Monthly Archive: April 2021

The Push Back on Progressive DAs

Over the past two election cycles rich white liberals, such as George Soros, have pumped millions into passing ballot measures, and electing political candidates, including district attorneys that will reduce sentences for criminals, restrict prosecutions and essentially empty out jails and prisons based upon the myth of over-incarceration.  The expressed motive behind this fiction is that consistently enforced laws against crime and increased sentences for repeat offenders is racist.  The proof:  blacks and Hispanics, which commit crime at higher levels that other races, are more frequently arrested, prosecuted and incarcerated than other races.  Their narrative leaves out the which commit crime at higher levels part, and so does most of the national media.  But to sell a lie over a long period of time, one must prevent the majority from finding out the truth.  Today’s Wall Street Journal provides a case in point.  The powerful Democratic City Committee in Philadelphia has voted not to endorse progressive District Attorney Larry Krasner’s reelection this year.

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CJLF to Participate in Oral Argument Before Cal Supreme Court

CJLF Legal Director Kent Scheidegger will be delivering oral argument remotely to the California Supreme Court Tomorrow morning (April 7) at 9:00 am.

The argument will be live streamed at this link:  https://www.courts.ca.gov/35333.htm

The name of the case is In re Friend (Jack Wayne) on Habeas Corpus, S256914.

This will be the first case argued tomorrow and you should be able to click on it to watch it occur.
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No City Is Bad Enough to Deserve Marilyn Mosby

Marilyn Mosby is the State’s Attorney for Baltimore, known as “Charm City” less for its charm (which to be sure is there) than for its rampant violent crime.  Ms. Mosby is perhaps best known for her astonishingly incompetent prosecution in the Freddie Gray case, in which she indicted six police officers for their alleged role in the death, in police custody, of Gray, a small-time drug dealer.  While there was at least an arguable case for criminal liability for some of the officers involved, Ms. Mosby pulled off the amazing feat of failing to win a conviction on a single count against a single officer.

Undeterred, Ms. Mosby  —  who was a “progressive prosecutor” before progressive prosecutors were cool  —  has now launched a program to further corrode the already dicey daily life in Baltimore by, through prosecutorial fiat, de-criminalizing crime.  My friend Sean Kennedy, a visiting fellow at the Maryland Public Policy Institute, has details on the sad story, and the boatload of liberal deceit surrounding it.  With his permission, I repeat his abundantly researched piece below.

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Why the Surge in Violent Crime?

Hat tip to Prof. Doug Berman for this post, “Detailing ‘perfect storm’ of factors that may account for increase in violent crime.”  As it notes:

Sixty-three of the 66 largest police jurisdictions saw increases in at least one category of violent crimes in 2020, which include homicide, rape, robbery, and aggravated assault, according to a report produced by the Major Cities Chiefs Association. Baltimore City, Baltimore County and Raleigh, North Carolina, did not report increases in any of the violent crime categories.

If Baltimore did not report any increases, that has to mean that whatever reporting mechanism Baltimore was using was stolen in the crime spree.

But I digress.  The obvious question is, what brought about the surge in violent crime?

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Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascón Restricts Ability to Prosecute Dangerous Criminals

In a Tweet yesterday LA County Sheriff Alex Villanueva stated, “While gang members are busy driving up LA County’s homicide rate, LA DA @GeorgeGascon is now dismantling the Hardcore Gang Unit that works in collaboration with local law enforcement”. An article in the Washington Examiner today by Jake Dima brings to light statements made like the one by Sheriff Villanueva and other prosecutors that oppose the so-called reform policies being enacted by LA County DA Gascón. 

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Justice Alito Warns of Loose Canons of Interpretation

Today was decision day at the U.S. Supreme Court. No criminal cases were decided. Facebook v. Duguid is an exercise in statutory interpretation regarding a law on autodialers. Justice Alito has an interesting concurring opinion warning of loose canons of interpretation. (That’s my pun, not his.)

If a statute refers to “A, B, or C with X” does the modifier “with X” apply to all three or just C? Continue reading . . .