We’re back! USA is #1! February 28, 2008
Posted by Idta in : Criminal Law, Law Enforcement , 1 comment so far
Apparently we are fast becoming a nation of outlaws!
For the first time in U.S. history, more than one of every 100 adults is in jail or prison, according to a new report documenting America’s rank as the world’s No. 1 incarcerator.
Public Defender Haiku February 3, 2008
Posted by Idta in : Attorney-Client, Constitution, Criminal Law , 1 comment so farPublic Defender Haiku
Through trial or plea
Even if you are guilty
I will defend you.
People often ask
How can you defend those folks?
Criminal lawyer.
Defend the accused?
Imagine if I didn’t.
There’d be no justice.
Sentence inflation February 2, 2008
Posted by Idta in : Criminal Law, Law Enforcement , 2comments This week I sat second-chair in the trial of a 32-year-old bipolar man accused of cutting a guard’s hand with a razor blade. He has 5 years left on his current sentence. The jury found him guilty and sentenced him to life in prison.
A high-ranking officer testified that he ordered the man’s cell to be searched every 2 hours — day and night. If the defendant refused to wake up, be shackled, and come out of the cell, they sprayed him with chemical agents. Then they sent five men in riot gear into his cell to pull him out forcefully. This apparently went on for several months.
The officer said he didn’t know about any research concerning the harmful effects of sleep deprivation, and he wasn’t aware of any harmful effects. (But he grudgingly conceded that lack of sleep could probably make someone irritable.) Also, in his 16 years experience, he had never heard of any guard taking an inmate’s food, as punishment or in retaliation for bad conduct. He’d never even heard the prison lingo — jack the food — for this common inmate complaint.
He said all of this under oath, so it must be true.
Lawyer rejects $190,000 for 2 trials, 3 years January 13, 2008
Posted by Idta in : Constitution, Criminal Law, Death Penalty , 1 comment so far Here’s an interesting money-saving idea: Don’t pay the death-penalty defense lawyers.
That’ll show ‘em!
To take these (appointed) cases may interfere with the survival of these lawyers’ practices. I don’t think federal judges understand this.
5 Factors Help Predict Psychosis January 9, 2008
Posted by Idta in : Criminal Law , add a comment Maybe this research into factors that help predict psychosis could be helpful during the mitigation phase.
The researchers identified five factors that could help predict the eventual development of psychosis. These included a family history of schizophrenia with recent deterioration in functioning; higher levels of unusual thoughts; higher levels of suspicion or paranoia; greater social impairment; and a history of substance abuse.
When two or three of these factors were present, the odds of psychotic illness jumped. Two factors increased the likelihood of psychotic illness to 68 percent, and three factors combined raised the risk to 80 percent.
The Rodney Awards: And the nominees are… January 7, 2008
Posted by Idta in : Criminal Law , 2comments Wow! I now know how Sally Field felt when she gave her speech at the Academy Awards.
It’s an honor just to be nominated.
This blog was nominated for a Rodney Award in three categories:
Best Blog Title,
Best New PD Blog,
and
Best Blog Title that Reflects Something About the Job.
P.S. It’s great to know that some people occasionally read this blog. And I’m thankful for the people who respond or post comments.
Are we falling down? January 6, 2008
Posted by Idta in : Criminal Law , add a comment Today’s New York Times suggests that being a doctor or lawyer has lost much of its prestige.
Still, something is missing, say many doctors, lawyers and career experts: the old sense of purpose, of respect, of living at the center of American society and embodying its definition of “success.”
The article also discusses people entering the workforce today, although I think it describes many people–not just those raised in the 80s.:
And they want immediate rewards — not exactly the mentality that will fuel a student through years of medical school, a residency and additional training for a specialty. “Their attention span, everything, is instant feedback: quick, quick, quick. Apprenticeship, these kids don’t want to do it.”
TXCURE.ORG December 12, 2007
Posted by Idta in : Criminal Law , add a comment This TX CURE group is “composed of prisoners and their families, corrections professionals, public officials, and ‘ordinary citizens’ concerned about criminal justice in Texas.”
It’s getting pretty deep! December 10, 2007
Posted by Idta in : Constitution, Criminal Law, Law Enforcement , add a comment Everybody knows shit runs down hill. When it gets up to the neck of a top White House stooge, THAT IS PRETTY DEEP!
The Bush White House has refused to comment on unresolved questions in the Libby case — such as why no White House staff member was ever reprimanded — on the grounds that the appeals process was still unfolding. Now that argument is moot, as Libby has dropped his appeal.
‘Bad’ Legal Advice and the Death Penalty December 8, 2007
Posted by Idta in : Criminal Law, Death Penalty , add a comment Does this case suggest a lawyer must advise a client to plead to a life sentence rather than risk a death sentence?
It was the defense lawyer’s misfortune to receive the … case at a moment when death-penalty law was in a particularly high state of flux. Just six weeks [earlier], the Ninth Circuit had invalidated Arizona’s death penalty law on the ground that it gave too much fact-finding power to the judge. Since Idaho’s death penalty law was indistinguishable, and Idaho is also in the Ninth Circuit, Mr. Wellman reasoned that even if his client received a death sentence, it would be overturned on appeal.
However, Mr. Wellman was unaware that four days before the plea bargain was offered, the Arizona Supreme Court, in a separate case, had rejected the Ninth Circuit’s reasoning and had upheld the Arizona death penalty statute.
