantly enhanced cognitive performance compared to stepping forward or sideways...
Credit Card Company Scams
Posted on May 08, 2009Last week there was an ignorantly hilarious post at the Volokh Conspiracy by Todd Zywicki. Zywicki is opposed to the Credit Card Holders Bill of Rights. Let me tell you about some of the practices the Credit Card Holders Bill of Rights combats. Then perhaps someone can explain to me how - unless he is being paid as a "consultant"...
The Face of a Sociopath
Posted on May 07, 2009Daniel Hood bound and gagged a teenage girl so that a friend could rape her. I posted about that here. I've obtained a picture of Hood. Now I understand why everyone is willing to let him "move past" the "incident." I regret my earlier post. My earlier post assumed that Mr...
University of Tennesse Pays Violent Rapist, Daniel Hood, to Attend College
Posted on May 07, 2009The University of Tennessee's school colors are orange. How appropriate, given that they've give an athlete scholarship to the star of a real-life Clockwork Orange: KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- Tennessee has signed a prep football star who at the age of 13 was found by a juvenile court to have helped rape a relative...
Bill Hicks' Lost Performance on David Letterman
Posted on May 06, 2009The coward David Letterman finally aired Bill Hicks' performance on the show. The performance was not allowed in 1993 because it might have offended Christians. Because the Christian faith is so strong that any criticism - and the performance was time - on Christianity is a cause of outrage...
Most Surreal Experience of My Life?
Posted on May 05, 2009In a post I'm drafting, I typed: "A reporter in Canada reprinted some cartoons that offended Muslims so much that Muslims started killing people and blowing stuff up. For this, the reporter was obviously charged with a hate crime against Muslims." Ponder that...
Pro-Muslim Media Bias; and a Contemporary Look at Religious History
Posted on May 05, 2009Media bias is a great thing. A recent Independent article notes that 16 people have been banned from Great Britain for being too hateful. The article begins: Sixteen people banned from entering the UK were "named and shamed" by the Home Office today. Home Secretary Jacqui Smith said she decided to make public the names of 16 people banned since...
Two Good Posts on the Swine Flu
Posted on May 05, 2009First, even if the swine flu "crisis" is over, the "crisis" was a very good thing. Yes, governments did the right thing. Second, yes, a pandemic is a low probability event. It's also a catastrophic one. It would be nice if more people would read The Black Swan...
The Social Psychology of Con Artists
Posted on May 04, 2009A great con artist is a great persuader. A con man must persuade a mark to trust him. Usually a con involves a mark thinking that he is part of the con - a co-con artist. How does a con artist con you? By using principles of social psychology. While social psychology is a broad topic, Influence: The Psychology of...
Bernie Madoff and the Social Psychology of the Con
Posted on May 04, 2009Let's look at the six principles of Influence. Then let's look at Bernie Madoff (hat tip: Alex). Influence lists six main principles of persuasion: reciprocation; commitment and consistency; social proof; authority; liking; scarcity. Reciprocation. Not obviously present...
Next Supreme Court Justice Should Have Empathy, not Sympathy
Posted on May 04, 2009Barack Obama has said that he wants to appoint a Supreme Court Justice who has empathy for the common person. He is spot-on. However, Harvard man though he may be, I wonder: Does he understand the difference between empathy and sympathy? A person develops sympathy from reading about the problems of others...
When "Public" Doesn't Mean "Public"
Posted on May 04, 2009One judge took seriously the claim that courtrooms are public: It seemed like a perfect case to ?broadcast? live on the World Wide Web. After all, what could be more Internet-oriented than a court case about the illegal downloading of music files? So in January, U...
How Religion and Culture (Literally) Enslave
Posted on May 03, 2009People often speak of culture as enslaving their spirit. Yet religion and culture are today responsible for the literal enslavement of women: Specific cultural factors also ensnare victims into extended sex slavery. Parents sent young Thai women to work in the entertainment industry to earn prove to provide for them into old age...
Edification Tip of the Day: Learning While Exercising with iPod Shuffle
Posted on May 02, 2009I have an AirDyne. It's a miserable piece of equipment, which is why it works. I have iPod I use while lifting weights, but the same music that works for weights (gangsta rap and Metallica) doesn't work as well for cardio. (Cardio is the time to grow new neurons and increase your IQ; more on that later...
Who Will Replace Justice Souter?
Posted on May 01, 2009The ABA Journal listed possible nominees for the United States Supreme Court: Judge Sonia Sotomayor of the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals; Elena Kagan, U.S. Solicitor General; Seth Waxman, a partner at Washington, D.C.?s Wilmer Hale; Judge Diane Wood of the 7th U...
Lawyers Are People, Too?
Posted on May 01, 2009There's an interesting post at Simple Justice about the perception judges have of lawyers. In sum: No one believes that lawyers actually do things for some reason than getting clients. His post is a lengthy discussion. I think the judges' premise is frustrating...
Issue Framing; and Making Abstract Ideas Concrete
Posted on May 01, 2009Would you eat that much sugar for breakfast? What does 39 grams of sugar look like? A nutrition blog that will inspire you to think of ways to better frame issues; and to bring abstract concepts to life. Check it out.
Why Justice Souter is Way Cooler than Justice Scalia
Posted on May 01, 2009He's giving up one of the most powerful jobs in the world to hang out in New Hampshire to climb mountains and read books and stuff. Seriously. How cool is that? People have a man crush on Scalia. I've never understood it. Scalia's ego needs constant food and water...
American Express Credit Card Scam
Posted on April 30, 2009I've studied credit card scams and abuses in the abstract. I wanted to do an experiment to see how shady credit card company "accounting" really is. My cynical self was astounded. I'll tell you what I did, and then show you what happened. I'm sure some shyster can explain why this "accounting" was the product of "free choice" or "freedom...
Justice as Portrayed in A Bronx Tale: "Now You's Can't Leave"
Posted on April 30, 2009I have never seen a better cinematographic depiction of justice. Have you?
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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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