Parsing the Three Opinions in Kansas v. Glover

by · Apr 6, 2020 4:17 pm

Initially, the 8-1 vote in Kansas v. Glover, noted earlier today, was somewhat surprising. Reading through the three opinions in the case, we see some important differences that go beyond the result on the sparse facts of this case.

The Decision

Procedurally, the case was unusual in that the defendant’s motion to suppress evidence was decided on stipulated facts without a hearing. The officer ran the license plate, found that the registered owner had a revoked (not suspended) license, made no effort to identify the driver, and made the stop. That’s it. Continue reading . . .

Stopping a Car Whose Owner Has a Revoked License

by · Apr 6, 2020 9:58 am

The U.S. Supreme Court today decided Kansas v. Glover, No. 18-556, by an 8-1 vote:

This case presents the question whether a police officer violates the Fourth Amendment by initiating an investigative traffic stop after running a vehicle’s license plate and learning that the registered owner has a revoked driver’s license. We hold that when the officer lacks information negating an inference that the owner is the driver of the vehicle, the stop is reasonable.

Continue reading . . .

Cal. Corona Prison Break Denied, For Now

by · Apr 5, 2020 5:49 pm

As noted here on March 26, the inmates in California’s endless prison lawsuit asked the special three-judge district court for a release order, framing their request as a modification of the prior order. Friday evening, the court denied the motion. They didn’t buy the argument that this was a modification. The inmates are seeking a new release order, and they have to begin at the beginning, through the process mandated by the Prison Litigation Reform Act. Continue reading . . .

CA Prisons & Jails to Release Thousands Early

by · Apr 3, 2020 10:40 am

State prison and jail inmates with two months or less left to serve on their sentences are receiving early releases due to fears of widespread corona virus outbreaks.  Sam Stanton of the Sacramento Bee reports that at least 1,700 inmates will be released from the Los Angeles County Jail while another 3,500 will be released from California prisons.  Officials said that most of the inmates released are non-violent offenders.  Other county jail releases have been ordered for Sacramento County (541), Alameda County (314), Fresno County (207) and Orange County (130).  No word on if the classification of “non-violent” is based on the inmate’s most recent crime, or his entire record.  Under California’s Proposition  57, a car thief with priors for rape and second-degree murder is eligible for early release.  If this is the same criteria being used for releases due to corona virus fears, many serious offenders will be hitting the streets.

Continue reading . . .

Virginia Man Charged for Shooting Burglars

by · Apr 1, 2020 10:02 am

An employee of a smoke shop in Arlington, VA is being held without bail facing felony charges for using a gun to defend his place of business during an early morning break-in and burglary.  Tom Roussey of WJLA reports that 31-year-old Hamzeh Abushariah was sleeping in a back room when he was startled awake by three burglars breaking into the store at 4:53 am Sunday.  He grabbed the gun the store’s owner had purchased to protect the business from burglars, and confronted the suspects, shooting one.  All three managed to escape.  The employee was staying in the store to save money and avoid the corona virus, which had infected residents of his D.C. apartment complex.   Newly elected Arlington Commonwealth Attorney Parisa Dehghani-Taft has not yet charged the burglary suspects, but Abushariah was immediately arrested and charged.  Dehghani-Taft, a progressive who received over $620,000 from liberal hedge fund billionaire George Soros, was elected last November after knocking off incumbent Theo Stamos in the June primary.  Stamos raised just over $161,000.  Dehghani-Taft’s election is just the latest win for Soros-funded progressive (read pro-criminal) District Attorneys across the country.  The Soros funds are funneled through PACs such as New York Justice and Public Safety PAC, which have been set up in several states to give directly to selected candidates and run campaign ads on TV and radio.

Appeals Court Overturns Activist’s Murder Conviction

by · Mar 31, 2020 10:42 am

In an unpublished ruling released earlier this month, a divided panel of the California’s First District Court of Appeal overturned the murder conviction of DeAngelo Cortijo, a well known Bay Area  criminal justice reform advocate.   The San Jose Mercury News reports that a jury found Cortijo guilty of the fatal shooting of 26-year-old Oakland resident Jamad Jerkins in 2016.  At trial, Jerkins’ girlfriend testified that he had told her about an earlier incident where Cortijo had pulled a gun on Jerkins.   The judge sustained the defense objection that the girlfriend’s statement was hearsay, and instructed the jury to ignore it, but he refused Cortijo’s request for a mistrial.   Cortijo later testified that he had confronted Jerkins in an apartment parking lot, pointing a loaded gun at him,  and claimed that when Jerkins tried to slap the gun away, it went off.

Continue reading . . .

Coronavirus Pandemic Changes Policing, Including Fewer Arrests

by · Mar 27, 2020 10:14 am

The WSJ has this article with the above headline, subhead As crime falls, police focus on keeping social order, enforcing social distancing:

Law and order is changing across America during the novel coronavirus pandemic, as police pull back on arrests for small-time crimes and instead focus on breaking up gatherings that pose health risks, all the while coping with the perils of a job that can’t be done with social distancing. Continue reading . . .

A Corona Jailbreak

by · Mar 26, 2020 10:29 am

The litigation over California’s prison system continues in federal court despite Realignment, Proposition 47, and Proposition 57. Part of the sales pitch for Proposition 57 was that without it we would “risk a court-ordered release of dangerous prisoners.”* Yet the suit drags on without end, and now the inmates are seeking, yes, another “court-ordered release,” including “release of dangerous prisoners.” Continue reading . . .

Successive Petitions and Federal Prisoners

by · Mar 25, 2020 1:48 pm

In the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996, Congress cracked down on prisoners making repeated collateral attacks on their convictions and sentences. AEPDA included a very strict rule for successive petitions by state prisoners in 28 U.S.C. §2244(b)(1)&(2). A less stringent rule for federal prisoners was added to the end of the separate section for federal-prisoner collateral review, §2255, language that is now designated subdivision (h) of that section.

Does the rule for state prisoners also apply to federal prisoners? Of course not. I’m surprised anyone ever thought it did. Yet it appears that six federal courts of appeals have so held. On Monday, the Supreme Court turned down a case attempting to raise the issue, but Justice Kavanaugh noted the Court should address it soon. Continue reading . . .