CrimProf Blog

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." 

Embezzlement Blog

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

Blog Watch: White Collar CrimeProf Blog in the NYTimes

From NYTimes.com: "Should white-collar criminals receive harsher sentences than street thugs or drug peddlers?...Ellen S. Podgor of the White Collar Crime Prof Blog doesn't think so...While deterrence may work for common criminals, "the SHAME in the community is by far the harshest punishment felt by the white-collar offender," Ms. Podgor writes.

Maybe. But given the shamelessness with which these crimes were committed, relying on shame as a deterrent seems inadequate, somehow. The Tyco execs were taken to state prison, not the relatively comfortable federal system. Brooks Holland, a lawyer, ruminates on Prawsfblog whether prison conditions should be a consideration in sentencing. His take is that most judges wouldn't buy it." Story... [Mark Godsey]

2 New Blogs Join Law Professor Blogs Network

We are pleased to announce the launch of two new blogs as part of our Law Professor Blogs Network:

• Business Law Prof Blog (Dale Oesterle (Ohio State))
• Elder Law Prof (Anne Kimberly Dayton (William Mitchell))

These blogs join our existing blogs:

• AntitrustProf Blog (Shubha Ghosh (SUNY Buffalo))
• ContractsProf Blog (Carol Chomsky (Minnesota) & Frank Snyder (Texas-Wesleyan))
• CrimProf Blog (Jack Chin (Arizona) & Mark Godsey (Cincinnati))
• Health Law Prof Blog (Betsy Malloy (Cincinnati) & Tom Mayo (SMU))
• LaborProf Blog (Rafael Gely (Cincinnati))
• Law Librarian Blog (Joe Hodnicki (Cincinnati))
• Law School Academic Support Blog (Dennis Tonsing (Roger WIlliams) & Ellen Swain (Vermont))
• Media Law Prof Blog (Cristina Corcos (LSU))
• Sentencing Law & Policy Blog (Douglas Berman (Ohio State))
• TaxProf Blog (Paul Caron (Cincinnati))
• Tech Law Prof Blog (Jonathan Ezor (Touro) & Michelle Zakarin (Touro))
• White Collar Crime Prof Blog (Peter Henning (Wayne State) & Ellen Podgor (Georgia State))
• Wills, Trusts & Estates Prof Blog (Gerry Beyer (Texas Tech))

LexisNexis is supporting our effort to expand the network into other areas of law.  Please email us if you would be interested in finding out more about starting a blog as part of our network.

BlogWatch

Sentencing Law and Policy has a post on Booker and the crack/power disparity.  The award-winning Grits for Breakfast has a post on drivers' knowledge of the right to refuse consent and the granting of consent.  WhiteCollarCrimeProf has a post on Martha Stewart.  [Jack Chin]

BlogWatch

Crime & Federalism has a post on the relative merits of public defenders versus appointed private counsel. CrimLaw offers to post blurbs about crimlaw related law review articles. GritsforBreakfast has a post on the legislative backlash against tickets-by-videocamera. TalkLeft reports that soldiers suffering from combat stress may receive ecstacy from military physicians.  [Jack Chin]

BlogWatch

WhiteCollarCrimeProf reports on an NACDL resolution urging Congress to gather facts before reforming the Sentencing Reform Act in the wake of Booker. At the meeting where the resolution was adopted, Judge Nancy Gertner and former NACDL president Irwin Schwartz discussed procedural changes that might follow Booker, including judges recording their reasons for departing, and defense lawyers writing proposed findings of fact and conclusions of law to explain particular sentences. CrimLaw, Item 7 has a link to a story suggesting that the smoking gun in the Michael Jackson case might turn into the bloody gloves of the new century: Maybe the victim's fingerprints on the porn magazine got there when the witness handled the exhibit when testifying before the grand jury, and an interesting case in the Virginia Supreme Court raising the question of whether a warrantless misdemeanor arrest illegal under state law requires application of the exclusionary rule.  GritsForBreakfast has a BIG post on snitching.  TalkLeft reports on a study showing declining public support for the death penalty.  The ConfrontationBlog has an updated outline of post-Crawford cases. Crime and Federalism has an interesting post on the first Congress and crime. [Jack Chin]

BlogWatch

CrimLaw is on a drug kick; here's the marijuana news.  Grits For Breakfast thinks the Caballes decision is a dog.  Sentencing Law and Policy believes times may be changing with respect to expensive, long-term prison sentences.  TalkLeft blogs the Ohio Supreme Court's reversal of a death sentence against a Scotsman. The Confrontation Blog discusses a Wisconsin Supreme Court case addressing the issue of whether cross-examination by another party can render prior testimony admissible. WhiteCollarCrimeProf blogs the question of whether former execs Ebbers and Scrushy will testify in their criminal trials. [Jack Chin]

BlogWatch

The Confrontation Blog has a post on victimless prosecutions.  Crime & Federalism has a post on the Skakel appeal in Connecticut, one on older drivers, and one on Blood Alcohol and the Fourth Amendment.  CrimLaw has pictures of commonly abused prescription drugs.  GritsForBreakfast has a post on the cost of litigation to establish innocence, and one on the optional accuracy of forensic evidence.  TalkLeft has a post on shaming sanctions as punishment, and on segregation in California prisons. WhiteCollarCrimeProf has a post on Booker and Martha Stewart. [Jack Chin]

