tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-360602652012-01-12T07:04:56.626-05:00A blog and newsletter about the politics of crime (criminal politics) and prison legal issues. Should the law advance Deterrence or Retribution, Banishment or Rehabilitation? Donations and store proceeds feed the Prison Innocence Project and Monthly Newsletter (annual report available on request)."Major" Morihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08182065360609364477noreply@blogger.comBlogger4211100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36060265.post-37037088542515932372011-08-23T06:52:00.006-04:002011-08-23T07:54:17.584-04:00

A petition to the Supreme Court, Dallas County v. Duvall, alleging conditions of confinement when inmate contracted staph (MRSA) virus losing sight in the eye, looks interesting. Even more curious, an entire handful of cases set for November argument in the Supreme Court in, surprise, ineffective assistance, prosecutor misconduct, habeas...warrantless search by GPS! The insignificance taken on

"Major" Morihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08182065360609364477noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36060265.post-85230082765587459232011-08-22T16:08:00.006-04:002011-08-23T06:17:42.121-04:00

Almost one year since I have been without computer...whew. The android, while good for many things doesn't cut the mustard when posting. Let's go see what's new around the b-sphere (still call it that?). Now let's see how easy it is to post hyperlinks with the Ipad... here. Pretty cumbersome. Mobile ap doesn't seem to be able to select the link url to copy and paste. Gotta check on this.

"Major" Morihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08182065360609364477noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36060265.post-20259618162340659602010-10-14T16:48:00.007-04:002010-10-14T17:11:45.342-04:00

The Summer issue is dedicated to mass incarceration and problems.Dædalus was founded in 1955 as the Journal of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and established as a quarterly in 1958. It draws on the enormous intellectual capacity of the American Academy, whose Fellows are among the nation's most prominent thinkers in the arts, sciences, and the humanities, as well as the full range of

"Major" Morihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08182065360609364477noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36060265.post-61945198768191273332010-10-13T22:40:00.007-04:002010-10-14T00:07:40.350-04:00

Greene v Camreta to be heard by the High Court. Jumping into a new controversy over child sex abuse, Tuesday to decidewhether the Constitution p the authority to interview children at school of sexual assault. The specific issue is wheth social workers must obtain a warrant before such interviews. A deputy sheriff and a state social caseworke issue of child interviews to the Court in a pai

"Major" Morihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08182065360609364477noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36060265.post-72284970683718046792010-10-06T15:55:00.004-04:002010-10-10T23:43:29.925-04:00

Supreme Court hears Connick v Thompson today. Will unfettered patterns of abuse go unheeded?John Holloway writes in Slate yesterday.Grits has good references as well.

"Major" Morihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08182065360609364477noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36060265.post-33349240975733826532010-10-05T20:53:00.002-04:002010-10-06T07:54:21.114-04:00

Wonder if recent reclass effort in Md triggers due process or other constitutional protections such as raised in recent ruling in Pennsylvania. Renchensky v. Williams, 3d Cir. (Oct. 4 2010).

"Major" Morihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08182065360609364477noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36060265.post-26007665806718325842010-09-27T22:08:00.006-04:002010-09-29T07:01:58.144-04:00

Here is an example of what i spoke of re wrongful conviction and reasons why they happen. Good comments at the link. Dallas has another one. wish i knew how to post a link with my new droid...dallasnews.comWall St Journal carries the story too.

"Major" Morihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08182065360609364477noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36060265.post-53991365195399974422010-09-27T19:01:00.002-04:002010-09-27T19:09:19.576-04:00

Does an individual have standing to sue and if so why do victims not do so? nybooks.com "What to do about gitmo" by david cole.

"Major" Morihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08182065360609364477noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36060265.post-55874512766357743882010-09-22T07:15:00.008-04:002010-09-27T19:01:10.108-04:00

Technology allows me to post via mobile device. I joined the new revolution due only to fact my home computer is fubar.Taking 3 years following my release Texas's innocence commision report fails to mention at least one reason for a wrongful conviction, environmental factors and outside influence including prosecutor misconduct.

"Major" Morihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08182065360609364477noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36060265.post-81368517220619925222010-06-12T07:05:00.003-04:002010-06-12T07:18:21.018-04:00

Here is an interesting decision from the Supreme Court on the interplay between SORNA and Montana state law. The Ninth Circuit ruled that the federal juvenile registration provision were ex post facto as applied to respondent. Respondent remains on Montana's sex offender registry; the Supreme Court certified a question that could resolve whether he must continue to register under state law

"Major" Morihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08182065360609364477noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36060265.post-69424708153102974522010-06-04T15:22:00.006-04:002010-06-04T17:11:09.254-04:00

From Ohio, a small legal victory. Supreme Court rules change to sex offender registration laws "required" by AWA -- the big bad Bush /Gonzo conspiracy to create a federal sex offender bureaucracy -- won't stand. Here is a link to Prof Berman's blog on it. The opinion of the Ohio Supreme Court is here.Here is how it seems to work. Courts convict under legislated criminal law which provides for

"Major" Morihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08182065360609364477noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36060265.post-21699422788226736582010-05-01T23:28:00.004-04:002010-05-01T23:33:24.832-04:00

Here is a good intro to a UK ruling that registration for life without periodic review violates Convention on Human Rights. About time some sensible thinking went into this. Most registrants are not the dangerous persons everybody thinks they are. Here is the link.

