by Kent Scheidegger · Apr 13, 2020 8:43 am
The U.S. Supreme Court will hold oral arguments by telephone in early May in some of the cases where the regularly scheduled argument was postponed due to COVID-19. According to the press release, live audio will be available to the news media. Continue reading . . .
by Michael Rushford · Apr 9, 2020 10:12 am
After a violent Tuesday night of shootings that left 7 dead and 14 injured, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot ordered the city’s liquor stores to close at 9:00 pm. CBS Chicago reports that the curfew will remain in force until the city’s stay-at-home order is lifted on April 30. Gun violence and gatherings violating the order have been occurring frequently in the windy city since people were told to stay home and practice social distancing on March 21. Over 2,000 dispersal orders have been issued in response to large gatherings including parties and eleven citations with fines of up to $5,000 have been given to bars, restaurants and other businesses considered non-essential which had remained open.
Mayor Lightfoot’s personal commitment to the stay-at-home order was questioned after CBS reported that her hairdresser posted a photo of the two of them last Sunday after she did her hair. The Mayor told reporters that she was practicing social distancing because the hairdresser had a mask and gloves on. Does anybody see a mask, gloves or distancing in this photo?
by Kent Scheidegger · Apr 8, 2020 11:52 am
Steven Hayward at Powerline Blog has this post on appeals to expertise in policy arguments. The specific examples he discusses are off-topic for this blog, but the general point is an issue that comes up often in criminal justice debates. The post includes a particularly nice turn of phrase that I expect to quote often.
Whenever a progressive says we should “follow the evidence” because we must have “evidence-based policy-making,” you should reach for your wallet (for starters). Because today we all too often have the opposite: policy-based evidence-making.
In criminal justice, you don’t need to reach for your wallet. You need to run for your life or reach for your gun. Continue reading . . .
by Michael Rushford · Apr 8, 2020 11:15 am
With bail eliminated in New York City, and many businesses closed, NYPD data indicate that commercial burglaries have jumped by 75%. Daniel Cassady of the New York Post reports that between March 12, when Mayor de Blasio ordered the lockdown and March 31, police reported 254 businesses burglarized, particularly cash businesses such as supermarkets and bodegas. According to the city’s Chief of Crime Control “the burglaries we are seeing now are more organized and specifically targeted. There’s much more night-time entry, more forced entry….while they (businesses) are closed.” Adding to the problem is the city’s recent elimination of bail for property crimes. “I’ve seen multiple individuals who have been arrested for burglary this year and then released the next day,” said the Chief. Officials are also concerned about coronavirus-related releases of prison inmates, some of whom have already been arrested for committing crimes. New York City is probably not the only place experiencing a jump in commercial burglaries.
by Kent Scheidegger · Apr 7, 2020 10:10 am
Last November, a federal district judge in DC enjoined all federal executions based on a statute requiring use of the “manner” of execution provided by the law of the state where the conviction was rendered. See this post. Today, a splintered three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit vacated the injunction, for now. The division on the panel clearly requires further review, and the court on its own motion stayed the issuance of its mandate to allow it. Continue reading . . .
by Kent Scheidegger · Apr 6, 2020 4:17 pm
Initially, the 8-1 vote in Kansas v. Glover, noted earlier today, was somewhat surprising. Reading through the three opinions in the case, we see some important differences that go beyond the result on the sparse facts of this case.
Procedurally, the case was unusual in that the defendant’s motion to suppress evidence was decided on stipulated facts without a hearing. The officer ran the license plate, found that the registered owner had a revoked (not suspended) license, made no effort to identify the driver, and made the stop. That’s it. Continue reading . . .
by Kent Scheidegger · Apr 6, 2020 9:58 am
The U.S. Supreme Court today decided Kansas v. Glover, No. 18-556, by an 8-1 vote:
This case presents the question whether a police officer violates the Fourth Amendment by initiating an investigative traffic stop after running a vehicle’s license plate and learning that the registered owner has a revoked driver’s license. We hold that when the officer lacks information negating an inference that the owner is the driver of the vehicle, the stop is reasonable.
by Kent Scheidegger · Apr 5, 2020 5:49 pm
As noted here on March 26, the inmates in California’s endless prison lawsuit asked the special three-judge district court for a release order, framing their request as a modification of the prior order. Friday evening, the court denied the motion. They didn’t buy the argument that this was a modification. The inmates are seeking a new release order, and they have to begin at the beginning, through the process mandated by the Prison Litigation Reform Act. Continue reading . . .
by Michael Rushford · Apr 3, 2020 10:40 am
State prison and jail inmates with two months or less left to serve on their sentences are receiving early releases due to fears of widespread corona virus outbreaks. Sam Stanton of the Sacramento Bee reports that at least 1,700 inmates will be released from the Los Angeles County Jail while another 3,500 will be released from California prisons. Officials said that most of the inmates released are non-violent offenders. Other county jail releases have been ordered for Sacramento County (541), Alameda County (314), Fresno County (207) and Orange County (130). No word on if the classification of “non-violent” is based on the inmate’s most recent crime, or his entire record. Under California’s Proposition 57, a car thief with priors for rape and second-degree murder is eligible for early release. If this is the same criteria being used for releases due to corona virus fears, many serious offenders will be hitting the streets.
by Michael Rushford · Apr 1, 2020 10:02 am
An employee of a smoke shop in Arlington, VA is being held without bail facing felony charges for using a gun to defend his place of business during an early morning break-in and burglary. Tom Roussey of WJLA reports that 31-year-old Hamzeh Abushariah was sleeping in a back room when he was startled awake by three burglars breaking into the store at 4:53 am Sunday. He grabbed the gun the store’s owner had purchased to protect the business from burglars, and confronted the suspects, shooting one. All three managed to escape. The employee was staying in the store to save money and avoid the corona virus, which had infected residents of his D.C. apartment complex. Newly elected Arlington Commonwealth Attorney Parisa Dehghani-Taft has not yet charged the burglary suspects, but Abushariah was immediately arrested and charged. Dehghani-Taft, a progressive who received over $620,000 from liberal hedge fund billionaire George Soros, was elected last November after knocking off incumbent Theo Stamos in the June primary. Stamos raised just over $161,000. Dehghani-Taft’s election is just the latest win for Soros-funded progressive (read pro-criminal) District Attorneys across the country. The Soros funds are funneled through PACs such as New York Justice and Public Safety PAC, which have been set up in several states to give directly to selected candidates and run campaign ads on TV and radio.
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