The Cato Debate Continues: Caulkins on Prohibition Alternatives
Jonthan Caulkins has a post up at Cato Unbound today responding to the essay on responsible psychoactive use I noted yesterday. It’s a defense of the status quo around drug law, but it’s quite thoughtful. Even so, I don’t think Caulkins is making a sincere effort to consider the alternatives to prohibition. He notes that […]
READ MOREPeople v. Timms: CA 2d on Voluntary Intoxication
California Penal Code section 22, which “sets forth the general principle in this state that a criminal act is not rendered less criminal because a person commits the act in a state of voluntary intoxication,” does not violate a criminal defendant’s right to due process, the California Second District Court of Appeal held Monday in […]
READ MOREExpunging Criminal Records May be Impossible for NY Defendants
When you are arrested and convicted of a criminal offense, you face immediate penalties. The consequences could include fines, imprisonment, community service, probation, or a host of other penalties. Unfortunately, for many defendants, the immediate consequences of a conviction are not the end of the problems they face. Once you have a criminal record, you […]
READ MOREOf Alcohol Inhalers and Strong Marijuana
What do “alcohol inhalers” – devices that allow individuals to inhale alcohol vapor, and thereby get drunk without experiencing any hangover – have to do with the much touted increasing strength of marijuana ? Just this: that our society has been able to draw a distinction between the legal and responsible use of alcohol, which […]
READ MOREEyeing a Permanent Beach Alcohol Ban in San Diego
I’ve got two reasons for being interested in the possibility that San Diego voters will make permanent a one-year beach alcohol ban in this year’s election. The personal reason is that I’m originally from San Diego and still go down to the beach there all the time to surf. It’s been interesting to listen to […]
READ MOREOn the Broader Implications of Eschenbach, and the relevance of Lawrence v. Texas to Medical Marijuana
To expand a little on yesterday’s post about Abigail Alliance v. Eschenbach, the rationale articulated by the DC Circuit in upholding a right to access non-FDA approved could have broader implications that would be relevant for the argument on medical marijuana, but ultimately the relevance depends on the way the due process balancing analysis would […]
READ MOREDmitry Belorossov and Citadel
The matchless background and distinguished legal forte of New York’s marquee defense attorney, Arkady Bukh, has sheared decades from the sentence Dmitry Belorossov initially faced. Belorossov, 22, had been accused of operating Citadel, a botnet, and helping develop improvements to the malware which led to over $500 million in losses. Instead of leaving prison as […]
READ MOREWill New Credit Card Chips Decrease Fraud Crimes… or Increase Fraud Crimes?
In an effort to fight credit card fraud, card issuers have spent between $200 and $800 million distributing new cards with embedded microchips. The goal is to establish a protocol for two-factor authentication and to prevent the mass collection and unlawful use of credit card numbers using skimmers. Wired.com, however, suggests that these new cards […]
READ MOREMy Activist by Inna Inic
Inna Inic 246 E. Coast Dr. Palm Harbor, FL 34683 3/9/1996 (727) 458-1311 University of Miami Criminal Justice Cindy Sheehan is known for her bravery for being an anti-war activist. She lost her son during the war action in Iraq and she fought hard to stop the war against Iraq and to save the […]
READ MOREAbigail Alliance Letter in Washington Post
The president of the Abigail Alliance — the group that was the petitioner in that recent DC Circuit case on access to lifesaving drugs that have not yet received full-blown FDA approval — has a letter to the editor in today’s Washington Post. The last graph says: We are confident that access to these drugs […]
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