by Kent Scheidegger · May 25, 2023 7:19 am
The U.S. Supreme Court has been issuing opinions only on Thursdays this month, with only orders lists on Mondays. That is a departure from past practice. The court issued three opinions today. It was a good day for landowners and homeowners, but no criminal cases. One law-enforcement-related civil case was decided, but the issue was purely one of civil procedure. Continue reading . . .
by Kent Scheidegger · May 24, 2023 1:05 pm
Last Friday, Missouri Gov. Mike Parson appointed Gabriel Gore as Circuit Attorney for St. Louis, replacing Kimberly Gardner, who resigned abruptly. Mr. Gore is a former Assistant U.S. Attorney, although his recent experience is in private practice. The announcement is here. Eric Heffernan and Katie Kull have this story in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Continue reading . . .
by Michael Rushford · May 22, 2023 12:00 pm
In a surprising move announced Friday, progressive Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascon’s office will be charging the three Chicago gang members arrested for the murders of three women in Beverly Crest last January, with special circumstance first-degree murder and enhancements. Brie Stimson of Fox News reports that nine people were shot on the morning of January 28 by what police characterized as an ambush. The three women killed and the accused shooters were all from the Chicago area. This announcement is unusual because, since his election, District Attorney Gascon has forbidden his deputies from charging special circumstances and enhancements against murderers and other violent offenders.
by Kent Scheidegger · May 22, 2023 7:06 am
The U.S Supreme Court issued a regular Monday order’s list today. No new cases were taken up for full briefing and argument. One civil case was summarily reversed.
We were disappointed that the court declined to take up the case of South Carolina murderer Quincy Allen, No. 22-490. CJLF had filed a friend of the court brief supporting the state’s petition. The case seemed to us to be a good vehicle for reconsidering a particularly egregious old precedent in which the court grafted a constitutional limit on to the Eighth Amendment because a majority of the justices thought it was a good idea, not because it has any basis whatever in the text or history of the Constitution. Continue reading . . .
by Michael Rushford · May 17, 2023 12:21 pm
Following Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s decision to prosecute an ex-Marine Daniel Penny for subduing a deranged habitual felon on the subway, who died from the chokehold, 50,000 people have donated to Penny’s legal defense fund. Michael Lee of Fox News reports that the fund has received $2.5 million since Penney was charged with second-degree manslaughter last Friday. Along with the contributions, many New Yorkers thanked Penny for taking action to prevent violence on the city’s crime-plagued subways. “My daughter rides those subways, Keep them safe,” wrote one donor. “I would have wanted you on the subway if I were there,” wrote another. Bragg’s decision came after protesters including Al Sharpton and progressive politicians ranging from the New York’s Mayor, members of the City Council, the state legislature, and members of Congress demanded that the white man who choked the black criminal, with over 40 arrests, be charged with murder. A no-brainer for the Soros-bankrolled District Attorney. On the other side of the country, in progressive San Francisco, the District Attorney was faced with a similar case.
by Kent Scheidegger · May 15, 2023 3:50 pm
No criminal statute has taken up more of the U.S. Supreme Court’s time in recent decades than the Armed Career Criminal Act. As the name implies, sentencing under the act depends heavily on the extent of the defendant’s criminal career. The chronic headache comes from the fact that each jurisdiction defines crimes differently, and federal defendants prosecuted under the ACCA typically have multiple prior convictions in state court. Continue reading . . .
by Michael Rushford · May 15, 2023 1:46 pm
Law enforcement groups are warning that cities across the country implementing policies to prohibit most traffic stops by police are going to result in a preventable increase in crime. The New York Times reports that cities including Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Seattle, Berkeley, Lansing, Mich, Brooklyn Center, Minn, and the State of Virginia have adopted such policies. The City of Los Angeles is also considering having unarmed civilians enforce “safety related traffic violations,” such as speeding according to the LA Times.
by Michael Rushford · May 10, 2023 11:17 am
One of the most effective improvements to policing of the last fifty years has been the use of data to determine which neighborhoods are plagued with the most crime. In the mid 1990s, law enforcement agencies in many U.S. cities, including New York and Los Angeles, were able to dramatically cut crime rates by targeting high crime areas with more police patrols and specialized units focused on gangs and illegal firearms. Crime reporting and incident data has also helped focus government and private programs on the areas and populations most in need of services to improve their lives. In its blind pursuit of “social justice” the Biden administration has determined that data-based policing is racist. James Lynch of the Daily Caller reports that Department of Justice is proposing updating anti-discrimination guidelines which will prevent federal law enforcement from relying on crime statistics to catch criminals.
by Michael Rushford · May 9, 2023 9:35 am
Kim Gardner, the progressive St. Louis Circuit Attorney whose campaign was bankrolled by uber-liberal billionaire George Soros announced that she would resign from office on June 1. Susan El Khoury and Lauren Trager of KMOV report that Gardner is facing removal from office by the State Attorney General for willfully neglecting the duties of her office. Gardner was first elected in 2016 as the city’s first black female Circuit Attorney, vowing to reform the office and restore social justice. The main elements of her reform agenda has been to decline to prosecute thousands of cases and fail to assign prosecutors to serious criminal cases set for trial. In April her office was held in contempt for failing to appear for the trial of a man accused of murder and another trial of a suspect charged with shooting an 11-year-old girl. Gardner’s refusal to revoke bail even for habitual offenders who repeatedly violate bail conditions without any consequences became a major issue for her opponents. In February Daniel Riley, who had violated bail at least 50 times while awaiting trial for armed robbery, rammed his car at high speed into 16-year-old Janae Edmondson and another car, pinning her between both vehicles. Riley was driving without a license. The girl, who was in town for a volleyball tournament, lost both legs due to the accident. The Attorney General says he will not wait for June 1 to remove Gardner from office.
by Kent Scheidegger · May 8, 2023 11:45 am
On April 28, the California Court of Appeal for the Third District upheld the state’s ban on assault weapons. The Metropolitan News-Enterprise has this story. The same court had previously upheld the predecessor statute, and the new opinion held that the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision last year in New York State Rifle & Piston Assn., Inc. v. Bruen did not change the outcome of this issue. Continue reading . . .
SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FEED