» Entries tagged with "due process"
A Nice Thought, At Least
When a judge begins a dissent by calling something agents did “a profoundly disturbing use of government power that directly imperils some of our most fundamental constitutional values,” I expect it is going to be a good read. I also assume the case probably arose in Arizona, where most people seem to think fundamental constitutional values should be limited to an appreciation of the sacred right to have law enforcement make sure nobody but them breaks any laws. With the recent Ninth Circuit case of United States v. Black, I was right on both counts. The description of what happened from the dissent in Black is pretty much as spot-on as the analysis. As it explains, the government went to a “bad” part of town to find “bad” people to … Read entire article »
Did He Mention It Was Just Plain Evil Too?
Jamison Koehler put up a post earlier today about Washington, D.C.’s “post-and-forfeit” statute being upheld in federal district court. A lawyer had sued D.C. after being arrested for disorderly conduct and given the “choice” pursuant to the statute of either paying $35.00 to be released and resolve the case or hanging around in jail for bit. As is often the case, Scott Greenfield wrote a post about the case over a year ago, not too long after the lawyer first filed suit. Whereas Scott expressed concerns about the law and its potential problems in his post, Jamison’s post wasn’t really about the law at all. He focused on how people shouldn’t pick unnecessary fights with police officers or bring stupid lawsuits. Discussing the plaintiff-lawyer’s decision to file … Read entire article »
Filed under: Courts, Government Rants, US Constitution
My Last Post on Lesser Included Offenses
Okay, I promise this will be the last post I’ll put up on the subject of lesser included offenses. It’s an interesting area to me not only because of cases like this and this, or because and the rule in Arizona is frustrating in general, but also because it can create a strange situation for a defense attorney. Here’s the dilemma: imagine a burglary case where intent is the only real issue. It’s clear the defendant shouldn’t have been there, but it’s tough to know whether he entered or remained unlawfully with the intent to commit a felony or any theft. If the defense attorney gets a lesser included offense instruction on criminal trespass despite the relevant case law, the defendant could be spared a lot of prison … Read entire article »
Filed under: Arizona Cases, Arizona Statutes
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