The law, in its majestic equality, forbids rich and poor alike to sleep under bridges, to beg in the streets, and to steal their bread.

―-Anatole France

It’s no crime to be poor. But then, the connection of poverty to crime gives rise to a great many issues, many of which are being brought to the forefront by reformers of late. Why does a person charged with petty theft sit in jail awaiting trial while presumptively innocent when an accused killer walks free because he has the wherewithal to make bail? Continue reading →

Between the hysteria and obsession with the Supreme Court, in general, and believing that it’s a bunch of hacks doing the Republican’s bidding, people seem oblivious to the fact that elections are run by states. Even federal elections. State legislatures enact the laws under which their state’s elections are run, and challenges to the laws are heard in state courts.

Because of COVID and the huge expansion of mail-in voting, combined with the push to get demographics that did not traditionally vote (the 18 to 29 cohort, for example), and the concurrent expansion of the franchise to people with prior felony convictions, this election is replete with novel issues that were poorly considered and left unaddressed until the last minute. Continue reading →

On the third call to do something about Walter Wallace, two cops killed him as he approached them with the knife he refused to drop. Protests, riots and looting followed, as did attacks on the cops deployed to stop them, including one officer run down by a pickup truck. The usual round of rationalizations followed, from Wolf Blitzer wondering why cops can’t just shoot to wound to contentions that, had Wallace been white, cops wouldn’t have killed him because reasons.

This isn’t a new scenario, and we’ve heard the arguments proffered to justify the protests, riots and looting. Continue reading →

Last night, Amy Coney Barrett was sworn in as the newest associate justice of the United States Supreme Court by Justice Clarence Thomas. This should come as no surprise to anyone, as it was absolutely certain that it would happen, and yet it brought howls of anger, outrage and condemnation. That should probably come as no surprise either, as it’s become America’s favorite pastime.

The dire predictions of disaster have generated a variety of ways to “fix” the Court now that the Republicans have “illegitimately” seized control of it by a 6-3 conservative majority. But this begs the question: Does the Court need fixin’? Liberal Harvard lawprof Noah Feldman was ahead of the curve on this question. Continue reading →

Not too long ago, there was an argument on the twitters between a friend of mine, an old criminal defense lawyer, and a prominent think-tank crim law reformer about jury nullification. The theorist was pandering to unduly passionate reformers about the glories of nullification when the lawyer called him out.

The old lawyer argued that, based upon a career trying cases in front of juries, the belief that they’re the defendant’s friend, hate criminal laws and, given a free hand to ignore the law, would acquit defendants in the name of justice, jury nullification was no silver bullet, but a steaming pile of malarkey. Others with neither the old lawyer’s experience, nor any actual experience in crim law, joined into the fray to parrot the reform belief that Jury nullification will absolutely work to save defendants from bad laws and never be used to convict the innocent. Continue reading →

Five hundred thousand dollars wasn’t enough, so the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors upped the ante to a cool mil. Not for new school books. Not for free lunches for hungry kids. Not to add more teachers. They had a far more important need at stake.

Dauber told the board the audit is “urgent.”

“Students are returning to campus now, and when they do, the epidemic of sexual violence will return with them,” Dauber said.

Continue reading →

It’s happening on the left coast, where weird things happen with sufficient frequency to suggest that it’s not worthy of being taken seriously, but it reflects a shift in perspective that could soon come to a state near you. Proposition 16 will be on the ballot in California.

A “yes” vote supports this constitutional amendment to repeal Proposition 209 (1996), which stated that the government and public institutions cannot discriminate against or grant preferential treatment to persons on the basis of race, sex, color, ethnicity, or national origin in public employment, public education, and public contracting.

Amending the state Constitution isn’t unusual in California, since legal stability is for squares. The point of Prop 16 is to repeal Prop 209, which prohibits discrimination. Continue reading →

To the right, I’m just another soy boy libtard. To the left, I’m everything from sexist to Nazi. So are most of my friends, as we discussed at dinner last night. We had a wonderful dinner, with caviar, shrimp and brie before a dinner of rib eye and lobster tails. It was at the Hamptons home of an old, dear pal, who has largely abandoned his Manhattan townhouse due to COVID, crime, garbage and overly-aggressive homeless who now own the streets when the streets aren’t otherwise occupied to mostly peaceful protesters destroying other people’s property.

Like me, he’s of a certain age, and will never miss a meal no matter what the next administration decides to tax or give away for free. Like me, he’s got kids for whom he’s worried. Like me, he’s known Trump long before his presidency and is well aware of who he is and what he cares about, which isn’t my friend or me or you. And like me, he’s aware of the next battle after Trump’s demise. As has become commonplace, he has a gun. If nothing else, the protests have turned New Yorkers into gun owners. Continue reading →

The two candidates for president are old. Trump is 74. Biden is 77. Unless you’re prepared to beclown yourself beyond repair, that’s old. And as anyone over 50 years of age realizes, even if they won’t admit it publicly, our bodies and minds begin the slide down the other side of the mountain.

It doesn’t make us useless or incapable of doing a strenuous job. Indeed, we’re often much more tenacious than youngsters, and push ourselves to our limits and beyond. Continue reading →

It’s unfortunate that Michael Sokolove can’t resist the impulse to prove his woke manliness up top, when arguing that if the vote were left to white men, Roy Moore and David Duke would be the sort of people elected. “White men are all racist misogynsts” may well serve to prove he’s the exception, but it’s no way to introduce his point. And it’s a point worthy of consideration.

Why do men and women, even some living under the same roof, have such divergent views on what issues matter and what people are fit to be our leaders?

Statistics reflect a gender gap, although it’s hardly as huge as Sokolove claims. Continue reading →