Lack of Diversity in the US Legal System
According to Montgomery Tabron, the head of WK Kellogg Foundation, one of the country’s largest philanthropies, the law enforcement and justice system in the US is broken. While criticism is rampant about the fact that the nation’s police force comprises mainly of white individuals, the reality is that the legal profession is even whiter. Prosecutors […]
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Obama Restricts Police Military ear, says it can alienate
CAMDEN, N.J. (AP) — President Barack Obama ended long-running federal transfers of some combat-style gear to local law enforcement on Monday in an attempt to ease tensions between police and minority communities, saying equipment made for the battlefield should not be a tool of American criminal justice. Grenade launchers, bayonets, tracked armored vehicles, weaponized aircraft […]
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The Private Drug War and the Tattered Fourth Amendment
Pete at Drug WarRant had an troubling post this weekend about a couple ways that private companies have beenstepping in to the police’s shoes in carrying out drug policing. Pete wrote about a private, “voluntary” drug and alcohol screening stations for motorists (see examples here and here), and also about the use of Blackwater to […]
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10 Tips to Avoid Scams on Craigslist
Most of us are aware of the ever-growing Web site called Craigslist. People can post job openings, search for jobs, search for and sell vehicles, sell and purchase most any types of items, place personal ads and even barter old stuff for new stuff. There are, however, some things you have to be weary of […]
READ MOREPOLICE SUICIDE IS AN ALARMING PROBLEM RARELY DISCUSSED PUBLICLY
Stuck in a job where everyday is spent wonder when the next tragedy will happen, cops are killing themselves at twice the national rate. Efforts to address the problem have varied with mixed results.
READ MORECA Supremes Grant Review in Warrant Affidavit Case People v. Galland
The California Supreme Court on Wednesday (4/18/07) granted review in People v. Galland, the Fourth District Court of Appeal case whose language was so sharp that it drew coverage from the LA Times. Galland deals with a pet obsession of mine: sealed search warrant affidavits. In general, under California law, the prosecution can seal part […]
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An Illegal Ponzi Scheme Leads to 13-Years in Prison
A Ponzi scheme is a scheme in which unrealistically high rates of return are promised to investors. When new investors are lured by these promises and provide their funds to a money manager or financial advisor, money that the new investors pay in is used to enrich the person orchestrating the fraud scheme as well […]
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Death Penalty Faces Biggest Test in Decades
Death penalty in the US is currently facing one of its biggest tests in decades. While capital punishment is legal in 36 nations including China, Japan and the US and it is legal in the 32 American states, three death row inmates in Oklahoma are now challenging new experimental drugs that are used in lethal […]
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CA 4th District on Warantless Search of Probationer
A police officer can not use a probationer’s search condition to retroactively justify a warrantless detention that begins before the officer learns of the condition, the CA Fourth District Court of Appeal held 1/4/07 in People v. Miller, G033762. The officer in Miller stopped a car purely because of the car was in a dark […]
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CA 1st on Detention By Spotlight, Officer Tone
A police officer who stopped his car about 35 feet away from a man, shined his spotlight directly at the man, and then began to walk briskly toward him while questioning him about his legal status, did in fact “detain” the man by taking these actions, implicating the Fourth Amendment’s protection against unreasonable searches and […]
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