"Major" Morihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08182065360609364477noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36060265.post-42972184023665604702010-04-20T04:40:00.005-04:002010-04-20T05:05:11.520-04:00

Now there's talk about a drug dealer registry in MA. I wonder why our law enforcement people can't track these dangerous criminals without putting them on a registry? But because nobody is really serious about stopping the drug trade it's all just more hot air. Now mandatory minimum sentences have gone too far, as this post shows.And here is a notable new paper titled Public Safety, Individual

"Major" Morihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08182065360609364477noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36060265.post-30247806909123731862010-01-06T05:29:00.008-05:002010-01-06T06:02:39.851-05:00

But it's over. Here's an interesting local posting on a pervasive national problem, money driving politics, and/or the reverse, which could be the same thing. And here we thought it could never happen in an enlightened republic of citizen legislators. Manipulating the public only becomes easier the less power the public retains. We are getting there, have been there before, and so on it goes.

"Major" Morihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08182065360609364477noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36060265.post-59220995786367699282009-12-10T23:58:00.005-05:002009-12-11T00:08:31.364-05:00

The decision in Beard, comparing the per curiam (unsigned) opinion in Michigan v. Fischer, Stevens and Sotomayor dissenting (opinion here); the Court swoops in to reverse the trial judge and appellate affirmation in Fischer ruling in favor of suppression motion while in Beard narrowly holds on the basis that discretion in the lower courts ought to be preserved.Makes sense as long as one does not

"Major" Morihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08182065360609364477noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36060265.post-3605242149718374882009-11-19T05:16:00.008-05:002009-11-19T05:56:37.898-05:00

Thanks to Doug, as alway, here is the ABA symposium on postconviction practices:Prof. Berman also posts here on Second Amendment cases, Heller and McDonald, suggesting that the cause of criminal justice reform is related, discussing the politics as well.Remarkably there is in the air a question whether SCOTUS might overrule a one hundred year old decision in the Slaughterhouse cases regarding the

"Major" Morihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08182065360609364477noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36060265.post-12335499728103297942009-11-13T00:27:00.003-05:002009-11-13T00:49:09.870-05:00

Found a new blog, Stand Up, by Sam Caldwell.It looks promising.Shitake Awards, one more on topic, for a good belly laugh! The line: "giving anti-former offender politicos and celebrities what they really deserve"

"Major" Morihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08182065360609364477noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36060265.post-5508058873091767332009-11-12T23:18:00.004-05:002009-11-12T23:39:39.661-05:00

Here is a link to Sean Penn's documentary Witch Hunt (2008). The description from Emanuel Levy:"Witch Hunt" chronicles the unraveling of a small town's justice system. The main characters in this new non-fiction film are working class parents, moms and dads, who were all wrongly convicted of child molestation in the early 1980s in the town of Bakersfield, California. Each of these falsely

"Major" Morihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08182065360609364477noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36060265.post-66513894375938944022009-11-07T17:22:00.002-05:002009-11-07T17:25:13.018-05:00

NYRB has an interesting review of three books, by David Cole, called Can Our Shameful Prisons Be Reformed. November issue. Not much new here, but the problem is gaining in notoriety, perhaps.

"Major" Morihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08182065360609364477noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36060265.post-30957445127778649132009-11-05T17:45:00.005-05:002009-11-05T17:59:11.072-05:00

Who has not heard of the case of Garrido, and Sowell?The girls Sowell had over are not so well.One fell out the balcony and had too much. She is not so well.Sowell is not so well.That's a good thing.Sorry, so well...See you in hell.The proof is so often in the pudding.Here, the proof seems to be putting in the house.Sorry Sowell.See you in hell.Remember GarridoYou and matron kept her 20

"Major" Morihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08182065360609364477noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36060265.post-68740391357928838952009-10-26T07:43:00.008-04:002009-10-26T07:59:11.823-04:00

Most recently, Profs Berman and Dorf weigh in. If churches are anything like schools, I am surprised that the law does not provide for limited exceptions for attending church services. Perhaps the state could have thought of that, or will they add a provision to avoid going to court?Or, with the constitutional analysis pending, will sex offenders be further separated into legal categories,

"Major" Morihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08182065360609364477noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36060265.post-61164089882291301662009-10-16T15:20:00.006-04:002009-10-16T16:13:05.017-04:00

American prisons make the inmates they are made for: the thesis of Prof. Sharon Dolovich and many works to whom she refers in her new SSRN piece (download here) to appear in Harvard Law and Policy Review symposium.Mass incarceration has become a virgin birth industry. It keeps laying eggs and the eggs are us. From the view of an egg who both justice and society failed, and having collected a

"Major" Morihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08182065360609364477noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36060265.post-86309462457139083162009-10-12T08:13:00.004-04:002009-10-12T08:19:05.318-04:00

In this post exploring DNA testing waivers, the real issue of interest to me is why innocent accused plead guilty to crimes they did not commit. Does this interest anybody else? Does it not trouble you?A snippet: Defense lawyers who have worked on DNA appeals strongly oppose the waivers, saying that innocent people sometimes plead guilty -- mainly to get lighter sentences -- and that denying

"Major" Morihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08182065360609364477noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36060265.post-19871368458627226132009-10-12T07:55:00.003-04:002009-10-12T07:59:18.551-04:00

New York could be the model for prison/crim justice reform efforts nationwide. See the NYT article here, contributed by Robert Gangi, executive director of the Correctional Association of New York, a nonprofit organization that monitors prison conditions.

