Author: Bill Otis

Lisa Montgomery Executed After SCOTUS Clears the Way

by · Jan 12, 2021 11:36 pm

Lisa Montgomery was executed tonight for the 2004 murder of 23 year-old Bobbie Jo Stinnett.  The execution took place after the Supreme Court wiped away what has become the routine carnival of defense counsel’s obtaining last-minute stays from friendly district courts, generally with arguments that could have been (or were) presented months or years before.  The New York Times has the story here.  Kent covered it last week here.

From sympathetic accounts, Montgomery led a dreadful life.  But no one forced her to undertake the gruesome murder of a completely innocent person, then cut open her belly to take her baby.

“Legitimacy Matters: The Case for Public Financing in Prosecutor Elections”

by · Jan 12, 2021 11:11 pm

Hat tip to Prof. Doug Berman for his post here (emphasis my own):

The title of this post is the title of this new article in the latest issue of the Washington and Lee Journal of Civil Rights and Social Justice authored by Rory Fleming.  Here is a part of its introduction:

Part I of this Article will present the results of two interlinked studies on candidate campaign finance in every election with a progressive prosecutor candidate from 2015 through 2019.  The first study examines campaign funding disparities between incumbent prosecutors and progressive challengers, while the second examines the differentials using the Cost Per Vote (CPV) metric.  Part II will discuss the major findings of the two studies, such as how progressive challengers in Democratic primaries seem to only win when a sufficient amount of Soros PAC money is granted, and how higher CPV values translate to greater tensions between local prosecutor offices and their communities.  Part III traces how the Soros-reliant funding model for progressive prosecutors has created an unprecedented crisis of prosecutorial legitimacy in many major urban counties.  Part IV presents public funding for prosecutor selections as one solution that can balance the desirability of competitiveness in prosecutor elections with the need to curb the backlash against prosecutors working to end mass incarceration.

 

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Will Liberals Now Awaken to the Legitimacy of Police Display, and Use, of Force?

by · Jan 9, 2021 12:13 pm

This last week’s invasion of the Capitol by a mob seeking to prevent Vice President Pence from counting the electoral votes and certifying the election result leaves us with very few positives.  The country is rightly shocked that a mob would think it has the right to take the law into its own hands, and that this belief extended even to the most fundamental aspect of democratic self-rule (the peaceful transfer of power through legal process). At least one police officer and at least one rioter were killed in the melee.

There may be one silver lining, however.  Liberals (and not a few libertarians) may have awakened to the previously Neanderthals-only idea that we need police with sufficient numbers, weapons, confidence and authority forcibly to keep the peace against those who threaten it.

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Acting AG Rosen Must Bring the Full Weight of the Law Against Today’s Violence at the Capitol

by · Jan 6, 2021 1:14 pm

Numerous reports say that pro-Trump protesters have invaded the Capitol to make it impossible for Vice President Pence (who has been evacuated) to count the electoral votes.  One woman has been shot, although the specific circumstances are unclear at this hour.

This is intolerable.  If the rule of law means anything, it means that we forswear violence and intimidation in favor of peaceful persuasion and legal process.  I understand that many on Trump’s side feel urgently, and not entirely without basis, that the election was infected with fraud.  But adherence to law is so hard precisely because its value is so great:  It demands that we restrain even our most urgent feelings in favor of peaceful (though often maddening) process.  The alternative to the rule of law is the rule of the jungle.

The upshot is that Acting AG Rosen must see to it that the full weight of the law be brought against the Capitol invaders.  If intimidation and force are not acceptable for BLM and Antifa  —  and they aren’t  —  they are not acceptable for anyone else, either.  Let the prosecutions begin.

