One would think there would be no need for the New York Times to publish an op-ed arguing for the virtue of recording police interrogations. After all, the problems of false confessions as proven by subsequent DNA exonerations, exposing the manipulative questioning using the highly effective Reid Technique, have left us without any doubt of the need.

With the ubiquitous presence of cellphones, that record every burp of humanity, how can there be any doubt that recording interrogations, and the confessions that follow, is critical to sound evidentiary practice and the legitimacy of the confession? Indeed, there isn’t. And there wasn’t a decade ago.

Except, of course, the one aspect that troubled law enforcement, that the public might not appreciate the means necessary to compel a defendant to admit his guilt. To cops, it was what needed to be done. To the unwary lay juror, it might look a bit too unsavory for their untrained tastes. Almost a decade ago, when Prawf Brandon Garrett explained the necessity of recording interrogations in the New York Times, this was laid bare. Continue reading →

Star University of Wisconsin wide receiver Quintez Cephus is on trial. No wait, that’s former wide receiver, as he was thrown off the team upon the accusation, ending his college football career and any hope he had of going pro. It’s not as if he spent most of his life working toward such a future that an accusation should be enough to kill it dead in his tracks.

But hey, he’s a guy, a football player no less, and even though he’s black (as are a disproportionate number of accused), isn’t it far more important to feel badly for the accuser, any accuser as long as it’s a “she,” then consider destroying the guy’s future? Something has to give, right?

Thus far, his accuser has testified that she was too drunk to consent to sex. The video shows otherwise. Then there were the texts. Continue reading →

It’s as if the cool kids have found the magic gap where they can show their disdain without being held accountable. Why? No one was physically harmed. What’s the problem?

It started with milkshakes in Britain, and has now found its way onto the street of New York. Two Republican legislators have decided something must be done.* Continue reading →