Wow what a busy week. 8 posts in one week!! Pretty good especially for me. I doubt I will be quite so prolific this week as I am going to be back on a suppression hearing on Tuesday and maybe Wednesday in People v. Ronald "Shorty" Rodriguez, before the Hon. Meryl Berkowitz in Nassau County Court. Later in the week I will be in NYC for the 50th Anniversary of the NACDL. I may do a few blogs from there. I am excited because I am serving on the Nomination committee. Fellow Law Blogger and President-elect John Wesley Hall asked me to serve and I am very honored.
So as it is Sunday, I am going to again jog around the blogoshere with you. Here are a few things that caught my eye this week that I didn't get to write more about but you may want to look into yourself:
1. That Exotic Darlin' of the Neo-Con set Michelle Malkin asks the blog question, are US banks Knowingly Laundering Drug Money for Mexican Drug Cartels?? Michelle's take is that illegals, are here, sending money there (Mexico) through non-banks called "casas di cambio." American banks wanting some of the action offer these CdiC's a place to put large amounts of money and will look the other way if some of the money comes from the drug trade.
Michelle's neo-con answer is of course to prosecute the banks the illegals and the democrats. MY answer is better. Legalize the Drugs and tax same, put the money to use to help people beat their addictions, and open the borders correctly with a sane immigration policy that will not cripple US businesses.
Hmmm... Deport workers, cripple our economy, jail Americans for trying to make a living, jail more people for feeding their addictions, ruin foreign governments by making Criminal's rich and cost the American Taxpayer gazillion dollars for a drug war we could end with the stroke of a pen versus A sane immigration policy and drug policy... Ok she is sexy (especially compared to that shrieking idiot of the rightamortis, Ann Coulter ) but her views are silly.
2. I will never figure out the Federal Prosecutor's fascination with rebuttal witnesses. I guess they feel that it gives them a chance at primacy and finality two forensic speaking techniques. On the other hand, watching a case go in over seven (7) weeks and then blowing up on rebuttal just makes me question two things: to they think the defense isn't aware of their games and can not counter them? and Why do they think the jury needs to hear the same stuff over and over again? Anyway, the Pellicano case in L.A. Federal court is about to go to a mistrial... seems that the rebuttal witness they called to contradict the defendant's testimony on a minor issue, committed perjury and will have to take the 5th amendment on Monday. She was to be the final witness. Shame on the US Attorney's office in L.A. for doing a shabby job of investigating their own witness. Talkleft has some coverage here.
3. Pittsburgh Pa. has become an adoptive second home for us. We go there for some of my wife's medical treatments. The City is made up of many really nice people. Then of course there is their US Attorney, but she is a story for another post.
For now, here is a story about a guy who was arrested for complaining too much in a bad tone... A little subjective no?? Anyway he was convicted by a jury and it is on appeal... I can understand how one might want to be respected for working in public service. On the other hand I can also see how one might get fed up with the failure of certain public servants to do their jobs. What I cannot see is someone being convicted for complaining to a public servant about the job they do. Taking complaints is in the job description. As long as it is not abusive language tone shouldn't matter. (I am not sure abusive language should matter either but that too is another post.)
Hattip: to Radley Balko at The Agitator
In a related post over at the CrimProf Blog there is a story about a guy who got 15 years for sending governmental officials threatening letters.
4. "Romeo, Romeo, Where fore art thou Romeo..." Well both Romeo and Juliet are over at the Volokh Conspiracy this week where Professor Eugene Volokh, the head conspirator looks at the reason's behind Romeo and Juliet sex laws (laws that outlaw sex between adults and minors of a certain age but allows the sex if the lovers are born within a certain amount of time of each other. On first blush, it seems that Prof. Volokh is in favor of pedophiles, however when you look at his questions he does seem to put those laws under a light of logic and they do not come out all that well.
5. Some Good and Bad News about the Fourth Amendment in the news this week.
The blogosphere is abuzz with news out of California about the Ninth Circuit agreeing that laptops can be searched at screening at airport screening stations.
Meanwhile in NJ. the Supreme Court stunned prosecutors in ruling that people do have a fourth amendment protection in their ISP carriers information.
6. New and scary uses for DNA. Now it will be guilt by blood association. See this post for more information. Coming 0n the heels of Judge Weinstein's decision in , there may be a trend toward bringing Fourth Amendment law into the open and up to date with this century.
And that's our jog round the blogosphere. See you around. It should be an exciting week.
TLD.
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