"Major" Morihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08182065360609364477noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36060265.post-58190616528500009892009-10-09T05:50:00.004-04:002009-10-09T05:56:12.687-04:00

Here is a crazy idea: devalue the dollar which will lead to immediate demand abroad for us goods and services creating exports and an influx of cash to exporters and the overall economy. The free market at work works well! Cons: consequences of a falling dollar?I see the Wapo leads with an article on the economy today, as Speaker Nancy Pelosi reviews the options for rapidly lifting lagging

"Major" Morihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08182065360609364477noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36060265.post-84608675917389945862009-10-08T07:37:00.007-04:002009-10-08T07:53:47.195-04:00

Purchasing a lawsuit by the good citizens of North Carolina is shown here (the comments on Prof Berman's blog are interesting). The law banning sex offender from church because it has a day care is being challenged, AP reports here (where experts Prof Jonathan Turley, G-town U., Sara Tofte, Human Rights Watch, and Sara Totonchi, Southern Center for Human Rights weigh in). Katherine Parker of

"Major" Morihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08182065360609364477noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36060265.post-5083453291832194652009-10-02T07:12:00.004-04:002009-10-02T07:23:00.096-04:00

Jumping into the thicket I am going to venture that award winning producer Roman Polanski has done his time. It is 30 years of self imposed exile. To jail him now is merely a gesture to the idea that justice must be strict admitting of no compassion, that to set an example Roman must be punished more than that which he has imposed on himself. I disagree with this justice. Justice should be

"Major" Morihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08182065360609364477noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36060265.post-9873428270669352472009-10-01T07:35:00.001-04:002009-10-01T07:39:14.256-04:00

The Court, already committed to one ruling on laws involving sex offenders, on Wednesday added another: Carr v. U.S., 08-1301. That case, from Indiana, asks the Court to interpret the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act of 2006, requiring those convicted of sex crimes to register with state and federal databases. The question before the Court is whether it was unconstitutional for

"Major" Morihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08182065360609364477noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36060265.post-19331134522582282132009-09-29T04:01:00.005-04:002009-09-29T04:26:23.640-04:00

Show me what a man reads and I will tell you what kind of man he is.Who said this?Show me the books he loves and I shall knowThe man far better than through mortal friends. — S. Weir MitchellAccording to Book Browse, S. Weir Mitchell.The phrase came to mind as I was reading John Keane's, The Life and Death of Democracy, (2009). Bio here. Here is a precious line from this work:The struggle

"Major" Morihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08182065360609364477noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36060265.post-44478526016122300152009-09-27T20:51:00.003-04:002009-09-27T21:31:42.446-04:00

My pet issue has made it to the Supreme Court: Whether a prosecutor may be subjected to a civil trial and potential damages for a wrongful conviction and incarceration where the prosecutor allegedly violated a criminal defendant’s “substantive due process” rights by procuring false testimony during the criminal investigation, and then introduced that same testimony against the criminal defendant

"Major" Morihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08182065360609364477noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36060265.post-11429511451086550822009-09-27T16:46:00.005-04:002009-09-27T17:38:38.842-04:00

All RECENT studies taking up the question whether sex offender registries are effective at what they purport to achieve, reducing sex crimes and making us and our children safer, do not in fact accomplish this purpose. Don't take my word for it. Do the homework yourself, search my site or consult Professors Corey Young's Sex Crimes Blog, Doug Berman's Sentencing Law and Policy blogs for newsy

"Major" Morihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08182065360609364477noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36060265.post-91538620558121882822009-09-27T09:58:00.001-04:002009-09-27T10:01:27.311-04:00

Friedman’s thesis about the influence of public opinion on the Supreme Court sees the justices and the people as partners in a “marriage” that bypasses the elected legislature and the president.The Will of the People

"Major" Morihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08182065360609364477noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36060265.post-71289049349139258482009-09-21T06:56:00.005-04:002009-09-21T07:11:04.769-04:00

Repairing Our Broken Justice System is the title of this piece found at Nation Mag, by Gara LaMarche, director of The Atlantic Philanthropies. I wonder if this is possible. Senator Webb's Criminal Justice Commission Act is directed at a similar issue: Hate and Fear institutionalized by wars on terrorism, drugs and now sex offenders.He writes: The Constitution Project report, from a bipartisan

"Major" Morihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08182065360609364477noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36060265.post-60401688057786263462009-09-18T08:41:00.004-04:002009-09-18T08:48:15.767-04:00

Clearly an uphill battle to humanize notions behind residency restrictions, as this loss in Miami-Dade court shows. Story at the link.The ACLU promises to appeal.I hope the people paying the legal fees to defend the ordinance are happy.

