Author: Bill Otis

The World’s Most Intelligent Virus

by · Jun 15, 2020 3:03 pm

It’s not exactly news at this point that we are beset with a deadly (at least to older people) virus that spreads easily in crowds.  It’s for this reason that we now have enforced social distancing and are strongly encouraged to use face masks in public.

What wasn’t known until recently is that, remarkably, the virus can tell (1) if you want to visit grandma in the hospital or attend your kid’s high school graduation, in which case it will spread like crazy and you must keep your distance (or, frequently, stay home altogether); or (2) if you want to attend an anti-police rally or trash the local monument, in which case it will show Solidarity with the Cause and not spread one little bit!

National Review has the story Continue reading . . .

A New Slant on Jury Nullification

by · Jun 15, 2020 5:57 am

Jury nullification is the theory that a jury should be able to render a verdict it believes is just notwithstanding what the law and the facts of the case may require.  Most often, jury nullification is pushed by libertarians in the context of drug prosecutions.  Under libertarian theory, drugs should be legal, and obstinate legislative refusal to repeal drug laws should be nullified by juries’ refusal to convict defendants in drug cases.  An offshoot of the same theory is that juries should acquit because, even if drug laws are arguably acceptable in some circumstances, the punishments, particularly mandatory minimum sentences, are so wildly excessive that a justice-oriented jury should prevent their imposition.

There are numerous problems with nullification theory. Continue reading . . .

Yes, We Mean Literally Abolish the Police

by · Jun 14, 2020 1:35 pm

The headline of this post is the title of a featured op-ed in the New York Times.  Unlike the Tom Cotton op-ed for which the Times apologized in a revealing act of genuflection to its far left editorial staff, I doubt there will be an apology for this one.  But very much like Sen. Cotton’s piece, this one tells the truth:  The Left in this country does not want “reforms” in policing, and only wants to pretend to want them until after the election.  Believe me  —  and more importantly, believe them:  What they want is abolition.  And if the Left-leaning politicians win in November, this is the sort of thing you can expect to see filling every Deputy Assistant Attorney General and every Deputy Assistant Secretary position of the dozens Washington has to offer.  It’s hard to imagine the catastrophe to public safety that will ensue. Continue reading . . .

Strong Majority of Americans Oppose Defunding the Police

by · Jun 13, 2020 7:35 pm

An ABC/Ipsos poll finds that 64% of Americans oppose defuding the police, while 34% approve it.  The story is here.  Interestingly, it also notes:

…Democrats stand as the lone faction among the political tribes that approve by a majority of defunding the police (55%) and redirecting it to mental health, housing and education programs (59%).  But Democrats are more divided in their support than Republicans and Independents are in their opposition, with 43% and 41% of Democrats opposing both defunding the police, and using the money for other purposes, respectively.

If I were Donald Trump’s campaign manager  —  which I surely am not  — this would give me a clue about what issues to stress.

Tom Cotton’s Op-Ed and the Ensuing Gnashing of Teeth

by · Jun 13, 2020 1:12 pm

Sen. Tom Cotton, a combat veteran and a leader for sober, law-oriented criminal justice, wrote an op-ed for the NYT arguing that, if civilian police were unable or unwilling to restore order to cities ravaged by riots, arson and looting, the military should be called in.  Immediately there ensued an uproar inside the Times, which then apologized for running the piece.  The Times said the op-ed did not, on reflection, meet its “standards,” never explaining, however, what those standards consist of.  It has since become obvious that they consist, not of honest debate  —  which used to be the standard for the discussion of public issues among opinion leaders  —  but of abject obedience to the new, “woke” party line of the extreme Left.

We are left to wonder whether the Times’ apology is the beginning of the end of journalism as we have known it and, even more ominously, of classical liberalism itself, now to be replaced by an updated version of the Cultural Revolution and enforced conformity of thought.  Ross Douthat, a committed NeverTrumper, explains why he’s worried. 

News or Parody?

by · Jun 10, 2020 7:54 pm

It’s getting harder and harder to tell whether you’re reading the New York Times or the Onion.  I’m going to quote the opening paragraphs from an article about how the anti-police movement is reacting to TV cartoons about police dogs (not a typo) and ask readers to guess the source. Continue reading . . .

The Standard under which the Flynn Case Should Be Decided, and the Correct Result

by · Jun 10, 2020 5:12 pm

On Friday, the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit will hear oral argument on the petition for mandamus to require the district court to grant the government’s motion to dismiss the case against Gen. Michael Flynn.  Fed. R. Crim. P. 48(a) permits the government, “with leave of court,” to dismiss the prosecution.  The key question, then, is how much discretion the district court has under the “leave of court” language and under what standards that discretion should be exercised. Continue reading . . .

Baltimore Residents Blame Record-High Murder Rate On Lower Police Presence

by · Jun 10, 2020 1:10 pm

The title of this post is the headline of an NPR piece (written two and a half years ago but unfortunately more timely than ever) discussing what people living in Baltimore’s inner city actually want from the police.  The answer NPR found can be summarized in one word:  More.

They don’t want abusive police, obviously, as no one would.  They want police who talk to them and respond to their needs both for respect and safety.   But the basic thing they want  —  notwithstanding what we hear from leftist think tanks and law professors who Live Somewhere Else  —  is more and more active policing. Continue reading . . .

John Gleeson, Making the Same Old Mistake

by · Jun 10, 2020 12:35 pm

When the government filed its motion to dismiss the Flynn prosecution rather than proceed to sentencing, Judge Sullivan appointed former federal prosecutor and US District Judge John Gleeson as a “friend of the court” to evaluate how the court should respond.  The preeminent question is whether and to what extent it is consistent with separation of powers for a court to compel the executive branch, which alone has to power to press criminal charges, to continue to prosecute a case it now views as irretrievably tainted by prior FBI misconduct.  Judge Gleeson today filed his amicus brief, arguing that Sullivan should reject the government’s motion and continue the prosecution to sentencing notwithstanding the prosecutor’s desire to stand down.

In a coming post, I might address the merits of Judge Gleeson’s recommendation, which I view as both legally incorrect and inconsistent with the ethical standards the judiciary should want  —  not resist  —  from the Justice Department.  But for however that may be, I write now to point out that Judge Gleeson is uniquely unqualified to hold forth on the separation our system embraces between the role of an advocate and that of a judge  —  unqualified because Gleeson himself, while on the bench, breached that separation to an extent I have never seen before in more than 40 years practicing law.  The story is here.

Jason Riley Spills the Beans on Race, Policing, and the Media’s Pervasive Deceit

by · Jun 10, 2020 12:20 am

Jason Riley of the WSJ is one of the brightest and most honest observers of the real story with crime, race and policing.  His column today about Chicago’s murder crisis is short but devastating.  I repeat excerpts after the break, but the entire column is worth the read.  Here’s a sample:

The political left, with a great deal of assistance from the mainstream media, has convinced many Americans that George Floyd’s death in police custody is an everyday occurrence for black people in this country, and that racism permeates law enforcement. The reality is that the carnage we witness in Chicago is what’s typical, law enforcement has next to nothing to do with black homicides, and the number of interactions between police and low-income blacks is driven by crime rates, not bias. According to the Sun-Times, there were 492 homicides in Chicago last year, and only three of them involved police.

Continue reading . . .