Musings of such a juror have been floated for many year, mostly from those who believe in jury nullification. They would pretend to be normies, perfectly ordinary folks who could, and would, be fair to all, to get on a jury. And then, boom, blow up deliberations with their activist belief in whatever purpose they served. Anti-cop? Anti-racism? Anti-government? And who could stop them? There they would be, having snuck past the gatekeeper by feigning fairness during voir dire and occupying the jury room.

What a glorious revolution it would be! After all, who can challenge the decision of a jury to acquit the guilty in defiance of bad laws, dishonest cops, an oppressive system? And of course it would never be used wrongly, as an affirmative bludgeon to assure the conviction of people hated, or crime reviled, lest someone despised walk free? Continue reading →

The holidays were quite the experience this year. Usually we go all out to make the kids’ Christmas special. It is, after all, a special time of year for everybody. This year was markedly different, however, as we planned to take the kids to my wife’s family home in Vermont.

We hadn’t seen this side of the family in two years due to, you know, the whole pandemic thing. I’m blessed to have the family I do. Somehow I tricked them all into thinking I’m this incredibly nice guy and my wife’s lucky to have married me.

I’m not joking. That’s basically what the last birthday card my in-laws sent me said to the letter. Continue reading →

One of the defining characteristics of American democracy was that every four or eight years, we had a bloodless coup. A person, the most powerful person in the world, packed their bags and left the White House so another could take up residence. Maybe this happened with good tidings. Maybe there was bitterness. But either way, it happened without an attempt to prevent it, with at least the veneer of dignity.

It was an appalling vision, bodies storming the Capitol on January 6th, 2021. It was the culmination of months of preparation for failure, the sowing of a lie well in advance. It was part of a broader scheme that skirted the outer edges of law and reason closely enough to create the appearance of faux legitimacy to those who needed to believe but lacked the  knowledge or capacity to understand. Continue reading →

He took office on January 1. Alvin Bragg was elected District Attorney of New York County, taking the office once occupied by Frank Hogan and Robert Morgenthau, and most recently by Cy Vance, who decided to walk away. It is, by legend and history, perhaps the best district attorney’s office in the nation. And Bragg was elected to “fix” it.

Two days after he took office, Bragg issued a memorandum.

This memo sets out charging, bail, plea, and sentencing policies that will advance both goals [safety and fairness]. Data, and my personal experiences, show that reserving incarceration for matters involving significant harm will make us safer.

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I was sitting at the bar on 168th Street and St. Nicholas Avenue with my old buddy, Bobby. Bobby was a few years older than me, a suave Dominican guy who could salsa dance all night long. He pointed out a woman in the bar that he felt was very attractive, and made some sounds that Dominican guys occasionally make in her direction to let her know. Bobby then gave me the nudge as if seeking my confirmation.

I didn’t find her to be as “hot” as Bobby did. She had a pretty face, but she was fat. Not obese, but chubby. I told Bobby that I preferred thinner women, to which he explained the virtues of women who were more bass than treble. Continue reading →

One of the goofiest things about legal scholarship is that it’s published in student-run journals. Law students pass judgment on law profs’ articles, which would be remarkably funny but for the fact that getting published is the lifeblood of academia, particularly for pre-tenured academics who need to prove their mettle before they settle in for a life of turtlenecks, leather arm patches and sherry, provided they are never left alone in a room with a student of the opposite sexual orientation. But I digress.

Emory Law Journal invited Larry Alexander of the University of San Diego law school to write an article. He accepted. And you’ll never guess what happened. Continue reading →

To be frank, it came as little surprise that the New York State health department decided to be so flagrant in its rationing of Covid drugs.

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Since the pandemic broke in March, 2020, we’ve tried to patronize small independent restaurants to help them to survive. As a small business owner, I appreciate what they were facing. And as someone fortunate enough to be able to order out, I’ve tried to spread the wealth, if you will. Some survived. Many didn’t. I could only try to help, as did many other people, including giving overly-generous tips. And people were generally appreciative of having people still ordering, buying, tipping.

But there is a problem I’ve watched develop long before anyone heard of Covid 19. While restaurant chefs have become celebrities, most minor but a few major, restaurants have lost the concept of service. This isn’t to say that servers are unpleasant or unaccommodating. Just that they have no clue what they’re doing or how fine dining should be done. Continue reading →

In his Year End Report on the Federal Judiciary, Chief Judge John Roberts argued against the efforts in Congress to enact laws to control a “separate and coequal branch” of government. While the public and academics argue about term limits and court-packing, Roberts addressed what, to outsiders, may seem relatively uncontroversial controls that Congress wants to impose.

[M]uch of the chief justice’s report was focused on thwarting less contentious efforts by Congress to address financial conflicts and workplace misconduct in the judicial system. Both issues are the subject of proposed legislation that has drawn bipartisan support.

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Welcome to 2022! We made it through the year in which “Mad Max” was to occur and there’s no signs of any roving motor gangs terrorizing wastelands. Yet.

Admittedly, the bar was very low this year compared to the absolute dumpster-fire of a shitshow that was 2020. That doesn’t mean 2021 wasn’t without its milestone achievements, like killing off the scientific method’s credibility in favor of “THE SCIENCE!” Continue reading →