Monthly Archive: March 2023

CA Legislature Kills Crime Bills

by · Mar 13, 2023 1:44 pm

Last week the California Assembly Public Safety Committee killed bills introduced to address rising gun crimes, homelessness and the Newsom administration’s blanket policy of granting early releases to thousands of violent and serious criminals.  Ashley Zavala of KCRA News reports that  AB 328, introduced by Assemblyman Bill Essayli (R-Riverside), would require mandatory prison sentences for criminals who use a gun during the commission of a crime.  “If we are serious about combating gun crime, then we need serious consequences,” he told the Committee.  Essayli noted that gun-related homicides have increased by 52% in California since 2019.  Gun-related assaults were up 64% over the same period.  He also noted that the majority of victims are minorities.  Committee member Mia Bonta (D-Oakland) would have none  of it.  “When I talk to the mothers in Oakland, they’re mostly concerned about mass incarceration…..because of the disproportionate impacts (sentencing) enhancements have had on their community.”  Ms Bonta is California Attorney General Rob Bonta’s wife.

Continue reading . . .

Bribery at Cal. Bar

by · Mar 10, 2023 12:07 pm

How did the now-disgraced Thomas Girardi avoid the scrutiny of the California State Bar’s discipline folks for so long despite “over 200 misconduct complaints against Girardi dating back to at least 1984.” He handled those folks the old-fashioned way. He bribed them.

From a letter from the Bar Chair to all California attorneys:

The May report found that Girardi intentionally cultivated relationships at the State Bar and it spotlights nine individuals at all levels who accepted his largesse and failed to report it, creating conflicts of interest. The report details several instances in which the involvement in Girardi cases of conflicted individuals tainted the discretionary decisions they made on behalf of the State Bar, and as a result, the Girardi cases they worked on were improperly closed.

Continue reading . . .

Another Texas Murderer Facing Justice

by · Mar 9, 2023 10:29 am

Tonight Texas is set to execute its second murderer this week, Arthur Brown, Jr., for the murders of four people, including a pregnant woman.  Jolie McCullough of the Texas Tribune reports that Brown was convicted, along with two accomplices, of the 1992 execution-style murders and attempted murders of two others who survived.  The facts presented in a 2012 decision by a unanimous panel of the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals described the cold blooded murders at a Houston drug house that supplied Brown and his companions, who were dealers.  All six victims were tied to chairs and shot in the head.  The surviving victims testified at trial, identifing Brown and one accomplice as the shooters.  On Tuesday, a judge denied Brown’s request for a last minute stay.  Brown’s attorneys claim they found new evidence that Brown is innocent, that his low IQ disqualifies him from execution, that one juror at the trial was racist and that his trial lawyer was incompetent.  While CJLF has no special sympathy for drug dealers, two of Brown’s victims were teenagers, and one, 19-year-old Jessica Quinones, was 9-months pregnant.  They could have straightened out their lives.  As usual all the compassion is for the murderer.  The other shooter, Brown’s accomplice Marion Dudly, was executed in 2006.  UPDATE:  Brown was pronounced dead at 6:37 PM last night.

‘Defund the Police’ Is Over. Now What?

by · Mar 8, 2023 2:58 pm

William Galston, the WSJ’s resident contrarian columnist*, has this column with the above title. Galston notes the political developments in Chicago, New York, and Washington and has this advice for his fellow liberals:

These events prove that dealing with the crime surge is back on the national agenda. Democrats must find a way to demonstrate their commitment to public safety while pursuing reasonable reforms of the criminal-justice system.

I have no quarrel with that statement, but the trick is defining “reasonable.” Continue reading . . .

DC Police Chief: “Lock Them Up”

by · Mar 8, 2023 11:15 am

Last year homicides in Washington, DC reached a twenty year high while the brain-dead City Council was passing a law to shorten sentences for violent and serious crimes.  The Daily Mail reports that yesterday Metro Police Chief Robert Contee made a startling suggestion.  “What we got to do, if we really want to see homicides go down, is keep the bad guys with guns in jail.  Because when they’re in jail, they can’t be in communities shooting people.”

