CrimProf Blog

Presidential Candidates' Platforms on Criminal Justice

Here. [Jack Chin]

The Legality of Lying

From NPR.com: Last week, the Washington State Supreme Court struck down a 1999 law that banned political candidates from lying about their opponents. In the decision, the majority said the law was an affront to free speech. Listen. . . [Mark Godsey]

New Eavesdropping Signed Legislation

From NPR.com: President Bush signed legislation Sunday setting legal parameters for foreign intelligence surveillance conducted by the National Security Agency.

The new law allows the government to eavesdrop without a warrant on communications between Americans and people reasonably believed to be outside the United States.

Siobhan Gorman, intelligence correspondent at The Baltimore Sun, talks with Andrea Seabrook.

Listen. . . [Mark Godsey]

Clemency Specialist Margaret Love Comments on the Possibility of Libby's Pardon

From LATimes.com: Specialist in executive clemency and restoration of rights, sentencing and corrections policy, and legal and government ethics Margaret Love recently wrote an opinion piece in the LA Times concerning the possibility of Bush pardoning Libby.  Here is an excerpt:

"As speculation grows about whether President Bush will pardon I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, or at least commute his prison sentence, it's important to remember the hundreds of ordinary people who have been patiently standing in line, some for many years, waiting for presidential forgiveness. In a sense, it is these largely anonymous applicants for executive clemency (of which pardon and commutation are subsets) who hold the key to the president's ability to help the well-connected Mr. Libby.

This is not so much a matter of fairness as it is of political common sense.

Many of those with pending applications for clemency were convicted long ago of garden-variety crimes and have fully served their time; many others are still serving lengthy mandatory prison terms from which there is no hope of parole (parole having been eliminated from federal sentencing).

One such applicant is my client, Willie Mays Aikens, whose addiction to crack cocaine ruined a brilliant major league baseball career and who is now in the 13th year of a 20-year prison term for selling drugs to an undercover policewoman — an extraordinarily harsh sentence for a relatively minor, nonviolent drug offense.

There are countless others in similar positions. If the president is unwilling to look favorably on deserving applicants for clemency like Aikens, how can he justify helping Libby?" Rest of Article. . . Love's Blog. . . [Mark Godsey]

Democrats Move Quickly to Make Ethics Proposal

From NYTimes.com: Democratic leaders in the House and the Senate, mindful that voters in the midterm election cited corruption as a major concern, say they are moving quickly to finalize a package of ethics changes for consideration as soon as the new Congress convenes in January.

Their initial proposals, laid out earlier this year, would prohibit members from accepting meals, gifts or travel from lobbyists, require lobbyists to disclose all contacts with lawmakers and bar former lawmakers-turned-lobbyists from entering the floor of the chambers or Congressional gymnasiums.

None of the measures would overhaul campaign financing or create an independent ethics watchdog to enforce the rules. Nor would they significantly restrict earmarks, the pet projects lawmakers can anonymously insert into spending bills, which have figured in several recent corruption scandals and attracted criticism from members in both parties. The proposals would require disclosure of the sponsors of some earmarks, but not all. Rest of Article. . . [Mark Godsey]

Congress Expected to Pass Sex Crime Bill

From USAToday.com: Key members of Congress have agreed on a sweeping bill that would create the first national Internet database and laws designed to improve the tracking of convicted sex offenders. The bill aims to help police locate more than 100,000 such offenders who are registered but haven't updated their whereabouts. About 563,000 sex offenders are registered nationwide.

The compromise, reached this week after months of negotiation, would increase minimum sentences for molesters who cross state lines and allow the death penalty for those who murder child victims. It would also increase the number of investigators and prosecutors fighting child pornography.

The bill would also give states money to track high-risk offenders with Global Positioning System devices and require some convicted juveniles to register as sex offenders.

Rest of Article. . . [Mark Godsey]

Gun Control Laws Can Control Elections

From usnews.com: Saul Cornell of Ohio State's Second Amendment Research Center, says polls consistently show broad support for gun control. What gives the gun lobby strength, he says, is that supporters see gun control as a make-or-break issue. With that passion comes money. Gun-rights groups contributed nearly 14 times as much as gun-control groups in the 2004 election cycle, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

Gun-control proponents should avoid efforts like the assault weapons ban that were more effective at agitating gun owners than at preventing gun violence, says Daniel Webster of the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Policy and Research. He recommends targeting unscrupulous dealers, and points to New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who leads a coalition of over 50 mayors backing a crackdown on illegal gun sales. For backers of gun control, perhaps that's a start.

"When we as Democrats are trying to reach out and speak to voters in the center of the country, I don't think that we can support gun control," Oklahoma Rep. Dan Boren explains. After seeing Democrats hammered at the polls for voting to regulate guns, many of his colleagues seem to agree. As a result, a number of pro-gun measures moving through Congress will most likely face little opposition, as advocates of gun control increasingly find themselves marginalized and ignored.

Rest of Article. . . [Mark Godsey]

American Bar Association will Review the President's Legal Challenges

The board of governors of the American Bar Association voted unanimously Saturday to investigate whether President Bush has exceeded his constitutional authority in reserving the right to ignore more than 750 laws that have been enacted since he took office.

Meeting in New Orleans, the board of governors for the world's largest association of legal professionals approved the creation of an all-star legal panel with a number of members from both political parties. More. . . [Mark Godsey]

DOJ Study Finds Racial Disparity in Traffic Stops

Actually, the racial disparity was not found to exist in connection with who is stopped, but rather post-stop treatment.  Minorities are substantially more likely to be searched, handcuffed, etc. than whites.  Story . . . [Mark Godsey]

2004 Marijuana Ballot Initiatives

Several marijuana initiatives passed in the 2004 election.  Montana voted to allow medical marijuana; now 3/4ths of the Western states have such laws; Oregon rejected an initiative.  Voters in Ann Arbor, MI, Columbia, MO and various localities in Massachusetts also supported decriminalization or other reform, but those measures are either expressly advisory or of questionable enforceability.  Jack Chin