BlogWatch

Arbitrary and Capricious has a post about a PD who committed suicide upon realizing that he had been duped by a client who murdered a judge.  Public Defender Dude blogs the biblical argument against DNA profiling--it seems to support evolution, eh?  Like Charlie Brown trying to kick a football held by Lucy, I once again report Sentencing Law and Policy's prediction that a big case is coming down on Wednesday.  Talkleft (congrats on the 5 millionth visitor) blogs a story about Nevada authorities routinely hiding exculpatory evidence. [Jack Chin]

Blogwatch

Sentencing Law and Policy has a post about death penalty legislation in Virginia and Massachusetts.  White Collar Crime Prof has the Martha Stewart briefs. [Jack Chin]

BlogWatch

Check out CrimLaw's video and audio blog entries.  Sentencing Law and Policy and Criminal Appeal notes that California law criminalizes viewing of the new Megan's Law wesbite by sex offenders. Sentencing Law and Policy's Year in Review is also a must-read.  White Collar Crime blogs the DOJ's new focus on government corruption.  Arbitrary and Capricious has a good blog on heroes of 2004, including a number of actors in the legal system. [Jack Chin]

Blogwatch

TaxProf has a post on an injunction obtained by the IRS against the Taxbusters guide sold in 41 states.  Sentencing Law and Policy has a great post on the rehabilitation of rehabilitation.  Talkleft has a nice post on the cost of the Scott Peterson prosecution. [Jack Chin]

Richard Friedman of Michigan Launches The Confrontation Blog

Evidence Professor Richard Friedman of Michigan has launched The Confrontation Blog.  He writes:  "This blog is devoted to reporting and commenting on developments related to Crawford v. Washington, 541 U.S. 36 (2004). Crawford transformed the doctrine of the Confrontation Clause, but it left many open questions that are, and will continue to be, the subject of a great deal of litigation and academic commentary."  To visit the new blog, click here.

BlogWatch

Sentencing Law and Policy has an interesting post about Colorado CrimProf William Pizzi's article on sentencing discrimination against people with Afro-centric features, and a post about the litigator who won both Blakely and Crawford. White Collar Crime Prof has a post about an internal investigation of an AUSA in ED MI who blew a terrorism prosecution and may have engaged in misconduct in other cases.  Crime and Federalism offers some sound advice, and an entry on privatizing tax enforcement. [Jack Chin]

Blogwatch

Talkleft has a story on demotion of two Dallas police supervisors in the wake of a 2001 drug-frame scandal; informants, paid by the quantity of drugs recovered as a result of their tips, manufactured fake drugs, planted them on innocent people, and turned them in. The report of the investigation is available here. Coincidentally, Sentencing Law and Policy has an interesting post about the problems with quantity based sentencing in drug cases. Criminal Law has a series of posts about a week in the life of a criminal defense lawyer--this will bring back memories for about half of us CrimProfs.  Crime and Federalism has a nice series on pay for Massachusetts panel attorneys--follow-ups here and here. WhiteCollarCrimeProf has a post on an SEC civil enforcement action against KMart.   [Jack Chin]

Blogwatch

Check out the post on overcriminalization at White Collar Crime Prof Blog.  Sentencing Law and Policy has an interesting post on race and sex discrimination in sentencing; TalkLeft also blogs the topic. Sentencing Law also has a post on a fascinating Ohio case in which the state supreme court reversed a death sentence for lack of jurisdiction, in that the murder at issue took place in Pennsylvania.  [Jack Chin]

BlogWatch

White Collar Crime Prof blogs about guilty pleas in upper management at Boeing, and about indictments of local officials in Atlanta.  Crime and Federalism blogs a new Illinois statute creating a defense to illegal weapons possession in violation of a local ordinance if the weapon was used in lawful self defense (Maybe they should call this Bernie's Law?) Crime and Federalism also provides a useful link to the Heritage Foundation's site overcriminalized.com, and a chart showing the explosive growth of federal crimes.  Talkleft recounts the tale of a Kansas man who shot and killed an intruder, but had guns and pot laying around when the police arrived to haul away the burglar.  Convicted of marijuana charges, the judge offered the miscreant the option of jail or joining the military.  (Unfortunately, 10 U.S.C. 504 prohibits enlistment of felons, unless the SecDef makes an exception based on merit).  Jack Chin

BlogWatch

White Collar Crime Prof blogs about Senate hearings on the insurance industry, and the growing problem of identity theft from information in online court records.  Sentencing Law and Policy has a collection of written testimony before the Sentencing Commission. Jack Chin

BlogWatch

Sentencing Law and Policy reports on a proposed study of capital punishment in Ohio, and on the Federal court funding crisis.  White Collar Crime Prof blogs on Eliott Spitzer's investigation of the insurance industry.  On the Stewart beat, Martha's requesting reimbursement of her legal bill, and Lynne finished testifying on her own behalf.

Jack Chin