CrimProf Blog

President Says Delay is Innocent

He's since backed off a bit.  Story here. [Jack Chin]

Domestic Surveillance

Dan Solove posts on the developing story here and here. [Jack Chin]

Welcome to the Blogosphere: Judgingcrimes

New Mexico Assistant Attorney General and scholar Joel Jacobson blogs here about the law. http://www.judgingcrimes.com/ "Judging Crimes is a blog about criminal law, violent crime and the judiciary, dedicated to making the liberal case for greater democratic control of the criminal justice system." 

TX: Mom's Conviction thrown Out

This is a textbook example of how miscarriages of justice occur.  A poor teen mom's baby dies.  It looks likely that the death was caused by a medical error.  But a biased medical examiner rules it murder (other cases done by this person have also been reversed).  A defense lawyer advises the mom to plead guilty so she will get probation; she gets 17 years.  The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals said that if the facts had been presented, likely a not guilty verdity would have been returned. Opinion here. [Jack Chin]

Embezzlement Blog

Here's a new blog offering tips on how to avoid/catch embezzlers: www.embezzlementnews.com

Background Checks Catch Troopers

When, in response to a newspaper investigation, authorities did background checks on Tennessee State Troopers, one in 18 had problems, from minor offenses to felonies.  Story here. [Jack Chin, thanks to Margy Love]

Retired Seattle Police Chief: Legalize Drugs

Oped here. [Jack Chin]

Crimprof Blogger Voted Tenure

Mark Godsey of the CrimProf Blog was recently voted tenure by his colleagues at the University of Cincinnati College of Law.  Since entering law teaching in 2001, Mark got three people out of prison through the Ohio Innocence Project, published articles in Duke, Georgetown, Minnesota and Cal., and won teacher of the year award twice.  One of my greatest accomplishments as a law professor was recommending that he be hired.  Congratulations, Mark!  [Jack Chin]

CO: Make My Day Law Acquittal

A Colorado man who shot an assailant who was in his car and driving away was acquitted by a Colorado jury under Colorado's "make my day law."  An author of the law said the outcome was wrong, that the law was designed to permit shooting assailants entering a home, not leaving.  Story here. [Jack Chin]

VA: Random Audit Leads to DNA Exonerations

In Virginia, DNA testing ordered by the governor of 31 samples led to two exonerations of men who had served long terms for rape.  Hundreds of other samples may now be retested. [Jack Chin]

Bait and Snitch

Loyola-LA CrimProf Alexandra Natapoff in Slate.com:  "From Baltimore to Boston to New York; in Pittsburgh, Denver, and Milwaukee, kids are sporting the ominous fashion statement, prompting local fear, outrage, and fierce arguments over crime. Several trials have been disrupted by the T-shirts; some witnesses refuse to testify. Boston's Mayor Thomas M. Menino has declared a ban: "We're going into every retail store that sells them," he declared to the Boston Globe, "and we're going to take them off the shelves." With cameo appearances in the growing controversy by NBA star Carmelo Anthony of the Denver Nuggets and the rapper Lil Kim, snitching is making urban culture headlines.  The "Stop Snitchin' " T-shirt drama looks, at first blush, like a dustup over a simple counterculture message launched by some urban criminal entrepreneurs: that friends don't snitch on friends. But it is, in fact, a symptom of a more insidious reality that has largely escaped public notice: For the last 20 years, state and federal governments have been creating criminal snitches and setting them loose in poor, high-crime communities. The backlash against snitches embodies a growing national recognition that snitching is dangerous public policy—producing bad information, endangering innocent people, letting dangerous criminals off the hook, compromising the integrity of police work, and inciting violence and distrust in socially vulnerable neighborhoods."  More . . .  [Mark Godsey]

Juvie Jail Stay Backfires: Jailhouse Rocks, Mom Gets Bill

A harried Michigan mom thought that life behind bars would be just the thing for her unruly 15 year old, but it didn't work out that way.  "He was in bed all day in his pajamas. He loved it. He bragged about all these new movies he saw. I thought it would be more like a jail atmosphere. I thought he'd get a taste of it and wouldn't want to go back."  Meanwhile, the county bills parents $155 per day--more than mom earns--and Junior was in the resort for a month.  Story here. [Jack Chin]  

Oklahoma: National Leader in Female Incarceration

Story here. [Jack Chin]

Crank Proposals from Wyoming

The name of the Wyoming Attorney General is Pat Crank.  Some Wyoming newspapers seem to take juvenile advantage of that fact in writing headlines, such as "Crank Seeks $1 Million for Crime Database."  Although I suppose it could be much, much worse. [Jack Chin]

Canada: Judge Strikes Down Gang Law as Vague

Story here. [Jack Chin]

Columbia Students Charged With Felony Hate Crimes

For drawing swastikas in the dorms. [Jack Chin]

Texas CrimProf Goode Named Dean Ad Interim

CrimProf Steven Goode, associate dean for academic affairs at The University of Texas at Austin School of Law, has been appointed dean ad interim for the School of Law, effective Feb. 1, 2006, while the university conducts a nationwide search to replace Dean William C. Powers Jr., who will become the university's president.  Powers, who has been dean of the School of Law since 2000, will succeed President Larry R. Faulkner on Feb. 1, 2006.  Goode, who holds the G. Rollie White Teaching Excellence Chair in Law, has been a member of the Law School faculty since 1977 and is a UT Distinguished Teaching Professor. He teaches courses in evidence, criminal law, and professional responsibility.  More. . . [Mark Godsey]

Mexico Abolishes Capital Punishment

Story here.   [Mark Godsey]

DNA Contamination in Arizona, Florida

Here's a weird one:  Some unknown woman's DNA has been showing up in tests done on evidence in Tucson and Florida.  The DNA does not match the victims or suspects, and given the variety and geography of crimes, it may be more likely to be contamination than that there is an unknown woman on national crime spree.  Story here. [Jack Chin]

Study: Vegetation Reduces Crime

Plant some trees in high crime areas and see crime rates drop, or so they say.  Article here.  [Mark Godsey]