"Major" Morihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08182065360609364477noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36060265.post-51057639991955003502009-09-13T05:48:00.006-04:002009-09-13T06:22:07.057-04:00

Lets examine Dr. Anna Salter’s "prize-winning work in which she cites studies finding that the average sex offender assaults more than 100 different victims during a lifetime." Because I am not aware of a single such study I had to take a few moments to review, briefly.Dr. Salter's website is here. Does "average" mean most, about half? In what context ...? Sex offender by definition means

"Major" Morihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08182065360609364477noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36060265.post-51494962765439024932009-09-11T23:52:00.008-04:002009-09-12T00:59:08.280-04:00

Whats new in Maryland concerning laws pertaining to sex offenders?Bills that passed in the 2009 session of the General Assembly are retroactivity, minors, photographs and one more I will have to review, all housekeeping sorts of things. An onerous bill to ban from public parks where children regularly gather reported unfavorably. In all there were 36 bills of which 4 became law. Curiously, re

"Major" Morihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08182065360609364477noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36060265.post-73917171791487969672009-09-11T22:57:00.006-04:002009-09-12T00:35:45.435-04:00

Here is a Dec. 2008 piece from Amanda Agan at the University of Chicago Dept. of Economics, thanks again to Prof. Berman's unparalleled research. Available from SSRN.

"Major" Morihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08182065360609364477noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36060265.post-25330877280862861362009-09-10T19:42:00.007-04:002009-09-17T16:54:36.161-04:00

This is huge. A favorable retroactivity opinion from a Ninth Cir Panel. Thanks Doug.Here is Corey Young on this subject. Volokh weighs in too, calling the decision or opinion not clearly correct. But this disregards common sense in favor of a technicality and precedent established by a quasi political cum legal establishment, the Supreme Court of the United States. Imo a decision is correct,

"Major" Morihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08182065360609364477noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36060265.post-38864236488568510692009-09-08T22:59:00.002-04:002009-09-08T23:02:26.788-04:00

Just a little something from Katha over at Nation Magazine. Let's git 'er done:Listening to the radio earlier this summer, I heard a 59-year-old nurse named Robin Batin testify in the most heart-rending way before the House subcommittee on oversight and investigations, chaired by Representative Bart Stupak. When she developed invasive breast cancer, her insurance company, Blue Cross and Blue

"Major" Morihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08182065360609364477noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36060265.post-67858198000259116972009-09-06T12:23:00.005-04:002009-09-06T13:52:21.355-04:00

Talk about a great week, today I found a Voice of Witness series book called, Surviving Justice: America's Wrongly Convicted and Exonerated. This came through Atlantic Monthly link to New Yorker piece hot off the press, Trial By Fire: Did Texas Execute an Innocent Man? by David Grann.A quote:In the summer of 1660, an Englishman named William Harrison vanished on a walk, near the village of

"Major" Morihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08182065360609364477noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36060265.post-42101721049051802462009-09-05T20:43:00.006-04:002009-09-05T20:48:37.746-04:00

Registries ineffectiveness is finally becoming mainstream, as this piece from WSJ shows. California's Sex Offender Management Board is recommending against adopting the federal requirements concerning risk assessment.

"Major" Morihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08182065360609364477noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36060265.post-31105188586835936412009-08-31T22:37:00.004-04:002009-08-31T23:24:52.675-04:00

They slipped in a new group on me. RSOL has been around for a while and are doing good work fighting the oppressive new war on sex offenders. The E Mag and new Forum are accessible from this link, which is now also on my sidebar under the appropriate head.Another excellent resource, Habitat for Sex Offenders, was found thru the RSOL site. There is a lot going on, as with all revolutions,

"Major" Morihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08182065360609364477noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36060265.post-80046037047021269082009-08-30T07:05:00.002-04:002009-08-30T07:15:02.496-04:00

I discovered a new blog and resource link for those who are falsely accused of child rape/sexual abuse. There is help out there for this nightmare scenario. It is especially important in view of the new War on Sex Offenders being waged by unscrupulous law makers and fear mongers.Related posts on this topic can be found at Grits, and Doc Berman's Sentencing Law and Policy.

"Major" Morihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08182065360609364477noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36060265.post-62358149292152373812009-08-26T02:50:00.004-04:002009-08-26T03:27:12.195-04:00

A tad old, but here's a good update on the overall picture of America's prison problem. And it isn't Guantanano or terrorists that are the problem. As somebody once said, "we have met the enemy, and it is us". I am a proud American, and I think we can do better. Senator Webb, good luck. I'm on your side. Can I have a job?From Slate: Guantanamo is the Least of Our Problems by Dahlia

"Major" Morihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08182065360609364477noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36060265.post-81680477322190511432009-08-18T05:43:00.002-04:002009-08-18T05:47:16.750-04:00

Here is a link to WP picking up a Scotus order for a hearing in the case of a Georgia man on death row who has put forward recantations of seven witnesses in support of his claim that he is innocent.

