A Quiet Morning at SCOTUS

by · May 18, 2020 7:42 am

Not much action at the high court today. The court issued one opinion in a Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act case regarding suing foreign governments for sponsoring terrorism.

The court did not take up any cases for full briefing and argument. There is a big push by a number of groups to attack the doctrine of qualified immunity and make it easier to sue police officers. That would create one more reason to discourage people from entering the field, as if there were not enough already. It would expose officers to being sued for actions that were legal under precedents in effect at the time of the action but which a creative lawyer asks a court to declare illegal. Continue reading . . .

D.C. Circuit Will Not Rehear Execution Case

by · May 15, 2020 11:28 am

Last month, a splintered three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit vacated an injunction against executions issued by the D.C. District Court. See this post. Today, the court turned down the murderers’ request to rehear the case before all the active judges (except for CJ Srinivasan, who is recused). No judge of the court even called for a vote on it. Continue reading . . .

Some Crime Up in NYC This Year

by · May 13, 2020 1:15 pm

The major media has reported that overall crime is down in most places in America this year, attributing most of the reduction to the nation-wide lockdown due to the pandemic.  But CompStat numbers for New York City, one of the most locked-down places in the nation, show increases in some serious crimes over the first four months of the year.   As of May 3, murders in the Big Apple were up 3%.  Robberies increased by 12%, burglary was up 29% and auto theft jumped by 62%.  There were also reported increases in transit crimes and shootings.  But the increase in violence is not limited to NYC.  Detroit has seen a 66% spike in shootings and an increase in homicides, with increases in shootings also reported in Dallas, Nashville, Philadelphia and Tuscon.   In fact shooting deaths nationally at this point in the year are higher than those over the same period during the last three years.

DA Challenges Accomplice Murder Law

by · May 11, 2020 11:00 am

A bill (SB1413) signed into law in 2018 by California Governor Jerry Brown, which prohibits charging some accomplices to murder with murder, and allows reduced sentences to those previously convicted as accomplices to murder, is being challenged by the Ventura County District Attorney.  Megan Diskin of the Ventura County Star reports that the District Attorney is appealing a Second District Court of Appeal ruling, which upheld the law, to the state Supreme Court.

Continue reading . . .

Crime Up in Houston During Lockdown

by · May 8, 2020 11:58 am

The Associated Press reports today that crime in Houston, Texas, is up compared to last year, with homicides increasing by 49%.  Police say that the spike in murders is the result of a drop in the supply of illegal drugs, causing dealers to violently defend their turf and product.   Other crimes that have increased during the pandemic, including aggravated assault, domestic violence, and burglaries, even as some crimes have declined in other parts of the world under lockdown.

Lockdown Proponents Should Have the Burden of Proof

by · May 8, 2020 11:34 am

Seven weeks after the President recommended that Americans shelter in place and states issued lockdown orders to combat the Covid-19 virus, the process of reopening has begun in some parts of the country.   But in several states, including Michigan, New York, New Jersey, and California governors are moving slowly, insisting that science shows that many businesses and parks should remain closed and healthy people should continue to stay home and avoid others.  Manhattan Institute scholar Heather Mac Donald has this piece in The Hill suggesting that the science is not clear that the lockdown has worked and that the consequences of sheltering in place may be worse than the disease.

Continue reading . . .