Inconsistent Verdicts

by · Feb 21, 2024 7:53 am

This morning the U.S. Supreme Court issued its first decision in a criminal case for this term. In McElrath v. Georgia, No. 22-721, the high court unanimously reversed a decision of the Georgia Supreme Court regarding inconsistent verdicts. This is not a surprise.

Juries sometimes issue inconsistent verdicts in a single case. That is, they may render verdicts on different counts tried together that contradict each other in the facts that they necessarily require. What effect does the Double Jeopardy Clause of the U.S. Constitution have when a jury issues such a verdict in a state criminal case? Continue reading . . .

Court Rejects AG Bonta’s Bid to Release Violent Criminal

by · Feb 20, 2024 1:09 pm

A violent gang member serving a prison sentence for stalking his ex-girlfriend has been denied early release by California’s Third District Court of Appeal.  Kelly Kimble received his third felony conviction in 2008 for stalking his ex-girlfriend. He was sentenced under the state’s “Three Strikes” law to 25-years-to-life plus one year based on a prior prison term enhancement. His two prior convictions were for attempted kidnapping and making criminal threats. As reported by the Metropolitan News Enterprise, in 2013 Kelly had petitioned for re-sentencing after state voters adopted Proposition 36,  the “Three Strikes Reform Act.”  That measure allowed criminals convicted of a third felony, not considered violent or serious, who had only one violent prior conviction to receive a reduced sentence at the discretion of a judge. The judge in this case explained that Kimble’s prior acts “involved physical violence” that he had violated conditions of probation and conditions of parole, that he “continues to defy authority year after year.” Twice assaulting other prisoners, and maintained gang ties. In 2014 the Court of Appeal upheld the judge’s decision. Then in 2022 Governor Newsom signed SB 483, another pro-criminal release bill, into law.

Continue reading . . .

Crude Statistics and Discrimination Claims

by · Feb 16, 2024 9:07 am

Here is yet another case of a misleading claim via crude statistics. (See also this post.) This one, unfortunately was actually bought by a federal district judge, with grave implications.

Hans Bader has this post at Liberty Unyielding on a recent decision out of Richmond, Virginia.

A judge recently found that the City of Richmond racially profiles black motorists, dismissing the indictment of a black convicted felon accused of illegally possessing a gun. The judge did not find that defendant Keith Moore had been treated differently than a similarly situated-white motorist. Instead, he ruled that Richmond police stops are racially discriminatory, based on statistics showing blacks are stopped and arrested at much higher rates than whites …. Continue reading . . .

Pro-Criminal Politicians Unite to Save Oakland From Crime

by · Feb 12, 2024 1:28 pm

California Governor Gavin Newsom and Attorney General Rob Bonta, two of the most pro-criminal politicians in state history, have announced that they are partnering to rescue the city of Oakland from its current crime wave. Jakob Rogers of The Mercury News reports that just days after dispatching 120 Highway Patrol officers to beef up Alameda County police, Newsom and Bonta are now sending attorneys from the AG’s office and the National Guard to help progressive District Attorney Pamela Price prosecute criminals. The problem is real. While crime dropped in many California cities last year, it rose dramatically in Oakland. Police report that robberies grew by 38%, burglaries jumped by 23%, while vehicle theft climbed 44%. People living in Oakland faced a 1 in 30 chance of having their car stolen last year. Considering who is leading this rescue effort, and who heads up the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office, it is hard to take this seriously

Continue reading . . .

Poll on LA DA Election

by · Feb 12, 2024 9:58 am

You know an incumbent running for re-election is in deep kimchi when he (1) polls only 15% before the primary and (2) has a “disapprove” job rating from an outright majority and more than double the number who approve. The latest California Elections & Policy Poll* is available here. Continue reading . . .

Coalition Grows to Overhaul California’s Thief-Friendly Law

by · Feb 9, 2024 11:28 am

The San Francisco Chronicle has this article on Mayor London Breed joining the coalition to overhaul California’s disastrous Proposition 47. And of course, being the Chronicle, the main thing they emphasize about the initiative is that it is “GOP-led,” generally regarded as a kiss of death in The City.

But Mayor Breed is not the only Democrat to climb on the fix-47 bandwagon. Continue reading . . .

Red/Blue States, Crime Rates, and Statistical Prestidigitation

by · Feb 8, 2024 10:15 am

In the past two years, there have been dueling studies flying back and forth about whether jurisdictions in the political control of one party or the other have higher crime rates. They have been used by advocates to make “studies show” arguments in favor of or against particular policies. But this is all smoke and mirrors, as this Issue Brief from the Manhattan Institute shows. It is titled The “Red” vs. “Blue” Crime Debate and the Limits of Empirical Social Science, by George J. Borjas and Robert VerBruggen.

This is really a case study in how researcher-advocates can produce any bottom line they want in many cases through design decisions that fly beneath the radar of public awareness. Do you compare states or counties? What variables do you control for? The authors note, “Casual consumers of empirical social science research often fail to appreciate all the ways in which researchers can manipulate the data to say whatever they want.” An alternate expression is the pithy old saying, “Figures don’t lie, but liars figure.” Continue reading . . .

Virginia Tries Again to Eliminate LWOP

by · Feb 6, 2024 3:40 pm

When Virginia politicians abolished the state’s death penalty three years ago, they promised that the murderers sentenced to death would serve life in prison without the possibility of parole (LWOP). An article in Liberty Unyielding reports that the very next year those same politicians introduced a bill called “second look” to give murderers sentenced to LWOP the opportunity for parole after serving 25 years. That bill failed to pass on a straight party line vote.  It was reintroduced again last year and died in the Republican controlled house. This year both houses of the Virginia Legislature have democrat majorities and two “second look” bills have been introduced again, with even more benefits for murderers.

Continue reading . . .

New York & California Laws Turn Police Into Clerks

by · Feb 6, 2024 11:25 am

Imagine you are a police officer in a high-crime urban district responding to a report of a drive by shooting.  As you and your partner begin talking to witnesses a local law requires you to fill out a form listing the race, age and sex of everybody you talk to. The New York City Council has just passed the “How Many Steps Act” to require police to do this, supposedly to discourage racial profiling. California puts even more of a burden on police with the Racial & Identify Profiling Act. As a legislator, Attorney General Rob Bonta voted for this law. It requires officers to fill out an eight page form with 200 fields. Heather MacDonald has this City Journal piece breaking down what amounts to the most stupid anti-police legislation ever adopted.

Continue reading . . .