In the Supreme Court round up, I’m happy that 13-year-olds can’t be forced to strip for suspicion of carrying ibuprofen. Clarence Thomas once again comes out as the dufus court jester in the 8-1 decision: “Preservation of order, discipline and safety in public schools is simply not the domain of the Constitution.” No, Sir. But…
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My friend used to joke that the local criminals would come to court “dressed in their best sweat pants.” I was reading a David Sedaris book, When You Are Engulfed in Flames, on my flight back from Chicago and came across this passage: There were plenty of things that should have concerned me–the blood-spatter evidence,…
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You don’t usually hear about thistoo much. He sounds like a very bad man.
Witness intimidation is nothing new. But it usually doesn’t happen from the defendant to the witness while the witness is on the stand. Melissa Harris writes in the Sun: On the 10th day of the 17-day trial, as the lawyers huddled at the bench with their backs turned, the jury watched the 29-year-old defendant lock…
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The court just ruled that police can no longer search a car incident to arrest… assuming the car isn’t within reach of the arrested person and there is no reason to suspect that the car contains evidence related to the arrest. Since New York v. Belton(1981), police have assumed that they can search a car…
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I can’t think of anything much more unconscionable than a selling a kid to jail for kickback money. Then multiply that times 2,000 and you’ve got Judges Mark Ciaverella and Michael Conahan. Things were different in the Luzerne County juvenile courtroom, and everyone knew it. Proceedings on average took less than two minutes. Detention center…
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The Detroit News reports: Mayor Kenneth Cockrel Jr.’s administration was dealt an embarrassing blow Friday, after his top lawyer ignited a racial flap by saying the city’s 36th District Court was “acting like a ghetto court.” Kathleen Leavey, who is white, resigned as the city’s corporation counsel Thursday, but said the comment was misinterpreted. That…
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“Public defenders’ offices in at least seven states are refusing to take on new cases or have sued to limit them, citing overwhelming workloads that they say undermine the constitutional right to counsel for the poor.” Read the whole story here.