The 8th Circuit made short shrift of the absurd arrest of Frank Snider for desecrating the flag. No big surprise there, as Snider v. City of Cape Girardeau was a slam dunk.  But then it raises the hoary question of how neither the cop, the prosecutor nor the judge who signed off was aware that the law in the United States of America allowed a guy to use the flag to express himself?  After all, it’s only been the law since 1989, when the Supremes decided Texas v. Johnson.

But the circuit went on to deal with the issue of Police Officer Matthew Peters’ qualified immunity.  After all, it’s not like Peters busted Snider on the spot. Oh no. He followed the procedure that we all hope an officer would follow.

Upon Officer Peters’ returning to the station, another officer informed him of a Missouri statute prohibiting flag desecration. After reviewing the statute, Mo. Rev. Stat. § 578.095, Officer Peters drafted a probable cause statement indicating he believed Snider had committed the criminal offense of desecration of the American flag. He submitted the probable cause statement to Cape Girardeau County prosecuting attorney H. Morley Swingle. After reviewing the probable cause statement, Swingle submitted a warrant application to the Honorable Gary A. Kamp, Circuit Judge of Cape Girardeau County, who issued the warrant for Snider’s arrest.

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Habersham County Sheriff Joey Terrell doesn’t know what could have been done differently. Neither, he says, does the GBI.  Sometimes, a flashbang grenade just lands in a crib next to a toddler’s head.  Bad things happen.

The child was burned when narcotics agents, assisted by members of the Habersham Special Response Team, used a distraction device as they entered a home at 182 Lakeview Heights Circle outside Cornelia . . .

“According to the confidential informant, there were no children,” Terrell said. “When they made the buy, they didn’t see any children or any evidence of children there, so we proceeded with our standard operation.”

Because of recent history with the individual involved in the alleged drug sales and knowledge of weapons in the residence, the special agent seeking the search warrant requested a “no-knock” warrant, Terrell said.

But couldn’t they have accomplished their goal without sacrificing the toddler? Continue reading →

The idea likely stemmed from personal injury lawyers, who produced what became known as “a day in the life” videos of their injured clients in order to convey to juries what was lost to a person and their family by the negligence of defendants.  Contemporaneously, criminal defense lawyers began submitting pre-sentence memoranda, detailing a defendant’s personal and medical history, combined with letters from friends and family about the defendant.

Now, the two have been combined:

Video may have killed the radio star, but it’s helping criminal defendants spend less time in prison.

Some private lawyers and investigators are attempting to unlock the potential of video in the sentencing phase of criminal cases, supplementing the memorandum and letters of support that are typically used to plead for leniency.

These “sentencing-mitigation” videos exist in a legal gray area yet are already having an effect, reports WSJ’s Joe Palazzolo.

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Seattle police had some issues. Use of force issues. Too much force issues.  DoJ issued a report in 2011 that concluded there was a pattern of excessive use of force.  It may have been somewhat underwhelming in its breadth for those who found themselves on the wrong end of a gun, but some members of the police force were not amused.

Now that new use of force rules have been announced, the unhappy cops have taken to the court to protect their turf:

In a highly public rejection of federally mandated reforms, more than 100 Seattle police officers filed a lawsuit Wednesday asking a federal judge to block what they called “mechanical” and unrealistic use-of-force policies imposed on them under a court-ordered consent decree.

The 43-page suit alleges policies stemming from an agreement between the city and the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) stoked a “bold, new disregard for police authority in the streets of Seattle,” putting officers and the public in unreasonable danger. Continue reading →

It seemed like a fun idea to take the family to dinner at the Chelsea restaurant of celebrity chef Masaharu Morimoto.  My kids had watched him on Iron Chef, and since my son was in town (who damn near had a stroke when Wolfgang Puck came out to ask him how he enjoyed his meal at Spago), the time seemed right.  I had been there before, courtesy of my pal Brian Cuban, and enjoyed it. So why not?

We had the tasting menu, a pricey proposition at $135 per person that was to consist of eight courses.  The meal was hit and miss, with some courses being fabulous and others peculiar and even unpleasant. Oh well, different strokes, though a dab of sorbet in a shot glass is not a course. But what was neither acceptable nor forgivable was the service.  The wait staff was pleasant and enthusiastic, but did not understand what service meant at that level.