"Major" Morihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08182065360609364477noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36060265.post-28005776015740479312009-08-08T07:22:00.003-04:002009-08-08T07:26:55.042-04:00

Things can always get worse, is the theme of this review of the work of historian William Appleman Williams, titled Off Dead Center, by Greg Grandin appearing in Nation Magazine. Read and heed and relish the big picture; exhilarate in taking your mind out of the cesspool of the instant 24 hour media "news" cycle.

"Major" Morihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08182065360609364477noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36060265.post-39009451387803223702009-08-05T03:42:00.003-04:002009-08-05T03:46:47.618-04:00

August is a hot month in the Northern hemisphere. For the victims of the only two atomic weapons to ever have been deployed, August 1945 was even hotter. For more on that take a look at this link, to the Avalon Project of Yale University, a collection of primary sources on this, as well as other topics of historical interest.

"Major" Morihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08182065360609364477noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36060265.post-69692686365980497712009-07-22T06:48:00.003-04:002009-07-22T06:53:19.540-04:00

Here's a link to a piece about The Family (the "Christian" mafia as they like to be called) in Salon. Now that I'm reading Family of Secrets I'm wondering about the connections that must exist between them.There is no doubt that Lou would make a good member of the crowd as his recent Open Letter below shows: Lou Pritchett is one of corporate's true living legends- an acclaimed author,

"Major" Morihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08182065360609364477noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36060265.post-1721223592988195502009-07-16T07:46:00.005-04:002009-07-16T07:58:04.673-04:00

Here are a pair of cases worth noting:Norwood v Vance (9th Cir.) prison officials may be liable for prisoner's lack of exercise;Michael Joe Williams v. Jones (10th Cir.) habeas overturning jury verdict.And from ABC News, here is a sad sex crime story about those who have served their prison time being doomed to failure from the moment they set foot outside. What is it about this that lawmakers

"Major" Morihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08182065360609364477noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36060265.post-16298857947973293392009-06-28T12:24:00.003-04:002009-06-28T12:46:41.821-04:00

This one is too good to pass over, by the beautiful Mo, (and the NYT) about all the great affairs of the world. Sorry, Marco.Oh, and I almost forgot; thank God the War (remember, the Iraq War?) is finally over! We only lost 95 (and counting) troops this year, quite an improvement. It didn't turn out to be quite as good for the economy as some might have thought it would. Then, for some, it

"Major" Morihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08182065360609364477noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36060265.post-37959226784541086152009-06-28T07:34:00.004-04:002009-06-28T07:52:55.414-04:00

The Hilary Clinton of Japan business productivity and cutting energy are all featured in this Newsweek eyecandy, "Want to Save Energy, Think Japanese" -- always interesting for one who was born in Otaru (that's Japan, up North, where the air is/was could not be cleaner, the mountain waters fresher, the veggies and fish more fresh and nutritious). Wonder what it's like there now?BECAUSE, I have

"Major" Morihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08182065360609364477noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36060265.post-9644023367394921072009-06-03T08:09:00.004-04:002009-06-03T08:18:12.464-04:00

Once again, after a few weeks of noting nothing newsworthy, in itself newsworthy an occasion, (besides the bankruptcies of our largest automakers of course, but who didn't see that coming?) I see the New Yorker is on the ball again with a review of a promising new look at the CREDIT DEFAULT SWAP, called FOOL'S GOLD (link here). The "new" financial product is taking much of the blame for the

"Major" Morihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08182065360609364477noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36060265.post-83309287668929595382009-05-15T05:59:00.003-04:002009-05-15T06:43:39.861-04:00

I've been asked to comment on this case as I find time to review it:http://www.in.gov/judiciary/opinions/pdf/04300901rdr.pdfInitially, I see Indiana has expanded the Registry to include several more categories of crime in addition to sex offenses: these include Murder, Voluntary Manslaughter, under certain circumstances Kidnaping and Confinement (according to the opinion). If we must have a

"Major" Morihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08182065360609364477noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36060265.post-78054136967242174022009-04-28T07:28:00.003-04:002009-05-15T06:04:57.004-04:00

Can't believe it's been nearly 2 weeks since I posted, and a month since baseball began. Here is a case in which FAMM (Families Against Mandatory Minimums) played an active role, which just shows that not all mandatory minimum sentences relate to drug offenses.The case is US v. Polouizzi, No. 08-1830 (2d Cir. April 24, 2009) (available thanks to Doc):

"Major" Morihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08182065360609364477noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36060265.post-59103970334881312932009-04-14T07:02:00.004-04:002009-04-14T07:21:43.819-04:00

The O's won a nailbiter 10 to 9 last night at Texas in a game that had it all including a double steal by Texas in the bottom of the ninth to no avail as closer George Sherril got the strikeout to end the inning and the game with the winning run on second. Uehara got the win. Almost everybody had rbi or scored. They improve to 5-2. Hitting was no problem either but the pitching was nerve

"Major" Morihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08182065360609364477noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36060265.post-21467993599275219522009-04-10T08:32:00.002-04:002009-04-10T08:34:57.844-04:00

Why is This News? Because somebody ought to charge her with criminal mischief for wasting the time of at least two valuable public servants and peace officers.

