Scholarship Applicant Information:Anna Diyamandoglu
Citizens and residents of the United States alike pride themselves on their country’s freedoms. The first and foremost of these freedoms is our first amendment right to speak and publish whatever we believe or wish to express without fear of punishment. Over the last 230 years this right, or luxury even, has served as a […]
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Ambien and Mens Rea, Take Two
Back in May of 2006 this blog noted some of the potentially complicated issues that can arise in criminal cases where the defendant claims his or her behavior was related to use of the drug Ambien. The issue arises in cases like the one I noted last June where a woman claimed that the drug […]
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Sleeping Pills vs. Salvia and the Rhetoric of Risk
Many times when legislators speak about the need to criminalize the hallucinogenic plant salvia divinorum, they cite the risk that somebody could drive when under its influence, a scenario that suggests that salvia is dangerous even if people normally just sit around in their living room while they use it and don’t harm anyone. (See, […]
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Plea Bargaining
Prosecutors Not Disclosing Extrajudicial Consequences of a Plea Bargain Plea bargaining has become the norm in criminal cases, with 97 percent of federal convictions and 94 percent of state convictions resulting from guilty pleas. Plea bargains have become more and more common as prosecutors increasingly threaten defendants with serious charges carrying mandatory minimum sentences […]
READ MORENew York City homicide rate for 2015 tops last year’s tally, data shows
In a week punctuated by the killing of a 2-month-old boy in the Bronx, New York City’s homicide rate has passed 2014’s record low tally, with 339 killings through Sunday, according to the latest NYPD data. For all of 2014, New York City reported 333 homicides — the lowest number since the modern era of […]
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DOJ Aims to Fix Crime Lab Issues
DOJ Puts Forth Plan to Fix Problems at Crime Labs- But It’s Not Enough When prosecutors present evidence in court, the evidence should be accurate, as a defendant’s future hangs in the balance. Much of the evidence that prosecutors present comes from crime labs, which conduct testings of DNA, do hair analyses, and evaluate a […]
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Naval Base on Jeju
I am an American, but I have lived and worked in South Korea as an ESL teacher for the past ten years. America has a few military bases set up throughout Korea, which causes concern and problems throughout the peninsula. Some of the old timers claim that the American military presence is necessary due to […]
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Understanding Hate Crime Laws
It is a longstanding principle that people should not be punished for bad thoughts, but only for bad actions. A person can think about breaking the law, but should only be charged with an offense when a step is taken towards violating the law as people cannot be punished for thought crimes. There is, however, […]
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MADD Pushes for Nationwide Interlock Systems
The Associated Press notes today that Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) has kicked off a campaign to encourage all states to pass laws requiring “breath-test interlock devices” in the cars of people who have been convicted once of drunken driving. “Only New Mexico has such a law for first offenders; 45 states and the District of Columbia […]
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Sheldon Silvers Albany NY
Argentina and New York each got a wake-up call recently. In Argentina, the first anti-Peronist in 70-years has been elected as President while, in New York, a long-term, state legislator was convicted. Carlos Menem, a former Argentine President, has been convicted of embezzlement, the same charge brought against Sheldon Silver in New York. While Peronism […]
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