by Kent Scheidegger · Apr 13, 2022 10:25 am
Charles Stimson and Zack Smith of the Heritage Foundation have this series of the three videos on the impact of LA DA George Gascón’s policies.
The first is an interview with LA County Sheriff Alex Villanueva. The second is a panel discussion with three present and former prosecutors in the office. The third is a panel discussion with mothers whose sons were murdered.
The gathering of signatures for a recall election continues.
by Kent Scheidegger · Apr 7, 2022 9:29 am
Megan Brenan has this report for Gallup with the above title:
Americans’ concern about crime and violence in the U.S. has edged up in the past year, and for the first time since 2016, a majority (53%) say they personally worry a “great deal” about crime. Another 27% report they worry a “fair amount,” which places the issue near the top of the list of 14 national concerns — behind only inflation and the economy, and on par with hunger and homelessness.
Crime, policy, and politics have gone in a depressingly predictable cycle. The American people were pitched a bill of goods that going soft on crime could be done without increasing crime, and perhaps even lower it. Fueled by billionaire-funded campaigns and viral videos, they bought it, having forgotten the lessons of the last third of the twentieth century. Continue reading . . .
by Kent Scheidegger · Mar 30, 2022 11:35 am
In some cities with oddball reputations, some residents who are proud of that reputation sport bumper stickers saying “Keep [City] Weird.”
Ninth Circuit Judge Sidney Thomas, the Chief Judge until fairly recently, yesterday announced he is taking senior status effective upon the appointment of his successor. See the court’s press release.
Not mentioned in the press release is that the timing will likely enable President Biden to appoint a like-minded successor while the Democratic Party still holds the narrowest possible majority in the Senate, a majority it is likely to lose in the November election. That is, he can appoint someone favored by the more criminal-friendly wing of his party without needing the consent of a single Republican. In other words, he can keep the Ninth weird. Continue reading . . .
by Kent Scheidegger · Mar 28, 2022 8:05 am
This morning, the U.S. Supreme Court released this orders list from last Friday’s conference. The Court took up the case of Cruz v. Arizona, No. 21-846. The case involves the familiar scenario of a murderer who could have made a particular objection at trial or on direct appeal but did not. When he tries to raise the objection in a collateral attack on the judgment, the state court tells him it is too late. As usual, the issue in this case has nothing whatever to do with whether the defendant committed the crime. It only relates to whether he should receive the punishment his crime deserves or whether justice should be tempered with mercy to let him off with less than he deserves.
From the state’s brief in opposition:
On the day he was killed, Officer Patrick Hardesty was questioning [John] Cruz as part of a hit-and-run investigation. App. 2a. During the questioning, Cruz ran from Officer Hardesty and Officer Hardesty gave chase on foot. Id. at 202–03, ¶¶ 2–4. At some point during the chase, Cruz shot the officer five times, emptying the five-shot revolver he was carrying. Two shots struck Officer Hardesty’s protective vest, two others struck him in the abdomen below the vest, and one entered his left eye, killing him almost instantly. Id. at 203, ¶¶ 5–7. Four of the shots were fired from no more than a foot away. Id. at 203, ¶ 6.
Cruz claims that the jury should have been told he would not be eligible for parole if they gave him life in prison. The Supreme Court precedent on that point was decided nine years before the crime. Cruz’s trial attorney did not request such an instruction, even though the trial judge offered one while denying a related motion, and his appellate attorney did not make that objection on direct appeal.
This is familiar turf for CJLF. We played a role in developing the rules that generally prohibit this kind of “heads I win, tails we take it over” gamesmanship. Continue reading . . .
by Kent Scheidegger · Mar 24, 2022 8:11 am
In 2004, Pablo Castro, working the night shift at a convenience store in Corpus Christi, was brutally stabbed to death by a robber seeking drug money. John Ramirez stabbed Mr. Castro 29 times. He and his cohorts netted $1.25 from Mr. Castro’s pockets as he lay bleeding to death in the store parking lot.
