Monthly Archive: April 2021
by Bill Otis · Apr 21, 2021 4:09 pm
When the Columbus, Ohio police yesterday fatally shot a black teenager, the White House promptly labelled the action racist. Only one thing: The teenager they shot was in the immediate act of knifing another teenager, also black, as plainly shown on the bodycam. It takes only minimal imagination to envision what the White House would have said if the police had not prevented the imminent, probably fatal stabbing: “President Biden deplores that white police in Columbus, Ohio idly looked on as an innocent black teenager was violently killed. Racist policing must end.”
When trashing the police and fomenting racial hate is your thing, the truth might need to get shoved aside, but you can always think of something. Continue reading . . .
by Kent Scheidegger · Apr 21, 2021 1:11 pm
Former police officer Derek Chauvin was convicted yesterday of three charges: second-degree murder, third-degree murder, and second-degree manslaughter. (Since all three were based on the same act against the same victim, he will only be punished for one.) Understanding these charges, and how likely they are to be sustained on appeal, requires some background.
Felony Murder
The second-degree murder charge is based on the controversial felony-murder rule. This rule is a prime target of the criminal justice “reform” movement. The California Legislature has abolished the rule to the extent that it can, being limited by a voter-enacted initiative. Continue reading . . .
by Amber Westbrook · Apr 21, 2021 10:49 am
Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascón eliminated the Hardcore Gang Unit and has replaced it with a unit he is calling the Community Violence Reduction Division. Scott Schwebke of the LA Daily News discusses Gascón’s new unit in this article.
Eric Siddall the Vice President of the Association of Deputy District Attorneys in Los Angels County stated the following in response to the new unit:
Continue reading . . .
by Michael Rushford · Apr 21, 2021 10:37 am
A Nevada man sentenced to death for the 1999 shotgun murders of 4 is asking a judge to order the state to carry out his execution by a firing squad. Ken Ritter of the Associated Press reports that attorneys representing murderer Zane Floyd are arguing that the three-drug protocol used in Nevada executions would amount to cruel and unusual punishment in violation of the Eighth Amendment. Floyd is also asking that his execution, scheduled for the week of June 7, be delayed until June 22 to allow him to seek clemency from the State Pardons Board. “This is not a delaying tactic,” said one of his defense attorneys. Yeah right.
by Kent Scheidegger · Apr 21, 2021 10:17 am
“The Justice Department has formed a task force to curtail the proliferation of ransomware cyberattacks, in a bid to make the popular extortion schemes less lucrative by targeting the entire digital ecosystem that supports them,” Dustin Volz reports for the WSJ. Continue reading . . .
by Michael Rushford · Apr 20, 2021 3:58 pm
A January 9, 2021 New York Times story by Maggie Haberman and Michael S. Schmidt reported that “President Trump has not ordered the flags on federal buildings to fly at half-staff in honor of Brian Sicknick a police officer who was killed after trying to fend off pro-Trump loyalists during the siege at the Capitol on Wednesday. Mr. Sicknick, 42, an officer for the Capitol Police, died on Thursday from brain injuries he sustained after Trump loyalists who overtook the complex struck him in the head with a fire extinguisher, according to two law enforcement officials.” This description of the officer’s death was broadcast nationally by virtually every major news network. For example here’s NBC News citing the Times and the Associated Press as the source. The problem is, they were lying. Officer Sicknick was not hit with a fire extinguisher and did not die from injuries from fending off supporters of President Trump. Hours after the storming of the Capitol had ended, Sicknick died in his office from a stroke according to the Medical Examiner. A real reporter could have gotten better facts on January 6th, but the false version was reported into February.
Continue reading . . .
by Kent Scheidegger · Apr 20, 2021 11:43 am
Rafael Mangual asks and answers the above rhetorical question in this article in City Journal.
Most news coverage and discussion of controversial uses of force by police zoom in on a brief snippet of video, leaving out the context. That is a huge mistake, Mangual argues:
The immediate cause of Toledo’s death was the bullet fired by Officer Stillman. But it’s worth examining how a 13-year-old boy ended up in a full sprint through a dark alley at 2:30 AM with a gun in his hand and a police officer on his tail. Continue reading . . .
by Kent Scheidegger · Apr 20, 2021 10:33 am
Eric Siddall, VP of the (Los Angeles) Association of Deputy District Attorneys has this article debunking DA George Gascón’s assertion that the “science and data” show that his soft sentencing policies will actually improve public safety.
CJLF is presently working on a literature review of this area, which we expect to have in working paper form in the next couple of weeks. Continue reading . . .
by Michael Rushford · Apr 19, 2021 3:12 pm
One of the more troubling aspects of America’s recent version of protests, involves activists actually attacking the homes of government officials whose opinions or actions don’t fit the latest woke narrative. James Rainey of the Los Angeles Times reports that in recent months the homes of LA Mayor Eric Garcetti, Seattle Police Chief Carmen Best, LA Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer, and liberal Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg have been the scene of late night protests, sometimes with bullhorns and vandalism. The reporter actually touched upon a much broader problem, that involves activists groups doxing (giving out the addresses) of reporters, politicians and television personalities they don’t like and encouraging, over social media, organized attacks on their homes. This has typically happened to conservatives including Senator Lindsey Graham, Fox host Tucker Carlson and Congressman Josh Hawley for example. But now liberals, who aren’t liberal enough are getting this treatment. What to do?
Continue reading . . .
by Kent Scheidegger · Apr 19, 2021 8:00 am
The U.S. Supreme Court today took up a New York case presenting the question of when a defendant “opens the door” to evidence that would otherwise violate the Confrontation Clause of the Sixth Amendment. Continue reading . . .
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