"Major" Morihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08182065360609364477noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36060265.post-72150633329482588022009-04-08T07:30:00.003-04:002009-04-08T07:39:59.146-04:00

And of reforming the legal / criminal justice system, we have this development, the dismissal of indictment against Sen. Stevens, a judge demanding accountability of the prosecutors office, and vows of reform. How far will it go (stealing one of Doc's good lines)? Supremacy Claus sure has talent as evidenced by his biting wit in the comments in the source (see link). Recall that the

"Major" Morihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08182065360609364477noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36060265.post-59491162808366699902009-04-08T05:23:00.006-04:002009-04-08T07:21:29.359-04:00

Getting serious attention, if Lexington can be serious over at Economist. The new crime bill is newsworthy. The article begins:THE world’s tallest building is now in Dubai rather than New York. Its largest shopping mall is in Beijing, and its biggest Ferris wheel in Singapore. Once-mighty General Motors is suspended in a limbo between bail-out and bankruptcy; and the “war on terror” has

"Major" Morihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08182065360609364477noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36060265.post-12571047840147834732009-03-29T05:14:00.005-04:002009-03-29T05:18:25.274-04:00

America, we can do better. When judges are corrupted it takes a long time to undo the damage, as you can only imagine from this article about youth in Pennsylvania sentenced by two greedy (but well educated) judges. You can't make this stuff up.

"Major" Morihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08182065360609364477noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36060265.post-69381504653825731502009-03-28T07:12:00.002-04:002009-03-28T07:15:33.505-04:00

Jim Webb, Senator from Virginia, gets it. He and Sen. Specter cosponser this legislation to review and reform criminal justice and incarceration policy.

"Major" Morihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08182065360609364477noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36060265.post-76953775978122269742009-03-28T06:48:00.002-04:002009-03-28T06:52:02.974-04:00

Chevy, "this is America"This past year, both the Republican and the Democratic Presidential candidates came out firmly for banning torture and closing the facility in Guantánamo Bay, where hundreds of prisoners have been held in years-long isolation. Neither Barack Obama nor John McCain, however, addressed the question of whether prolonged solitary confinement is torture. For a Presidential

"Major" Morihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08182065360609364477noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36060265.post-10859536127517415352009-03-10T07:06:00.005-04:002009-03-10T07:17:41.667-04:00

As I was perusing Blonde Justice's anonymous blog, (not trying to blow anybody's cover or anything like that, and I'll add that she links to Texas and other geographic places as well) I came across Baltimore Crime which I'll add to my blog roll, as if it's not overloaded already. I just had to do it.Overcome by the same fit of curiosity I came across this one, (pdiblog) too, by a member of last

"Major" Morihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08182065360609364477noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36060265.post-77943205997832976402009-03-04T07:20:00.006-05:002009-03-08T04:58:30.483-04:00

At this link is the transcript of oral argument in the Supreme Court in the Osborne DNA case from Alaska in which the government argues that new evidence in the form of DNA testing should be denied, remain untouched, apparently in the interests of "finality", one, because 1983 civil claim is not the appropriate way to ask for it, and it is more of a discovery request, and prisoner does not have a

"Major" Morihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08182065360609364477noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36060265.post-65227065585508544272009-03-02T12:41:00.004-05:002009-03-03T06:49:39.499-05:00

A new reader found my site, left a comment here, so at the request of JustaDadatHome, I'll be adding a direct link to Citizens for Change (cfcamerica.org) under the Sex Crime, Public Education, and Civil Rights section of my blog. Thanks, JaDaH!I'm looking forward to seeing the great logo link on their website to my blog! It's nice to have talented friends!

"Major" Morihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08182065360609364477noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36060265.post-51772477693459919962009-03-01T08:05:00.008-05:002009-03-01T08:50:13.953-05:00

I don't know how to describe this but, just the facts, sir. Judge Keller, Honorable Sharon Keller, Presiding Judge, Texas Court of Criminal Appeals (the supreme criminal court) is the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Justice Center which is the umbrella organization controlling the Reentry Policy Council noted in my last post. I just happened to stumble upon this fact today while

"Major" Morihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08182065360609364477noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36060265.post-25897972905018540632009-03-01T07:43:00.003-05:002009-03-01T07:52:04.477-05:00

Second Chance Act grant solicitations are on the way, link for more info from the Reentry Policy Council. Understanding the Act's provisions is easy with this link to Sections 101 (for State and Local Governments) and 211 (for Nonprofits).

"Major" Morihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08182065360609364477noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36060265.post-5927490277172334362009-02-28T04:52:00.004-05:002009-02-28T05:19:01.642-05:00

I noticed recently that I received nice comments and might have picked up a few more readers, not that I'm counting. But it's encouraging to see that other people find this of interest.More and more we're seeing media articles cutting into sex offender hysteria and wondering where it will lead, such as these collected from Sex Crimes (WBAY Channel 2 Wisconsin) blog, Residency Restrictions don't

"Major" Morihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08182065360609364477noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36060265.post-28091304129542254572009-02-24T07:09:00.003-05:002009-02-24T07:14:22.598-05:00

Reviewing some posts from Doc's place I could not help thinking that here is where we are (the greatest prison nation), and unfortunately, here is where we are going (same direction).

