Monthly Archive: April 2021

Murderer Released on Parole Kills Again

by · Apr 16, 2021 3:57 pm

A Los Angeles murderer who raped and stabbed a woman to death in 1982, was released on parole in 2018 under new rules adopted by Jerry Brown’s Proposition 57, “The Public Safety and Rehabilitation Act of 2016”.  Bill Melugin of Fox News reports that on April 8, 2021, Eddie Allen Harris was arrested for stabbing another woman to death.  Brown’s Act gave the state’s Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation unlimited authority to release convicted criminals, even murderers.  It is the second time Harris benefited from Jerry Brown’s soft spot for criminals.  Back in 1982, when Harris killed his first victim, Brown, serving his second term as Governor, had appointed liberals to the state parole board, vetoed a law to restore the death penalty,  signed a bill into law called the Prison Inmates Bill of Rights, and had created the most liberal Supreme Court and appellate courts in state history.  A conviction of the rape and stabbing murder of a woman would typically be charged as aggravated first degree murder, carrying a sentence of death or life without parole.  Under the Brown administration Harris got 15-years-to life.  In a just world, he should have never set foot outside of prison

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Another Loss for Open Debate

by · Apr 16, 2021 8:04 am

The anti-police forces who seek to suppress every voice that disagrees with them have claimed another kill, and freedom of expression has suffered another loss.

In a notorious incident in 2020, Breonna Taylor was shot and killed by police serving a warrant. Unlike most of the high-profile use-of-force incidents of the last few years, there is no indication that Ms. Taylor brought the use of force on herself.

Even so, it does not follow that the police necessarily did anything wrong either. Hearing their side of the story would inform the public debate. Continue reading . . .

In California, Sex Offenders Get Elected Mayor

by · Apr 15, 2021 3:30 pm

The former Mayor of Sebastopol, California, Robert Jacob was arrested this week on charges, according to this Fox News story: of committing lewd acts with a child ages 14 to 15, participating in sexual penetration of a child under 16, making a child under 16 available to another person for lewd or lascivious acts, and distribution of child pornography.   Jacob served as a member of the Sebastopol City Council in 2012 and was elected Mayor in 2013. Jacob served one term and did not run for reelection. Jacob’s term as Mayor and his success as a cannabis businessman, discussed in this article in the San Francisco Chronicle, noted that “He [Jacob] outspent rivals by running the most expensive campaign in city history to win.” Jacobs is also known as a founder of a medical marijuana dispensary. The question here, is how did an individual willing to molest children get elected to a position of such power?   Doesn’t anyone vet politicians anymore?

The Impact of Media Propaganda

by · Apr 15, 2021 3:18 pm

Posts on this blog have repeatedly exposed intentional misreporting of news events by the major media.  Often this takes the form of a reporter or news editor simply excluding important information because it would conflict with a narrative that the network or newspaper is advancing.  Sometimes the facts are actually doctored.  As noted in 2012, when Hispanic neighborhood watchman George Zimmerman shot black teenager Treyvon Martin after Martin attacked him.  The New York Times initially reported that a white man had shot an unarmed black man.  Later, when  Zimmerman’s ethnicity was correctly reported on local news the national media identified him as a “white Hispanic.”  Later, NBC  broadcast an audio recording of Zimmerman’s 911 call reporting on a suspicious person (Martin).  The network edited out the dispatcher asking the race of the suspect and pieced together Zimmerman’s statements “This guy looks like he’s up to no good.  He looks black.”  Mission accomplished….the message most people heard was “white guy shoots unarmed black kid.”  There were few headlines when, months later, a jury concluded that Zimmerman acted in self defense,

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A Tale of Two Cities (and Five More)

by · Apr 15, 2021 2:10 pm

“Murders soared as police ‘pulled back’ amid 2020 protests in major cities, report finds”  is the title of today’s story on Fox News.

Declining police involvement and arrests in the wake of protests that began in the summer of 2020 have been linked to a record number of murders in the country’s major cities, according to a recent analysis….The Unites States saw more than 20,000 murders last year – approximately 4,000 more than in 2019 and the highest number of murders nationwide since 1995 – as law enforcement “pulled back,” according to the report.

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No Charges for Officer in Capitol Riot Shooting

by · Apr 14, 2021 2:29 pm

Sadie Gurman reports for the WSJ:

The police officer who shot and killed Ashli Babbitt during the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol won’t face federal criminal charges in connection with her death, the Justice Department said Wednesday.
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“Based on that investigation, officials determined that there is insufficient evidence to support a criminal prosecution,” the Justice Department said in a statement announcing the closure of its probe. Continue reading . . .

Why, Sometimes, You Need To Question the Source

by · Apr 14, 2021 12:48 pm

While looking at the entry on my Georgetown Law Faculty page (which lists inter alia news articles in which professors are quoted) I found this one from the Washington Post, titled “Five myths about criminal justice” and subtitled, “Being ‘tough’ on crime doesn’t always make sense.”  I’m happy to say that I make the bad list with both Kent and former US District Judge, now law professor, Paul Cassell.  I’m listed as a sponsor of Myth # 5, to wit, “Criminal Justice Reform Means More Crime.”  The error of my ways is described as follows:

We’ve seen leaders hesitate to engage in criminal justice reform strategies because they seem too new, nuanced or radical. Law enforcement officials and prosecutors across the country have been outspoken critics of policies to reduce or eliminate cash bail. Georgetown University law professor Bill Otis, nominated to the U.S. Sentencing Commission by President Trump, called efforts toward sentencing reform “more-crime-faster proposals.”

My observation is then appropriately debunked.

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Perceptions of Police Shootings of Black Men

by · Apr 13, 2021 3:21 pm

A police shooting of a black man  —  clearly unjustified in this instance  —  and the reaction to it, are once again in the news.  The nature and extent of the reaction got me curious about what people actually believe about the frequency of such episodes.

As it happens, this has been studied.  The Skeptic Research Center found that, among people who view themselves as “very liberal,” more than half think the number of unarmed black people killed by the police in one year (2019) was roughly 1000 if not more.  Almost eight percent of that cohort thought the number was in excess of 10,000.

How close is that to the truth?

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Passengers Scared Off Subway by Crime Fear

by · Apr 13, 2021 3:00 pm

A new survey conducted by New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority found riders are more concerned about crime and harassment on trains and in stations now than they were six months ago. It also found that fear of crime is an impediment to people returning to the system.

Paul Berger has this story in the WSJ, with the finding above. The title of this post is the title of the story in the print edition.

For decades, government has tried to get people to use public transportation more and private cars less. Such usage is better for the environment, better for our energy independence, and even better for the people who remains in their cars as it will reduce their congestion. As the pandemic subsides, this will once again be a major government goal.

So how to do it? Well, for one thing, make people feels safe there. To do that, wake up to the reality that everything the “woke” say about law enforcement is wrong. Continue reading . . .

Cancelling Due Process, and Anyone Who Supports It.

by · Apr 13, 2021 12:29 pm

As reported by Mychael Schnell of The Hill,  the City Manager of Brooklyn Center, Minnesota was fired yesterday after a vote by the City Council.   Curt Boganey’s dismissal followed the shooting death of 20-year-old Duante Wright last Sunday by a Brooklyn Center police officer during a traffic stop.  Boganey’s transgression…..he told reporters at a press conference Monday that the officer involved in the shooting “was entitled to due process.”  The nerve of this guy!

City Manager Curt Boganey

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