The Correct Outcome in Vega v. Tekoh

by · Apr 21, 2022 8:06 am

Earlier this week, the Supreme Court heard argument in Vega v. Tekoh.  That case presents the question whether a plaintiff has a civil remedy against a police officer under 42 U.S.C. 1983 for obtaining a statement in violation of the Constitution, when the statement was later admitted at his trial.  In Vega, the statement was obtained from a suspect in custody without having first given him his Miranda warnings.  In other words, one pivotal question is whether or not Miranda warnings are required by the Constitution, in particular the Fifth Amendment.

An earlier case, Dickerson v. United States, 530 U.S. 428 (2000) seems to suggest that they are.  In fact they aren’t, and for that reason the police officer should win this case.

Continue reading . . .

Soros-Funded Victims’ Groups

by · Apr 20, 2022 9:33 am

As National Crime Victims’ Rights Week kicks off on April 24, three California groups, which support shorter sentences and the early release of criminals, will be holding rallies and events portraying themselves as the voice of victims.

The three progressive groups funded by liberal billionaire George Soros—Crime Survivors for Safety and Justice, Californians for Safety and Justice, and Prosecutors Alliance of California—support defunding police departments, declining to prosecute most criminals, and seeking the shortest possible sentences for those who are prosecuted.

As reported on Fox 40 News, earlier this week, representatives of these groups met with legislators in Sacramento to encourage more state-funded services for crime victims, while ignoring the laws and policies that have flooded California communities with criminals.

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Gov. Brown Tricked Voters on Prop. 57

by · Apr 18, 2022 2:57 pm

Veteran California political commentator Dan Walters has this column at CalMatters.  The headline is, “Gov. Brown pushed for softer treatment of violent felons.” The “tricked” allegation comes farther down in the text. Here is the summary:

Fingers of blame are being pointed about the early prison release of a man accused of being one of the shooters in a downtown Sacramento gang shootout. But the politician most responsible is former Gov. Jerry Brown.

Brown may well be “most responsible,” but that should not let the present governor off the hook. Gov. Newsom has taken powers that Brown left him and adopted measures for the benefit of violent criminals that go considerably beyond what Brown adopted. Continue reading . . .

Does knowledge of a demographic fact equal racial bias?

by · Apr 18, 2022 12:09 pm

Mark Twain once referred to a jury as “twelve men … who don’t know anything and can’t read.” He was exaggerating. Yet, this morning three Justices of the United States Supreme Court dissented from the Court’s refusal to take up a case of alleged juror bias for review, when the claim of bias was the juror’s statement of a demographic fact that is undeniably true. Continue reading . . .

Making the Case Against Gascón

by · Apr 18, 2022 9:50 am

The following is a letter by Councilmember James R. Bozajian from the Los Angeles County city of Calabasas.  Hat tip to the LA’s Association of Deputy District Attorneys:

I am in receipt of your recent letter, inviting the Calabasas City Council to meet with you to discuss your vision for the District Attorney’s Office. For the following reasons, I must decline your request.

On the very day you assumed office, you announced a series of “reforms” seemingly designed with precision to turn the District Attorney’s Office upside-down. Your actions since then have only aggravated the negative effects of these ill-conceived measures.

You enacted these draconian policies without soliciting input from law enforcement, public officials, the general public, or even your own (experienced) prosecutors. Instead, you relied exclusively upon a cadre of hostile, extreme partisans whose sole objectives appear to have been to defund, demolish, and destroy our criminal justice system.