"Major" Morihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08182065360609364477noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36060265.post-27400116626218305282009-02-24T06:30:00.003-05:002009-02-24T06:51:42.888-05:00

I forgot to mention this solution, as I see more talk about nationalizing big banks that are set to lose more money this year and become insolvent. The good news is, they are already insolvent, and always insolvent, according to their debt to equity ratios. The bad news is they still don't know how insolvent because they haven't yet resolved their "computations" respecting those "bad mortgages"

"Major" Morihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08182065360609364477noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36060265.post-38498476978940995522009-02-18T06:07:00.003-05:002009-02-18T06:08:57.209-05:00

Moratorium on Foreclosures for one year, to be extended if necessary based on events on the ground.

"Major" Morihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08182065360609364477noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36060265.post-51024110427073312142009-02-15T05:50:00.004-05:002009-02-15T06:13:06.663-05:00

Case Study in the Market for Homes with Bad MortgagesLink to BW "How Banks are Worsening the Forclosure Crisis"P 1:Home owners in bad mortgages don't deserve to be rescued.Then,a. let the banks foreclose, and the sooner the better. Homeowners take their earnings assuming they have jobs and rent until they reestablish credit to purchase another home.b. new prospects need to be found to take

"Major" Morihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08182065360609364477noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36060265.post-68002526290021903132009-01-28T21:27:00.003-05:002009-01-28T21:32:57.086-05:00

When a civil rights lawsuit claims “that a prosecutor’s management of a trial-related information system is responsible for a constitutional error at [a] particular trial, the prosecutor responsible for the system enjoys absolute immunity just as would the prosecutor who handled the particular trial itself.”The case of Van de Kamp v. Goldstein (07-854) involved a plea to the Court to head off a

"Major" Morihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08182065360609364477noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36060265.post-31412838873896320342009-01-21T07:35:00.006-05:002009-01-21T08:12:49.909-05:00

Bye Bye, and Hello...a historic moment rises; feel the ground swell of hope, fresh ideas, new thinking. Check out all the different views here, (Atlantic) and here (Roll Call), and here (The Nation), and here (Newsweek).Don't forget Fox, or the guys on the Right, no doubt making every effort to keep the "Big Tent Democrats" under control. I am getting the feeling that we're starting to ALL

"Major" Morihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08182065360609364477noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36060265.post-79799027911100935922008-12-22T09:13:00.003-05:002008-12-22T09:30:41.119-05:00

Speaking of the Fourteenth Century, which some historians have compared to our own Twentieth (that's the last one, not the 21st--this is yet to unfold), and of Religion and Chivalry, the dominant political idea of the ruling class, in A Distant Mirror, Barbara Tuchman writes:King Arthur's knights adventured for the right against dragons, enchanters, and wicked men, establishing order in a wild

"Major" Morihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08182065360609364477noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36060265.post-40085375583305769982008-12-18T08:32:00.003-05:002008-12-18T08:36:06.963-05:00

More dots on the emerging financial meltdown from NYT. Now, with the Madof debacle, I'm tempted to ask, "Where were the regulators" -- Oversight is so passe?

"Major" Morihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08182065360609364477noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36060265.post-81062590178413978492008-12-16T18:04:00.002-05:002008-12-16T18:10:51.104-05:00

Here's a link to Sosen's inaugeral newsletter. They finally got it together. Hurrah!Here is a reminder that my very own newsletter published issue number 16 last month. It is at this link!

"Major" Morihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08182065360609364477noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36060265.post-18021315093384125042008-12-15T18:29:00.006-05:002008-12-15T18:48:29.750-05:00

Thanks to Scotusblog, at this link is a Supreme Court Order issued today remanding the case of four Britons released from Guantanomo, who then sued United States Military officials for misconduct in the treatment, allegedly torture. That means the opinion of the DC Circuit Court must be reconsidered in light of the Supreme Court Opinion in the case of Boumedienne, issued more recently this year.

"Major" Morihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08182065360609364477noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36060265.post-46220210620489137362008-12-13T23:13:00.003-05:002008-12-13T23:19:30.358-05:00

Here, at this link, read about the tragedy that is Ricky's life, or non-life. He's 19. She's 16, was 13 when, but lied and said she was about his age. Now, Ricky lives with the consequences. When will the madness end?

"Major" Morihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08182065360609364477noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36060265.post-70608272318142265042008-12-13T19:40:00.005-05:002008-12-13T23:20:13.357-05:00

At this link is a post at Prof. Berman's Sentencing Law blog. The debate in the comments is interesting and well worth reading. I agree with those who are pushing to end the Modern Era of Prohibition we are living with today. For all the reasons Zack lists in the comments, I agree.From Berman's post:The main group behind all this call for a new repeal of old drug prohibitions is Law

"Major" Morihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08182065360609364477noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36060265.post-37647285854341547002008-12-11T07:06:00.002-05:002008-12-11T07:09:26.671-05:00

Letsgetreal has posted comments on my last post concerning the Adam Walsh Act and related concerns.

