Criminal Law

Told You! Don't Give to the Kid's Wish Network!

Posted on March 08, 2011
Once again, Kids Wish Network got ONE STAR from CharityNavigator.org Their efficiency rating was ZERO.Here's the more recent financial information:As reader's know, ever since they rudely woke me up one morning to demand money, I've been following this "Charity" which really just seems like a front for the president and the relatives he employs all of whom take home near six figure salaries...

For Poor Defendants, a Flawed Bail-Bond System

Posted on January 10, 2011
A fine piece of work by the NYT whose criminal justice coverage has improved significantly recently.For Poor, Bail System Can Be an Obstacle to Freedom Before George Zouvelos agrees to post someone?s bail, a customer must put up cash, sign a 20-page contract and initial 86 separate paragraphs...

Palin Targeted Giffords

Posted on January 08, 2011
Check this out.Yep--she was on a list of SarahPac's "targets" marked with a gunsight..

They Just Make S%$t up: Republicans Reject Cost Estimate of Health Law Repeal

Posted on January 07, 2011
I just love this:The nonpartisan budget scorekeepers in Congress said on Thursday that the Republican plan to repeal President Obama?s health care law would add $230 billion to federal budget deficits over the next decade.The new Speaker's response?:?I do not believe that repealing the job-killing health care law will increase the deficit,? he said...

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A friend of mine sent this to me...

Posted on January 06, 2011
I have to say I was stunned when a friend of mine sent this to me:It's by some guy named Porter Stansburry, and it is the sort of tripe that circulates among republicans:This is why there are no jobs in AmericaI'd like to make you a business offer. Seriously...

Fun with tilt shift...

Posted on October 22, 2010
Totally off topic, but just found a cool site which will employ the principles of tilt-shift photography to your own photos. You can find it hereHere's an old photo of mine of Christo and Jeanne-Claude's installation here in NY.

Jail and Jobs - Look at these numbers...

Posted on September 29, 2010
--Incarceration reduces former inmates? earnings by 40 percent when compared to demographically similar counterparts who have not been imprisoned.--Young black men who dropped out of high school are more likely to be incarcerated than employed.--There are twice as many minor children with incarcerated parents as there are incarcerated parents...

The news...

Posted on September 28, 2010

From Huff-Po's front page...

Posted on September 28, 2010
It is an article of faith among the right wing punditocracy that the Democrats are bad for business, bad for the markets, and bad for the economy. The numbers, though, tell a completely different story. And yet, we Democrats seem powerless to counter this right-wing narrative...

Just run the freaking numbers...

Posted on September 27, 2010
The right wing pundits constantly yammer about their faith in the markets. So in light of all the criticism of Obama and economic policy, I thought I'd take a look at how the markets actually performed in the first 21 months various presidencies.Check it out!UNDER RONALD REGAN:DOW BEGAN: 970...

Prison Rape by Guards Rampant in NY...

Posted on August 26, 2010
A new report indicates that "Facilities run by the New York State Department of Correctional Services have the highest rates of staff sexual abuse for both men's and women's prisons."The study, conducted by the Department of Justice's Bureau of Justice Statistics estimates that 88,500 adults held in U...

Watch as NYPD Officers Assault Iraq War Vet...

Posted on July 16, 2010
I find particularly creepy how they insure that no one is around before proceeding with the brutalization...AC_FL_RunContent('codebase','http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=9,0,28,0','width','485','height','350','title','Video Player','src','http://www...

What a Scam! Don't give to the Kids Wish Network

Posted on June 06, 2010
I got a call one weekend morning not long ago. Some woman asked me if I wanted to donate to the Kids Wish Network. "No" I said, "and please don't call me in the morning, or at home, or...ever." Then I mentioned that I was on the do not call list. This provoked a small tirade about how they were exempt, being a charity and all, and she couldn't believe I wouldn't want to support granting wishes to dying kids...

Say this and this guy will sue you...

Posted on May 17, 2010
This is Steve TheriotIf you say that he is "just another Jefferson Parish politician thug mobster trained by his mentor John Alario, dressed up in a facade of respectability by a corrupt Louisiana Legislature.? He will try to sue you.Really.

Hell hath no fury like a judge embarrassed

Posted on May 12, 2010
Judge Michael GaryEver wondered how judges manipulate the system to impose their own sort of justice? Here's a great example. According to that sage source the post, " A red-faced Brooklyn jurist -- smarting from an oversight that forced him to let a subway vandal go free last week -- yesterday seized on the man's inability to show up in court to hit him with 11 months behind bars...