Merrick Garland to Become Attorney General

by · Jan 6, 2021 11:13 am

Joe Biden has chosen Judge Merrick Garland of the DC Circuit to be the new Attorney General, numerous reports say.  Among those being mentioned (Sen. Doug Jones, former Acting AG Sally Yates, and former Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick), Garland is easily the best choice.  He’s liberal  —  make no mistake  —  but he believes in law, and believes there is a difference between law and politics.  He is a gracious person and a man of integrity.  He also has considerable experience as a prosecutor, having, among other things, led the capital prosecution of Timothy McVeigh as Principal Deputy AG in the Clinton years.  Biden deserves credit for this choice.  Now that the Senate will be controlled by his party, he could have gotten away with a lot worse.

The country will miss the determined and law-driven leadership of Bill Barr, who left a millionaire’s practice to put up with a boatload of headaches from his superior and an even bigger boatload of brickbats from his grossly partisan critics.  Many thanks are due him for his focused and courageous service.

Pardoning Your Pals

by · Dec 23, 2020 6:59 pm

The President’s plenary power to pardon is an essential part of his authority as head of the executive branch.  The Framers recognized that, sometimes, the reach of criminal law is too wide and too harsh, even if correct under its black letter.  Hence the power to grant clemency.

This week, however, and today in particular, President Trump pardoned a number of people, not because the system had treated them unfairly, but  —  we have no realistic alternative to believing  —  because they were his buddies or political allies.

There is no way to look at this other than as an abuse of office.  Using your power (and your trust) as an officer of the government simply to shower benefits on your friends must be high on the list of what it means to be corrupt.  I was honored to be one of President Trump’s nominees for the Sentencing Commission, but his actions today were wrong.  In a later post, I will examine what if anything can be done to rein in abuses of this sort (which, I might add, are anything but exclusive to Donald Trump).

Life in Progressive New York City

by · Dec 18, 2020 11:15 am

Progressive social and criminal justice policies are running the show, or perhaps I should say running amok, in New York City.  Such policies are said to aim to help the poor and those who must rely on public services.  Just now I received a small but valuable insight from the brilliant Rafael Mangual who lives in the City.  Judge for yourself how much “help” is being provided.

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The “Decency Defender”

by · Dec 15, 2020 11:44 pm

Much is being written (see, e.g., here) about the “progressive prosecutor.”  A progressive prosecutor, to sum things up, is an ideological defense lawyer elected in a one-party jurisdiction  —  virtually always Democratic  —  and financed directly or indirectly by anti-American billionaire George Soros.  He typically promises public safety and concern for crime victims, but in fact couldn’t care less about either.  His aim is to advance the interests of criminals, either by not prosecuting them at all, or prosecuting them on scandalously reduced charges, and then recommending some sentence like anger management (if any sentence at all).

All the talk about progressive prosecutors got me to thinking.  If we can “re-imagine” prosecutors, can we re-imagine defense counsel?  We often hear that the re-imagined prosecutor should consider himself in a broader role  —  i.e., as a “minister of justice.”  Would it be possible for defense attorneys to re-imagine themselves in a role beyond merely getting a walk for the client on this particular charge, and instead being an advocate for his client’s embracing a better life?

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Bill Barr, Like Jeff Sessions, Acted on Principle

by · Dec 11, 2020 4:02 pm

For full disclosure purposes, I should begin by saying that I know Bill Barr slightly and spoke with him on the phone a while back about matters not involving either the election or the Supreme Court.  With that out of the way, let me say this:  It’s time for Barr’s enemies to step up to apologize for their numerous false and scurrilous attacks on him.  He has proven to be a worthy successor to Jeff Sessions  —  another man who put principle before ambition  —  and has shown himself to be an honorable leader of the Justice Department.

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“Violence Interrupters” — A Story You Can’t Make Up

by · Dec 10, 2020 5:23 pm

What in the world is a “violence interrupter”? If you thought that might be a euphemism for a law enforcement officer—or maybe a prison guard—you’d be wrong. Here’s what Wikipedia says it is: “Violence interruption is a community-based approach to reducing communal and interpersonal violence that treats violence as a public health problem. Individuals providing violence interruption services are known as violence interrupters.” 

OK, sounds a little nutty but probably harmless  —  until you see the rest of it, courtesy of Steve Hayward’s note on PowerLine.

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