Oh Where, Oh Where Has the Defense Bar Gone? Oh Where, Oh Where Can It Be?

by · Jun 4, 2020 12:04 am

Remember Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, the Boston Marathon bomber who blew up an eight-year-old?  Remember John Allen Muhammad, the Beltway sniper, who used random shoppers for target practice?  Remember Zacarias Moussaoui, the Jihadist 20th hijacker on 9-11?  There was no credible doubt about either their factual guilt when they were arrested or about the mind-bending hideousness of their crimes. But what did the defense bar, finger as ever in the air, tell us then?

“The presumption of innocence is the cornerstone of our system.”  “Take a deep breath and wait for all the facts to come out.”  “Don’t rush to judgment.”  “We don’t know what the prosecution is hiding.”  “The DA wants to tack another scalp to his wall for political gain.”  “Even the most despised defendant deserves fair play.”  Etcetera.

Question:  Have you heard any of that about Derek Chauvin, who now is certainly the most despised defendant in America?  I sure haven’t.  Next question:  Why not?  Well, one might speculate that Chauvin is identified with the true Untouchable Caste in this country  —  no, not a child killer or a gleeful mass murderer.  A former cop.  No wonder the defense bar is on vacation.

Abolish the Police, Part II

by · Jun 3, 2020 8:27 pm

The last substantive post on the old version of Crime and Consequences was this one by Kent, titled “Abolish the Police?”  It noted that doing away with police forces  —  although it sounds like a lunatic fringe idea  —  isn’t, and is creeping its way into mainstream liberalism.

Today came further proof of this startling reality. Continue reading . . .

Systemic Racism?

by · Jun 3, 2020 11:04 am

“George Floyd’s death in Minneapolis has revived the Obama-era narrative that law enforcement is endemically racist. On Friday, Barack Obama tweeted that for millions of black Americans, being treated differently by the criminal justice system on account of race is “tragically, painfully, maddeningly ‘normal,’ ”  writes Heather MacDonald in today’s Wall Street Journal.  In his piece in California Political Review, James V. Lacy notes “Liberal officials and the media focus on what they call “systemic racism” as causing the death of Floyd and other people of color at the hands of scoflaw police officers.”  Liberal/progressive politicians and their mouthpieces in the mainstream media have become boringly predicable.  News anchors, politicians and endless array of pundits have been for years engaged in nonstop hectoring that virtually everything happening in the United States, including sports and weather events, is the result of racism.  Maintaining this narrative requires ignoring the inconvenient truth.

Continue reading . . .

Nothing Positive About Riots

by · Jun 1, 2020 1:41 pm

Someone at the Fairfax County, Virginia Democratic Party tweeted on the organization’s account, “riots are an integral part of the country’s march towards progress.” The tweet was deleted, but not before it was noted by Josh Kraushaar of the National Journal. This is utterly abhorrent.

Continue reading . . .

Enabling Chaos

by · Jun 1, 2020 11:52 am

The week of national rioting following the killing of George Floyd by a depraved Minneapolis police officer has escalated into a “pandemic of civil violence more widespread than anything seen during the Black Lives Matter movement of the Obama years,” noted Manhattan Institute scholar Heather MacDonald in a piece in today’s City Journal.  She points to the weak response by Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, who ordered police to abandon a precinct attacked and torched by rioters and then Minnesota Governor Tim Walz’s reluctance to mobilize the national guard to avoid appearing “oppressive.”   This politically correct posturing in the face of widespread violent chaos in major U.S. cities demonstrates the successful marketing of blacks as victims of white privilege by academia, progressives and the national media.  Under this narrative anything the mob does to protest injustice, including beating innocent store owners and burning their businesses to the ground is justified. Continue reading . . .

Supreme Court Further Bogs Down Habeas Corpus Cases

by · Jun 1, 2020 8:47 am

The U.S. Supreme Court this morning took a small step further down a road it has already traveled too far–bogging down federal habeas corpus cases by making them more like regular civil litigation in federal courts. The direct effect of Banister v. Davis, No. 18-6943, will not be large, but the overall problem it contributes to is huge.

Continue reading . . .

Lawyers versus the Police, Literally Speaking

by · May 31, 2020 6:25 pm

It’s been the case for a long time that the public has much more trust in the police than in lawyers  —  something Gallup confirmed again this year.  One might speculate that this is because the police are there to advance the public’s interest while lawyers are there to advance the client’s, even when it may not be particularly commendable (e.g., when a violent criminal is seeking a trickster acquittal).

It would seem that some lawyers aren’t reacting to the disparity too well.  This of course is an extreme episode, no more representative of the legal profession than the homicide of  George Floyd is representative of the police profession.

Giving Second Chances — With A Twist

by · May 29, 2020 4:49 pm

One of the most frequent, and in its way appealing, pitches for reducing prison sentences, or avoiding them entirely if at all possible, is that we all “make mistakes” and should be given a second chance.  The last few days have brought us the appalling story of the police killing of an unarmed and subdued man in Minneapolis.  As it turns out, there’s a tale about second chances lurking not far in the background. Continue reading . . .