What a concept….actually punishing criminal offenders.  Several questions come to mind regarding this announcement.  What if most of the offenders to be locked up are black?  Is the Chief racist?  Is he actually supporting “mass incarceration,” which progressives tell us was an abject failure in the 1990s?   Answer:  most criminal offenders in Washington, DC are black, and most of their victims are black.  Progressives and race-baiters insist that the only way to achieve “racial justice” is to stop arresting black offenders, leaving them on the streets to find more black victims.  Where is the justice in that scenario?  By the way, Chief Craig and Mayor Muriel Bowser, who also wants the district to crack down on criminals, are both black.

Continue reading . . .

Texas To Execute Double Murderer

by · Mar 7, 2023 11:14 am

A Dallas murderer who killed his estranged wife and her  6-year-old daughter in 2009, faces execution by lethal injection later today.  Juan Lozano of the Associated Press reports that Gary Green decided to kill his wife, Lovetta Armstead and her three children after she informed him that she sought to annul their recent marriage.  On the day of the murders Green wrote Armstead that “there will be five lives taken today me being the fifth.”  A July 2021 decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit describes the murders.  On September 21, 2009 Green went to Armstead’s home and stabbed her more than two dozen times.  He then drowned the 6-year-old girl in the bathtub, before stabbing 9-year-old Jerrett, who talked Green out of killing him and his 12-year-old brother.  At trial Jerrett recounted that he “told Green because we’re too little to die and we won’t tell anybody about it.”   The overwhelming evidence of guilt, including Green’s confession, resulted in an unanimous jury finding him guilty of capital murder. UPDATE:  Green died without incident at 7:07 PM Tuesday night.

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More on the D.C. Crime Bill

by · Mar 6, 2023 3:23 pm

The Federalist Society Criminal Law Practice Group has this teleforum Wednesday at 11:30 am ET / 8:30 am PT on The D.C. Crime Bill: What Happens Next? (See Michael Rushford’s post, earlier today.) The event features “an opening address from U.S. Senator Bill Hagerty [Tenn.], followed by a discussion of the bill and what may come next” led by Zack Smith of the Heritage Foundation. Continue reading . . .

Biden Bails on DC Penal Code Reforms

by · Mar 6, 2023 11:12 am

A District of Columbia penal code revision intended to eliminate mandatory minimum sentences and reduce the consequences for crimes, such as robbery and burglary, has been withdrawn by the DC City Council Chairman after President Biden announced that he would sign a bill to block it.  Because the District of Columbia is not a state, Congress has the last word on its policies. After the district’s council passed the revision last year and voted to override democrat Mayor Muriel Bowser’s veto, it still had to be introduced as a bill and approved by Congress.

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SCOTUS Monday and Standing

by · Mar 6, 2023 10:13 am

This morning was an order list release day at the U.S. Supreme Court. No decisions were issued and no new criminal cases were taken. The court took up a case on admiralty law and choice-of-forum clauses in contracts.

The court turned down a case on standing in an Establishment Clause case. We are interested in standing here at CJLF because we sometimes represent victims of crime seeking to have the perpetrators punished according to the judgment, and such efforts are frequently challenged by saying the victims have no standing. Continue reading . . .

Alameda County DA Adopts Gascon-Style Policies

by · Mar 3, 2023 10:45 am

The newly elected District Attorney of Alameda County, which includes the high-crime city of Oakland, has announced new  policies requiring the prosecutors in her office to seek the minimum sentences possible for convicted criminals, including those who use guns.  For example, in the case of a gang member who fires a gun into an occupied car injuring a passenger, the prosecutor would not be allowed to include the Three Strikes enhancement for the use of a firearm, which would have increased the sentence for the shooter.  Rachel Swan of the SF Chronicle reports that DA Pamela Price’s new policies are similar to those of progressive Los Angeles DA George Gascon’s, requiring deputies to seek probation for criminals who under state law are eligible for jail or prison.

Continue reading . . .