Great defense...

Posted on May 12, 2010
A wheelchair-bound lawyer who suffers from cerebral palsy and cannot control the movement of his arms and legs astonishingly faces charges he sexually assaulted a judge while they were alone in a Queens office, authorities said. Hippocrates "Chicho" Mertsaris, 35, is accused of slapping a 40-year-old administrative judge for the Taxi and Limousine Commission on the rear end in October as she walked near him in a small room in the commission's Long Island City office, according to court documents...

Colbert Rips Anti-Gay Activist (Brilliant)

Posted on May 06, 2010
The Colbert ReportMon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30cAlpha Dog of the Week - George Rekerswww.colbertnation.comColbert Report Full EpisodesPolitical HumorFox News

The Face of Prosecutorial Abuse...

Posted on May 05, 2010
Virginia's Tea Party AG--Ken CuccinelliSo here's a perfect example of why prosecutors with a political agenda are so damn scary. The Attorney General of Virginia is on freakish crusade to enforce a set of norms the Tea Party and Taliban both love. He's used the power of the state to try to rescind anti-discrimination policies for gays and lesbians, approved a new policy allowing sectarian prayer by state police chaplains at public events, and even tried to cover up the bare-breast of the Roman Goddess who has graced the state seal since 1776...

The DVD of season two...

Posted on May 03, 2010
So turns out the complete second season of RTB will be released on DVD on May 11th.

Who should replace Justice John Paul Stevens?

Posted on April 11, 2010
I've just written up (for Slate) my pick for who should replace Justice John Paul Stevens...and the winner is...Jeffrey FisherHere's the piece...In the spirit of an off-beat list, my vote goes to 40-year-old Jeffrey Fisher, co-director of Stanford Law School's Supreme Court litigation clinic...

Judge Gleeson tells it like it is...

Posted on April 08, 2010
Thanks to my old colleague Frank for passing this to me:Some Excerpts from United States v. Vasquez, No. 09-CR-259 (JG), 2010 WL 1257359 (E.D.N.Y. March 30, 2010)When people think about miscarriages of justice, they generally think big, especially in this era of DNA exonerations, in which wholly innocent people have been released from jail in significant numbers after long periods in prison...

How the Republicans would spend your money...R.N.C. Spends Thousands on Jets, Limos and Clubs - NYTimes.com

Posted on March 29, 2010
The Republican National Committee spent about $30,000 in the month of February on private airplanes and limousines, not to mention the $1,946.25 charge at Voyeur West Hollywood, which was described by The Los Angeles Times last year as a ?high-end nightclub? with an interior ?reminiscent of the masked orgy scene? from the movie ?Closer...

Scary New GOP Poll...

Posted on March 24, 2010
Harris Poll Findings...57 percent of Republicans (32 percent overall) believe that Obama is a Muslim45 percent of Republicans (25 percent overall) agree with the Birthers in their belief that Obama was 'not born in the United States and so is not eligible to be president'38 percent of Republicans (20 percent overall) say that Obama is 'doing many of the things that Hitler did'Scariest of all, 24 percent of Republicans (14 percent overall) say that Obama 'may be the Antichrist...

The End is Near...

Posted on March 12, 2010
Texas Conservatives Win Vote on Textbook Standards

Texas Wants to put the Moral Majority in Textbooks...

Posted on March 11, 2010
The Texas school board is holding hearings on changes to its social studies curriculum that would portray conservatives in a more positive light, emphasizing the role of Christianity in American history and include Republican political philosophies in textbooks...

Goofy but funny...

Posted on March 10, 2010

quo erat demonstratum

Posted on February 19, 2010
No Misconduct Found in Interrogation Memos

David Feige: My President's Day Message--An Open Letter to President Obama

Posted on February 16, 2010
Here on HuffPo

My President's Day Message--An Open Letter to Obama

Posted on February 16, 2010
Dear Mr. President,Thank you for all your e-mails over the past few years. Energized by the spirit of tolerance and the promise of change, I have enjoyed signing petitions, opening my heart and my home to your events, and even sending in the occasional donation or two...

Brilliant

Posted on February 11, 2010
Hat tip to the contrarian for this one.Supreme Court Rules Death Penalty Is 'Totally Badass'

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