There were basic mistakes, water glasses that were not refilled until I had to beg someone to do so. Busboys trying to take away plates while people at the table were still eating. Or taking three of four plates, and never returning for the fourth. A butt shoved in my face while serving the table next to us, so close that I could see the fillings in my neighbor’s teeth. And a tray touching my nose as the waiter bent over the unclothed table to faux fuss over the way the plate was turned. Continue reading →

The Supreme Court’s 5-4 opinion in Hall v. Florida contained those words I long to see: Alito, J., dissenting.  There is no better assurance that the right decision was reached.  The case involved Florida’s rule establishing an absolute cutoff for execution under Atkins v. Virginia of IQ of 70 or below.

While Atkins held it unconstitutional to execute a mentally retarded person, it neglected to define the phrase. Florida fixed it at a specific number, refusing to consider the margin of error, because the words “standard deviation” mean something different to lawyers.  Justice Kennedy, writing for the majority:

Florida’s rule disregards established medical practice in two interrelated ways. It takes an IQ score as final and conclusive evidence of a defendant’s intellectual capacity, when experts in the field would consider other evidence.  It also relies on a purportedly scientific measurement of the defendant’s abilities, his IQ score, while refusing to recognize that the score is, on its own terms, imprecise…. Continue reading →

At Hercules and the Umpire, Judge Kopf raises the peculiar and sad story of Randall Rader, formerly Chief Judge of the Federal Circuit, after some self-promoting snitch at Weil Gotshal used a personal email from the court to market himself.  The WSJ summarizes the nastiness:

The judge sent the email in March to Edward Reines, a patent lawyer at Weil Gotshal & Manges LLP in Silicon Valley. The email, which was reviewed by The Wall Street Journal, described a recent conversation in which another judge purportedly told Judge Rader that Mr. Reines was “IMPRESSIVE in every way.” In the email, Judge Rader said: “I was really proud to be your friend,” and encouraged Mr. Reines “to let others see this message.” He signed the note “Your friend for life, rrr.”

Neither knowing Judge Rader nor having any interest in the federal circuit whatsoever, this news didn’t warrant a moment’s thought the first time ’round.  And the “Your friend for life” part was just kinda creepy, more in keeping with a junior high crush than a missive from a judge.  Without knowing Judge Rader, I can’t begin to explain why those words were chosen. BFFs?  Not right. Continue reading →

Even when it’s beyond dispute that a police officer had no choice but to defend himself from deadly force, someone will question why.  Why did they have to shoot that many times?  The Supreme Court has now given a conclusive answer to the question: Because they can.

In Plumhoff v. Rickard, a quasi-unanimous Court rejected the claim that excessive force was used when Donald Rickard was shot. From the syllabus:

Donald Rickard led police officers on a high-speed car chase that came to a temporary halt when Rickard spun out into a parking lot. Rickard resumed maneuvering his car, and as he continued to use the accelerator even though his bumper was flush against a patrol car, an officer fired three shots into Rickard’s car. Rickard managed to drive away, almost hitting an officer in the process. Officers fired 12 more shots as Rickard sped away, striking him and his passenger, both of whom died from some combination of gunshot wounds and injuries suffered when the car eventually crashed.

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While sympathy isn’t strong for travelers who need to show their vast wealth to airport baggage handlers with Louis Vuitton luggage, complaining that it needs to be treated with love, musicians have long suffered a far more serious indignity.  Ever since the classic, United Breaks Guitars, it’s been beyond question that musical instruments should not be checked.

U.S. Airways, however, is more concerned for your safety, because terrorists play violins.  From the Indy Star:

“Zach and I were on our way to meet up with our bassist, Ranaan Meyer, to play at the Artosphere Arts and Nature Festival,” said Kendall. “We were making our connection on US Airways out of Charlotte, N.C., to Fayetteville, Ark., when we were stopped as we entered the plane by the captain and his stewards.”

The crew told the musicians that the FAA would fine the airline if they were found not to have complied with FAA regulations, which, according to the captain, said Kendall, prohibited musical instruments to be carried on the plane.

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Not that there is any shortage of videos showing violence perpetrated by police against a person for no good reason, but few show an actual, honest-to-God execution.*  This one does.

Via the Free Thought Project, the backstory is that the dead man (whose name isn’t given) wielded hedge trimmers and was “alleged to have attempted to burglarize a Salinas, CA home and then expose himself to the person inside.”

The justification, published in the Monterey Herald, came before the police knew there was a video:

The Herald quoted Salinas police Cmdr. Vince Maiorana as saying that the man was initially unresponsive when police tried to approach him about the alleged attempted break-in, then began to act strangely. Continue reading →