Non-unanimous Juries and Prior Cases

by · Apr 27, 2020 7:42 am

Whenever the Supreme Court makes a significant change in the law — as it did last week when it overruled its prior approval of nonunanimous juries in state criminal cases, see this post — the question arises of what to do about cases that have already been tried under the old rule.

Today the high court sent back a bunch of cases from Louisiana and Oregon for reconsideration in light of the Ramos case. Justice Alito noted, “I concur in the judgment on the understanding that the Court is not deciding or expressing a view on whether the question was properly raised below but is instead leaving that question to be decided on remand.” Continue reading . . .

New York Subway Becomes Homeless Shelter

by · Apr 24, 2020 11:02 am

During the Covid-19 lockdown, New York’s subways are supposed to be a primary mode of transportation for people working in hospitals, grocery stores and other essential services.  But as reported by CBS New York,  nurses taking the subway to work are sharing the cars with dozens of passed out homeless and shopping carts filled with garbage.  “There is an astronomical amount of homeless people now in the subway,” one conductor told reporters.

Continue reading . . .

Car Thefts Up During Lockdown

by · Apr 22, 2020 10:27 am

While many police departments are reporting lower rates of most crimes during the coronavirus stay-at-home order, auto thefts have increased in several urban communities.  Scottie Andrew of CNN reports that in  Seattle car thefts have jumped by 24%.  Los Angeles saw an 11.3% increase.  But while auto thefts have increased by 53% in New York City over the past 28 days, some other crimes have also increased in the Big Apple.  According to NYPD Chief Terence Monahan, homicide and burglary have also increased by 5.7% and 21% respectively.    Perhaps the elimination of bail this year and the Mayor’s decision to release inmates to protect them from the virus in NYC had something to do with this.

Coronavirus Opportunism

by · Apr 22, 2020 7:01 am

Jason Riley has this column in the WSJ denouncing “coronavirus opportunism on both sides of the aisle.”

Mr. Trump will catch grief for using the coronavirus scare to push a mostly unrelated immigration agenda, but his political opponents are playing similar games. Springing criminals from jails and prisons to protect them from catching the virus is one of many examples, and potentially the most dangerous one. Since when did the well-being of convicts become more important than the safety of society? Continue reading . . .

Splintered High Court Requires Unanimous Juries

by · Apr 20, 2020 5:24 pm

All but two states require juries to be unanimous in serious criminal cases, and one of those states has already amended its constitution to require unanimity going forward. In a pair of cases nearly half a century ago, Apodaca v. Oregon and Johnson v. Louisana, the Court upheld these two state’s non-unanimous jury laws by a 5-4 vote, but the 5 could not agree on a single rationale.

Today in Ramos v. Louisiana, No. 18-5924, the Court decided otherwise by a 6-3 vote. Part of Justice Gorsuch’s opinion is joined by four other Justices, making it the opinion of the Court, and part is not. The divisions over precedent strike me as more interesting than the divisions over jury trial. Continue reading . . .

Appeals Court Approves LWOP Gang Enhancement

by · Apr 20, 2020 10:01 am

California’s First District Court of Appeals has rejected a gang murderer’s claim that using his membership in a street gang as a special circumstance to support his life without parole sentence (LWOP) was unconstitutional.  The San Jose Mercury News reports that the court’s unanimous decision denied the claim, finding that the sentence enhancement for a killing that furthers the purpose of a gang does not violate the Eighth Amendment.   The case involved the 2014 first-degree murder conviction of David Arce for the killing of rival gang member Earl Hamilton.  After finding Arce, guilty of the murder, the jury found two special circumstances; the killing was gang related, and Arce was a convicted felon in possession of a firearm.  These findings qualified Arce for a sentence of LWOP.   On appeal, Arce claimed that the law allowing a special circumstance for a murder which furthered the purpose of a gang is unconstitutionally vague.   The court held that “It is difficult to conceive of a situation where a defendant would commit murder to further an innocent gang purpose.”   It is likely that Arce will appeal the decision.

 

Parks, Crime, and Neighborhoods

by · Apr 17, 2020 1:34 pm

Very often we hear economic arguments being made against effective law enforcement. We can’t afford a law enforcement measure (police, jail space, etc.) because we should be spending that money on some other purpose (schools, parks, etc.). As a matter of common sense, it is obvious that these other worthy goals are worth a lot more if they are safe from crime and a lot less if they are not. Traci Pedersen at Psych Central reports on an empirical study that confirms what common sense has always told us. Continue reading . . .