The ultimate result of which, simply put, is that Los Angeles County has become a vastly more dangerous place to live since you became its chief prosecutor

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Transgender Inmates Impregnate Two Women in New Jersey Prison

by · Apr 14, 2022 11:55 am

The suspicion that some prison inmates identify as women in order to get into a women’s prison where they can receive better living conditions and access to women has, once again, proven true.   As reported by Andrea Blanco of the Daily Mail, an investigation has been launched after two women inmates in New Jersey’s only all-women’s prison became pregnant after having sex with transgender inmates.  Last year, the prison started housing former male inmates who now identify as woman and to date 27 transgenders are residing in the 800 inmate facility.  This policy was adopted to settle an ACLU lawsuit against New Jersey claiming that preventing transgender criminals from serving their sentences in a women’s prison constituted discrimination.  ACLU Legal Director Jeanne LoCicero told reporters, “It’s in line with New Jersey’s strong anti-discrimination laws that prevent discrimination and harassment on the basis of gender identity.”   A Department of Corrections spokesperson said that the pregnant inmates engaged in sex with the transgender inmates voluntarily.   Last year a lawsuit was filed by two woman inmates seeking a ruling to revoke the policy citing sexual activity between female and transgender inmates.  More to come….no pun intended.

The Practical Problems Caused by a Rogue Prosecutor’s Policies

by · Apr 13, 2022 10:25 am

Charles Stimson and Zack Smith of the Heritage Foundation have this series of the three videos on the impact of LA DA George Gascón’s policies.

The first is an interview with LA County Sheriff Alex Villanueva. The second is a panel discussion with three present and former prosecutors in the office. The third is a panel discussion with mothers whose sons were murdered.

The gathering of signatures for a recall election continues.

It’s The Weak Sentencing Stupid

by · Apr 12, 2022 1:40 pm

New York Governor Kathy Hochul announced today that she is “sick and tired of reading headlines about crime,” in the wake of this morning’s Brooklyn subway shootings and bombing that injured at least 16 commuters.  Last week, after 18 people were shot with 6 killed at a shooting in downtown Sacramento,  California Governor Gavin Newsom told reporters “Sadly, we once again mourn the lives lost and for those injured in yet another horrendous act of gun violence.”  Yesterday, President Biden announced that his administrations effort to combat the nation’s unprecedented spike in violent crime was going to be a crack down on gun kits assembled at home called “ghost guns.”  At a press conference the President told reporters “These guns are weapons of choice for many criminals, we’re going to do everything we can to deprive them of that choice.”   These politicians either don’t know or don’t care about the real reason crime and violence has increased in New York, California, and dozens of other states across the country.  It is not the availability of firearms, most of which used in crimes are stolen.  It is the criminals that are shooting the firearms, left free on the streets by so-called compassionate sentencing reforms adopted by Congress, many state legislatures and even state voters through misleading ballot measures.

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Candidates for LA Mayor Divided on Policing

by · Apr 8, 2022 10:30 am

As the Los Angeles mayor’s race starts heating up, one of the top issues is restoring the Los Angeles Police Department, which suffered $150 million in cuts made by Mayor Eric Garcetti and the woke city council in June of 2020.  Some may recall news video of Garcetti kneeling with Black Lives Matter protesters the day before the vote.  Soledad Ursúa of the City Journal reports that while the City Council told the public that the funds from the cuts would be reinvested in non-white and disadvantaged communities, city officials later reported back that the money was being earmarked for street sweeping, tree trimming, storm drains, speed bumps and other services unrelated to the disadvantaged or reducing crime.  In the eighteen months since the cuts were made Los Angeles has suffered an unprecedented rise in murders, assaults, carjackings, commercial and residential burglaries.  With this crime spike and the police-officer-to-citizen ratio in Los Angeles now roughly half of that of Chicago or New York City,  the candidates for Mayor are being asked how they would address the issue if elected.

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Worry About Crime in U.S. at Highest Level Since 2016

by · Apr 7, 2022 9:29 am

Megan Brenan has this report for Gallup with the above title:

Americans’ concern about crime and violence in the U.S. has edged up in the past year, and for the first time since 2016, a majority (53%) say they personally worry a “great deal” about crime. Another 27% report they worry a “fair amount,” which places the issue near the top of the list of 14 national concerns — behind only inflation and the economy, and on par with hunger and homelessness.

Crime, policy, and politics have gone in a depressingly predictable cycle. The American people were pitched a bill of goods that going soft on crime could be done without increasing crime, and perhaps even lower it. Fueled by billionaire-funded campaigns and viral videos, they bought it, having forgotten the lessons of the last third of the twentieth century. Continue reading . . .