Criminal

December 12, 2019

The student’s name remains a mystery, as does the reason for his initial suspension. But his expulsion came after a blaze of glory so remarkably idiotic as to leave no doubt that it was for the best that this kid was saved any further tuition payments at Oklahoma City Law School. And it’s not entirely unfortunate that the legal profession will be spared someone who would almost certainly bring it into disrepute. A student…

Simple Justice

Prosecution And A Side of Truth

By Scott Greenfield

December 12, 2019

Maligned as they so often are these days, the duty of a prosecutor is to secure “justice,” whatever that means. Justice Robert Jackson said so, and who am I to disagree? But then, the question isn’t what their duty is, but whether and how they perform that duty. As the Supreme Court famously said in Berger v. United States: The [prosecutor] is the representative not of an ordinary party to a controversy, but…

Sentencing Law and Policy

Texas completes last scheduled execution for 2019

By Douglas Berman

December 11, 2019

As reported in this local article, a “Texas inmate was executed by lethal injection Wednesday evening for killing a supervisor at a state prison shoe factory in Amarillo nearly 17 years ago.” Here is more: Travis Runnels, 46, was convicted of slashing the throat of 38-year-old Stanley Wiley on January 29, 2003. Runnels was the state’s final execution in 2019. Runnels, belted to the death chamber gurney, responded “No” when the warden asked if…

Sentencing Law and Policy

Eighth Circuit panel explains the reach of FIRST STEP Act retroactivity eligibility

By Douglas Berman

December 11, 2019

A helpful readers made sure I did not miss the helpful opinion from an Eighth Circuit panel today in US v. McDonald, No. 19-1221 (8th Cir. Dec. 11, 2019) (available here) concerning the retroactivity provision of the FIRST STEP Act. I have not consistently kept up with this part of FIRST STEP jurisprudence, but I am consistently pleased when a circuit opinion seeks to bring simple clarity to a complicated issue. So, here…

Sentencing Law and Policy

Sentencing recommendation for Rick Gates highlights what a difference a guilty plea and lots of cooperation can make

By Douglas Berman

December 11, 2019

All federal practitioners know, and all federal defendants should know, that what a defendant actually did can often matter a lot less in the sentencing process than whether that defendant pleads guilty and cooperates with authorities. The latest reminder of this reality comes from the upcoming sentencing of Rick Gates, who was indicted two years ago in a 31-page indictment of available via this link in which he was portrayed as a “partner in crime”…

Sentencing Law and Policy

Collateral Consequences Resource Center produces “Model Law on Non-Conviction Records”

By Douglas Berman

December 11, 2019

I am please to see via this posting that the Collateral Consequences Resource Center (CCRC) has now officially published an important new model law on a topic that I suspect even many criminal justice actors do not realize is a big problem. Specifically, CCRC has now produced a “Model Law on Non-Conviction Records,” and the posting helps explain the background and why this is so timely and valuable: An advisory group drawn from across the…

Sentencing Law and Policy

“The Missing Link: Jail and Prison Conditions in Criminal Justice Reform”

By Douglas Berman

December 11, 2019

The title of this post is the title of this new article authored by Andrea Armstrong now available via SSRN. Here is its abstract: At any given moment in the United States, approximately 2.3 million people are behind bars, at least a quarter of whom have not been convicted of a crime. Louisiana was second in the nation — and the world — in incarceration rates in 2018, but it is last nationwide in other…

Simple Justice

Eat A Peach

By Scott Greenfield

December 11, 2019

There are four general reactions to the Articles of Impeachment against President Trump. The first two come from those who favor Trump. He’s innocent and did nothing wrong. I don’t care if he did anything wrong, he’s still better than the alternative. On the other side, there are also two reactions. Two articles of impeachment focusing on his clear and certain improprieties narrow the focus and get the job done now. Two articles of impeachment…

Simple Justice

The Message Sent To The False Accuser

By Scott Greenfield

December 11, 2019

If the false accuser was a jailhouse snitch, it’s highly unlikely anyone would come to his defense and manufacture a narrative where he was merely the victim of an oppressive system. It’s not that a credible argument couldn’t be made. It could quite easily. but there is no constituency for “Believe the Snitch” outside of the prosecutors’ office, and only then when the snitch is useful. The same can’t be said for false rape accusers…

Birdsong's Law Blog

Weird Criminal Law Stories # 589: Hung Out to Dry…

By Leonard Birdsong

December 10, 2019

NORTH CAROLINA: Laundromat owner hung out to dry. Police grew suspicious of Ronald Middleton’s “Transform N Go” in Raleigh because of its low water bill and dearth of customers entering wash to do, said police. A police raid on the laundromat turned up 12 pounds of marijuana, 184 hydrocodone pills, scales, packaging material and $60,633 in cash, leading to Middleton’s arrest. NEW ZEALAND: A cold case squad is needed here. A man was charged in…