Criminal Law
Freedom Denied Part 4: Judges Must Follow the Correct Legal Standard in Presumption-of-Detention Cases …
to reduce racial disparities and high federal jailing rates.
"The Houston Restaurant Self-Defense Shooting: Neutralizing a Threat v. Killing a Criminal"
From self-defense law scholar (and former prosecutor) T. Markus Funk.
Freedom Denied Part 2: Judges Must Follow the Correct Legal Standard at the Initial Appearance,
and stop jailing people unlawfully.
NYPD Cynically Suggests Parents Know Better Than Lawyers How To Guide Children Through Interrogations
Criminal justice advocates are pushing to pass legislation to tighten rules for juvenile interrogations, but the NYPD is not on board.
Ketanji Brown Jackson and the Future of Progressive Originalism
The liberal justice seems ready to fight legal conservatives on their own ground.
Crime Victims' Rights Now Integrated Throughout the Arizona Rules
The Arizona Supreme Court becomes the first state Supreme Court to thoroughly incorporate crime victims' rights in its rules of criminal procedure. Others should follow.
"Sexually Tinged Words" to 10-Year-Old Insufficient to Prove Attempt to Sexually Assault / Entice into Car
An interesting illustration of the evidence required to prove an attempt to commit a crime.
A 10-Year-Old Boy Shot and Killed His Mother. Wisconsin Is Charging Him As an Adult.
There is little utility to charging 10-year-olds as adults, yet Wisconsin still mandates the practice in certain cases.
Court to Girl: You Have To Wait 2 Years To Comfort Your Father as He Dies. And We're Killing Him Next Week.
Missouri law bans those under 21 from witnessing executions. Despite attempts to challenge the law, 19-year-old Khorry Ramey will be barred from attending her father's execution on Tuesday.
Mandatory Life Sentences for Juvenile Homicide Offenders are Unconstitutional, Rules Tennessee Supreme Court
The court says a 51-year "life" sentence for a 2015 murder violated the Eighth Amendment.
Should Rap Lyrics Qualify as Evidence in Criminal Trials?
The music industry objects to the use of rap lyrics by prosecutors.
Cops Fail To Protect Own Informant From Rape, Then Charge Her With a Drug Crime
Plus: The authoritarian convergence, inflation up and stocks down, and more...
The Utah Supreme Court Holds that Crime Victims Can Intervene in Criminal Cases to Protect Their Rights
The Court agrees with my argument that crime victims can become "limited-purpose parties" in criminal proceedings to protect their interests, such as an interest in the confidentiality of mental health counseling records.
The Founders Loved Jury Trials. Almost No One Gets One Anymore.
John Adams called jury trials part of the "heart and lungs of liberty." Today, defendants are often punished for exercising that very right.
Gorsuch and Alito Butt Heads in Another Criminal Justice Case
According to Alito, Gorsuch’s opinion “veered off into fantasy land.”
#TheyLied Prosecution Over Alleged Perjury and Faked Evidence
The defendant is one Rovier Carrington, who "sued Hollywood executives alleging that the executives had sexually assaulted him, and that they had defrauded him in connection with a decision to refuse to produce [his] reality television program."
"[W]ell, People Really Be Tellin', People Be Tellin'. That Is Not Right, That Is Not Right."
A Snapchat post containing this line and "a copy of the police report summarizing [a witness's] identification of [a person] as the shooter" leads to a four-year prison sentence for witness tampering; a New Jersey court says the post is a constitutionally unprotected true threat of violence.
It's a Bad Year for Criminal Justice Reform at the Supreme Court
A recent pair of cases spotlights the sorry state of affairs.
There's Still Hope for Prosecutorial Reform After Recall of San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin
The recall of San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin demands a rethinking of the "progressive prosecutor" brand.
"The Possibility of Prosecuting Federal Court Leakers—Update & Rejoinder"
Former prosecutors Markus Funk and Andrew S. Boutros, and Judge Virginia Kendall, delve further into this fascinating question.
The Case for Pursuing the Issue of Russian War Crimes in Ukraine - Even Though Putin is Highly Unlikely to Ever be Tried and Punished
Putin and other Russian leaders are likely guilty of massive war crimes. And there is real, though limited, value to pursuing the issue.
Justices Spar Over How to Interpret the Armed Career Criminal Act
In Wooden v. United States, the justices were unanimous in the judgment, but expressed disagreement over the role of statutory history and the rule of lenity.
Biden Nominates Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court
The SCOTUS pick has shown admirable judgment in criminal justice cases.
Federal Court Rules Takings Clause May Require Compensation when Police Destroy an Innocent Person's Home in Process of Pursuing a Suspect
The decision is at odds with rulings by some other federal courts, and could end up setting an important precedent.
Ahmaud Arbery's Alleged Murderers Almost Escaped Charges, Thanks to Prosecutorial Misconduct
As the trial wraps up, it's important to remember that the first prosecutor on the case, Jackie Johnson, has been indicted for violating her oath of office.
Private Prosecutions
Some states still allow ordinary citizens (and not just the usual criminal prosecutors) to initiate a prosecution of someone they accuse of a crime.
John Marshall Argued for the Independence of Federal Prosecutors
Professor Matthew Steilen points to an interesting letter to St. George Tucker
Cheerleaders and Property Owners Prevail in the Supreme Court (Updated)
Today produced one of the Supreme Court term's few true conservative-liberal splits, and showed additional signs of a generational divide on criminal law.
Legal Conventions and Criminal Law
Substantive criminal law consists of more than statutes and formal common law.
How Detectives Caught the Golden State Killer—and Unleashed a Catastrophe for Civil Liberties
Police were finally able to catch the serial killer using DNA genealogy databases—violating many innocent people's constitutional right to privacy.
Sixth Circuit Grants Habeas Petition for Lower's Court's Objectively Unreasonable Application of the Confrontation Clause
A liberal result (granting a criminal defendant's habeas petition) from a quite conservative judge (John Bush).
Derek Chauvin Jury Selection Process Highlights Need to Stop Dumbing Down Juries
The system routinely excludes not only those who might be familiar with a given case, but also those who have relevant background knowledge that might improve the quality of jury deliberations.