The U.S. Supreme Court today decided that the murderer can further delay his well deserved and long overdue execution by litigating a dubious claim regarding the state’s refusal to allow his pastor to touch him and audibly pray over his while he is being executed.
There is a sign of hope in that the decision depends a lot on the specifics of the procedure in this case. States may have the capacity to avoid stays of execution in the future. Continue reading . . .
by Kent Scheidegger · Mar 23, 2022 2:07 pm
For almost a year now, the administration of California Governor Gavin Newsom has been promulgating and enforcing “emergency” regulations that expand the “good behavior” credits of violent felons. A California “truth in sentencing” statute, like many in the country, limits such credits to 15%. Newsom’s regulations hand them out at more than double this rate, 33.3%.
The administration claims that they are authorized to ignore the law by Proposition 57, an initiative that was sold to the people on the promise that it would remove nonviolent felons from prisons cells to ensure they remained available for the violent ones. CJLF and many others disagree that the proposition gives them this authority. See prior posts here and here.
The latest outrage in the series is the third adoption of substantially the same regulation as an “emergency.” Continue reading . . .
by Kent Scheidegger · Mar 19, 2022 10:21 am
“The Kentucky Supreme Court on Thursday weighed the fate of a victims’ rights law that opponents say must be struck down because it was not properly put before voters,” reports David Wells for Courthouse News.
And what are the drastic changes that have the opponents so hot and bothered?
After being passed by ballot referendum in November 2020 with 63% of the vote, Kentucky’s version of Marsy’s Law granted crime victims constitutional protections including the right to be present at trials and other proceedings, the right to consult with an attorney, the right to be notified of all hearings and the right to be reasonably protected from the accused.
That is really a quite modest list of rights. It does not give the victim the right to become a party, appeal an adverse ruling, challenge a plea bargain, or defend a sentence. Continue reading . . .
by Kent Scheidegger · Mar 16, 2022 11:02 am
EMC Research has this poll on the San Francisco District Attorney recall election, which is scheduled concurrently with California’s June primary. It’s “yes” over “no” by 2 to 1. Eric Ting has this post at SFGATE, the San Francisco Chronicle’s online site. Continue reading . . .
by Kent Scheidegger · Mar 7, 2022 4:11 pm
The U.S. Supreme Court declined to take up the case of Jane Doe v. Facebook, No. 21-459. Justice Thomas agreed, but only for the time being.
In 2012, an adult, male sexual predator used Facebook to lure 15-year-old Jane Doe to a meeting, shortly after which she was repeatedly raped, beaten, and trafficked for sex.Doe eventually escaped and sued Facebook in Texas state court, alleging that Facebook had violated Texas’ anti-sex trafficking statute and committed various common-law offenses. Facebook petitioned the Texas Supreme Court for a writ of mandamus dismissing Doe’s suit. The court held that a provision of the Communications Decency Act known as §230 bars Doe’s common-law claims, but not her statutory sex-trafficking claim.
by Kent Scheidegger · Mar 7, 2022 8:05 am
Over a year ago, I noted in this post that the U.S. Supreme Court had taken up the case of Wooden v. United States to resolve what amounts to separate “occasions” in the Armed Career Criminal Act. There is widespread agreement that repeat offenders should be dealt with more severely than one-timers, but the distinction between repeating and committing multiple crimes in one incident sometimes makes for difficult line-drawing. I noted in the previous post:
Breaking into 10 different units at a self-storage place is 10 counts of burglary under Georgia law. That seems reasonable, given 10 separate breakings and 10 separate entries to steal the possessions of 10 separate victims. But if they are done one after another is that 10 different occasions for the purpose of the recidivist statute? That seems like a stretch.
Not surprisingly, the Court’s decision today was unanimous in the judgment that counting 10 occasions for the purpose of the ACCA was an overreach. Continue reading . . .
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