Illinois Eliminates Cash Bail

by · Feb 25, 2021 11:06 am

Setting the stage for a significant overhaul of its criminal justice system, Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker has signed a 700 page bill that he called a step toward “dismantling the systemic racism that plagues our communities..”   Safia Samee Ali of NBC News reports that the bill HB 3653 gives more rights to suspects, places new requirements on policing and eliminates cash bail for most arrestees, which supporters term “wealth-based detention.”  While law enforcement groups have opposed the elimination of cash bail, NPR reports that supporters point to studies that show little-to-no increase in crime caused by the near elimination of cash bail in New Jersey and Washington, D.C.

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Washington Homeless Shelters Support Drug Use

by · Feb 23, 2021 1:57 pm

In this article from 2017 Bob Young and Vernal Coleman from the Seattle Times reported on the status of homeless shelters in the early stages of planning that allow and aid in the residents’ use of illegal drugs, including heroin. According to Dr. Jeffrey Duchin, “The idea is that users could visit a supervised facility where they could get clean needles and anti-overdose medications as well as medical attention as needed and treatment options.”

The article written by Young and Coleman in 2017 was a preview of what was to come in just a few short years. According to this article yesterday by Jason Rantz of KTTH, “A Seattle-backed homeless shelter is instructing addicts to smoke heroin and inject drugs rectally. And the shelter is using tax dollars to help get addicts high.” Rantz acknowledges the dangers in encouraging use of heroin and brings to light the posting of flyers in public areas to inform the general public of the most ideal ways to administer heroin.

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Gascón Goes Easy on Another Cop Killer

by · Feb 22, 2021 2:27 pm

Last December, newly elected Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascón made headlines by dropping the special circumstances allegations for Rhett Nelson, a criminal who shot and killed off-duty LA Sheriff’s Deputy Joseph Solano and another man during a 2019 crime spree.  This prevented the cop-killer from receiving a sentence of life-without-parole and makes him eligible for release in 20 years.  Last Thursday, Gascón’s office ordered the dropping of special circumstances for Michael Mejia, an habitual felon gang member who in February of 2017, killed his cousin in order to steal his car and then gunned down a responding police officer, killing him and injuring his partner.  City News Service reports that dropping the specials in this case protects Mejia from being sentenced to death, and also gives him parole eligibility.

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Defining “Occasion”

by · Feb 22, 2021 7:27 am

The federal “three strikes” law provides enhanced penalties for felons who possess firearms after three convictions for violent felonies or serious drug offenses “committed on occasions different from one another.” What exactly is an “occasion”?

Wooden v. United States, No. 20-5279, taken up by the Supreme Court today, is one of the rare cases where a defendant writing his own certiorari petition actually got the Court to take the case up for full briefing and argument. Continue reading . . .

Of Nosy Cops and Children Saved

by · Feb 21, 2021 1:54 pm

I saw this story recently in the WSJ and thought it had two lessons worth noting, one about when government agencies should intervene in family matters and one about when standard issue thinking about the obligations of criminal defense lawyers runs into basic decency.

It’s about a little boy who went to a diner with his family.  What happened next is both grotesque and uplifting.

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Gascón’s Fake Resignation from DA’s Association

by · Feb 17, 2021 11:52 am

A widely covered piece of breaking news, breathlessly reported by Jerry Lannelli in the Appeal, announced that Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascón has sent an open letter resigning his membership in the California District Attorneys Association (CDAA). “Among other criticisms, the letter mentioned the CDAA’s failure to appoint a single person of color to its 17-member board of directors.”  The article cites Anne Irwin, head of Smart Justice California, who said “Gascón’s decision could dramatically alter the CDAA’s power in Sacramento and continue to break apart the notion that prosecutors have “one voice.” Los Angeles County and its 10 milion residents represent over one fourth of California’s population.”   There is only one problem with this story, Gascón is not a member of CDAA.

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De-Fund the Police……Oh……..Wait………..

by · Feb 16, 2021 8:48 pm

Minneapolis, the site of George Floyd’s death in the hands of the police in May of last year, initially reacted as you might expect a city with far Left leadership to react  —  namely, to strike out against the police as a product of reflex rather than reflection.  The snarling demand was to de-fund and disband the police department.  In early June, the Minneapolis City Council declared an intent to restructure the department as a “new community-based system of public safety.”

But a funny thing happened on the way to de-funding.  Reality.

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Crime, Race, and Cancel Culture’s Poisonous Game of Dare

by · Feb 16, 2021 4:31 pm

Glenn Loury, a black man, is a professor of economics and faculty fellow at the Watson Institute at Brown University and a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute.  He is also a man of tremendous courage and insight  —  one of the few in academia, or anywhere, who would write the following truth:

Common sense and much evidence suggest that, on the whole, people are not being arrested, convicted, and sentenced because of their race. Those in prison are, in the main, those who have broken the law—who have hurt others, or stolen things, or otherwise violated the basic behavioral norms which make civil society possible. Seeing prisons as a racist conspiracy to confine black people is an absurd proposition. No serious person could believe it. Continue reading . . .