Fentanyl Traffickers Released Without Bail and Skip Town

by · Jul 22, 2022 12:15 pm

Much attention has been given to the dramatic spike in crime in large California cities like San Francisco and Los Angeles and the focus is often on the pro-criminal policies of local politicians and progressive district attorneys.  But crime in rural California has also increased, even though local political and law enforcement leaders often oppose soft-on-crime policies.  As reported by Fox News,  the CHP pulled over a suspicious vehicle in rural Tulare County on June 24, and found 150,000 Fentanyl pills and two kilos of cocaine.  The two men in the vehicle, both from Washington state, were arrested and charged with crimes which carry a prison sentence of up to fourteen years upon conviction.   Within twenty-four hours a county judge had released the traffickers without bail and instructed them to show up for a July 21st hearing.   Is anybody surprised that they left town?

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New SF District Attorney Fires 15

by · Jul 20, 2022 9:57 am

Newly appointed San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins has fired fifteen of recalled DA Chesa Boudin’s top staff members, angering progressives.  Eric Ting of the San Francisco Chronicle reports that Jenkins told reporters the firings were necessary to help fulfill her promise to hold “serious and repeat offenders accountable.”   Among those getting the ax were Managing Attorney Arcelia Hurtado, a member of the city’s Innocence Commission established by Boudin in 2020.  Hurtado was also the head of the office’s Post Conviction Review Unit, which is currently considering a petition to reduce the sentence of Mayor London Breed’s brother, who is serving time in prison for manslaughter, armed robbery and carjacking.   Mayor Breed payed a $23,000 fine for unethical conduct after asking then-Governor Jerry Brown to commute her brother’s sentence in 2018.

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Lax Sentencing Keeps the Morgue Busy in Baltimore

by · Jul 16, 2022 3:09 pm

Baltimore has one of the more notorious “progressive” prosecutors around, Marilyn Mosby.  Apart from her other accomplishments, such as failing to win a single conviction in the Freddie Gray case, which she and other Leftists  hyped relentlessly for its political effect, Ms. Mosby is currently under federal indictment for cheating to obtain a government loan as  part of COVID relief.  Like defendants  everywhere, she’s seeking to postpone her trial, and claiming that the case against her is a product of  —  ready now?  —  the Biden Administration’s racism.

Is there anything these people won’t say?

Of course the main problem with Ms. Mosby is not her cheating or her excessively political bent.  It’s that the Baltimore murder rate, already a scandal, has spiked under the lax sentencing she happily supports, as illustrated here.

Gascón Recall Petition Random Sample Completed, Full Count Required

by · Jul 15, 2022 3:00 pm

The Los Angeles County Registrar has completed the process of validating and counting a random sample of 5% (i.e., 1/20) of the recall petitions. See this press release. The sample was 35,793 signatures, of which 27,983 were found valid. If exactly the same ratio holds for the total petitions, the number of valid signatures would be 27,983 x 20 = 559,660.  That would be agonizingly close but 7,197 short of the required 566,857. Continue reading . . .

Time to Overrule Miranda?

by · Jul 15, 2022 6:59 am

Yes, there is hope.  I explain why in my Substack entry,  here.  As a teaser, my first two paragraphs are:

In an earlier entry, “Democracy Dies in Judicial Imperialism,” I noted the similarity between Roe v. Wade and Miranda v. Arizona. In each case, the Court treated the liberal elite’s view of law as if it were part of the Constitution, thus to insulate it from any input from that pesky hoi polloi sometimes known as “voters.”

Roe and Miranda are probably the two most important examples of the sort of obey-your-betters judicial imperialism I was talking about. Roe went down three weeks ago. In this entry, I ask whether it’s time for Miranda to follow it into history’s dustbin. To avoid any suspense, the short answer is yes — indeed it’s past time — but I have my doubts that this is going to happen any time soon, even with a Supreme Court, like this one, that takes the Constitution seriously, both for what it says and what it refrains from saying. I’ll explain momentarily why I think Miranda will be with us for a while despite a more disciplined Court.

Gascón Halts Notifying Victims of Parole Hearings

by · Jul 14, 2022 12:13 pm

Reversing a decades old policy, the Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office will no longer let crime victims and their families know that the criminal who assaulted them or murdered their loved one is receiving a parole hearing.  Jason McGahan of Los Angeles Magazine reports that an email distributed to deputies on Tuesday announced that DA George Gascón feels that it is “not appropriate” for prosecutors to notify victims and next of kin of upcoming parole hearings.  This comes as Gascón also informed deputies that he will be closing down the “lifer unit,”  which argued on behalf of victims to oppose the parole of murderers sentenced to life in prison.   A spokesman for Gascón explained that informing victims or their surviving relatives can be traumatic, and that victims have a right not to be notified of their assailant’s parole hearing.

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Philly DA Protects Criminals While Skipping His Taxes

by · Jul 11, 2022 12:05 pm

Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner, boasts about the drop in prosecutions under his leadership while his city is setting records on homicides.  Last year, Philly, with a population of 1.6 million, had 562 homicides.  For perspective,  Los Angeles has population of 3.9 million and suffered 397 homicides in 2021.  Attorney Hans Bader, writing in Liberty Unyielding notes that the press seems to give Krasner, and other Soros-bankrolled progressive (read pro-criminal) district attorneys a pass.  In addition to implementing policies that have his office declining to prosecute criminals at two-and-one-half times the rate of his predecessor,  Krasner “owes the city $83,406.50 in back taxes, a story Big Trail published back on April 26th.  For more than two months now, the D.A. has held weekly press conferences typically on Mondays.  And not once has any reporter in  town had the guts to ask the D.A. when he was going to pay up.”

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Boudin Critic Appointed New SF DA

by · Jul 8, 2022 2:11 pm

SF Mayor London Breed has appointed Brooke Jenkins to be the San Francisco District Attorney, filling the vacancy created by the recall of Chesa Boudin. Eric Ting had this article yesterday in the SF Chronicle based on an insider tip, and the official announcement was made today, as reported in this article from Bay City News.

The appointment is a short one, as a special election will be held concurrently with the November general election to fill the seat until SF’s odd election cycle comes around again in 2023.

Ms. Jenkins was a prosecutor in the office until last year, when she quit over Mr. Boudin’s policies and joined the recall effort. Heather Knight had this article at the time on her departure. She considers herself a progressive (it is SF, after all), but what she means by “progressive” is clearly much different than what Mr. Boudin means.

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In NYC Self Defense = Murder

by · Jul 8, 2022 10:56 am

Progressive Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg has charged a 61-year-old bodega worker with second-degree murder for defending  himself against a habitual felon who attacked him.  Security video provided here by the New York Post shows  35-year-old parolee Austin Simon walk behind the counter and attack Jose Alba, knocking him down and threatening him.  Alba then grabbed a knife kept under the counter and fatally stabbed Simon.  Alba, who had no criminal record, was charged with murder and thrown in jail on $250,000 bail.  Simon’s girlfriend, who stabbed Alba in the arm during the attack, was not charged.

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