"Major" Morihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08182065360609364477noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36060265.post-43585567266767718832008-12-11T07:00:00.007-05:002008-12-11T07:21:35.062-05:00

Here is a link to an opinion in which United States District Judge Quarles, of Maryland's US District Court, discusses breach, and in particular the concepts of gross negligence and malfeasance in a contract context. If past is prologue, the opinion could shed light into what could happen in a case pending before the same Judge Quarles. I am still waiting for this opinion to appear on the

"Major" Morihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08182065360609364477noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36060265.post-77770548560254918142008-12-06T18:01:00.005-05:002008-12-06T18:11:09.022-05:00

Use the website to locate them more easily. But don't use the sidewalks, they don't wear the yellow stars, or the red A, just yet.At the same time, more and more serious studies are showing that registration such as this is a waste of time and money, tax payer money, to be more precise.I cannot help commenting on this post by Corey at SexCrimes. The new and improved federal sex offender website

"Major" Morihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08182065360609364477noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36060265.post-73024969145148639302008-11-27T07:13:00.004-05:002008-11-27T07:34:26.550-05:00

Here is a petition to watch, with links to the opinion below, petition for cert and reply concerning the recent Cunningham decision in the Court. The appellate court held Cunningham did not establish new law, following Blakely, making defendant eligible for habeas relief under 2254. Frustrating, isn't it, to see how much litigation can arise from the simple phrase, "clearly established".It was

"Major" Morihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08182065360609364477noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36060265.post-15533332018037306592008-11-25T20:38:00.003-05:002008-11-25T20:42:59.990-05:00

At this link to the NYRB, read George Soros's take on what went wrong in the financial system.

"Major" Morihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08182065360609364477noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36060265.post-66942094524186946572008-11-25T06:57:00.002-05:002008-11-25T07:00:21.329-05:00

Here is Cory Young, Associate Professor of Law at Marshall, posting in his Blog, Sex Crimes: I've posted a draft of a shorter article of mine that will be out soon in the Federal Sentencing Reporter. The article builds upon the Commerce Clause discussion in my other forthcoming article, One of These Laws is not Like the Others: Why the Federal Sex Offender Registration and

"Major" Morihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08182065360609364477noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36060265.post-23940393121983408392008-11-22T16:48:00.003-05:002008-11-22T16:52:05.019-05:00

Here is the intro to this good piece (ht, Doc), called "Real Offender,"In its relentless efforts to expel Wendy Whitaker from her Columbia County home, the state of Georgia has crossed the line from protector to persecutor of its citizens. The state isn’t inciting torch-wielding mobs to chase Whitaker from her home 20 miles west of Augusta. But it is using a gaggle of state attorneys and a

"Major" Morihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08182065360609364477noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36060265.post-34488474612484904562008-11-21T07:26:00.003-05:002008-11-21T07:30:35.751-05:00

A very unusual ruling, at the cusp of right to jury trial and constitutional issue of whether a requirement to register as a sex offender is or is not punitive, for a person not convicted of a misdemeanor sex offense but required to register is available at this link, made available by the one and only Doc Berman.

"Major" Morihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08182065360609364477noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36060265.post-1286993674446716612008-11-19T06:27:00.001-05:002008-11-19T06:29:28.503-05:00

Read up on the indictments issued against Cheney and Gonzalez at the link (wp).

"Major" Morihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08182065360609364477noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36060265.post-60506619722029174432008-11-15T08:08:00.003-05:002008-11-15T08:15:22.344-05:00

Here at this link is an article one kind reader called attention to. Called Effective Assistance of Counsel and Consequences of Guilty Pleas (2002), it represents slow if steady progress in the study of criminal law in general, and one of the pillars thereof, the right to a lawyer for your defense, which often means nothing more than advice to take a plea if you don't want to go to jail for a

"Major" Morihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08182065360609364477noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36060265.post-63493748377718265562008-11-13T20:42:00.005-05:002008-11-13T20:59:21.089-05:00

Today I heard that certain people on Wall Street were getting bonuses of 13 point something BILLION for the year!!!That was after the company they worked for had accepted 10 BILLION from the Tarp (I think that's what Hank called it) the 'GOVERNMENT BAILOUT'. wtf???GUESS what else I heard? Certain banks that accepted our BAILOUT $$$ have, instead of making loans available to the businesses and

"Major" Morihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08182065360609364477noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36060265.post-64851610119777867302008-11-09T23:13:00.002-05:002008-11-09T23:22:29.527-05:00

We need to correct this BS asap: The WaPo headlines a piece which features a tax policy regulation issued recently that amounts to corporate welfare -- correct that: stealing taxpayer money to pay banks and other corporations that only lose money. For losing money in a given year, these conservative executives expect the government (taxpayer) to give them a cash refund. What Balls. If this is

"Major" Morihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08182065360609364477noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36060265.post-78693305360999246122008-11-05T21:46:00.006-05:002008-11-05T22:29:33.835-05:00

Here is a new cert grant in a DNA evidence case, District Attorney’s Office v. Osborne (08-6) courtesy of SCOTUSBLOG. An implied question is whether an inmate has a right under the Fourteenth Amendment, after conviction, to seek that type of evidence when the right is based upon the Supreme Court’s 1963 ruling in Brady v. Maryland, requiring prosecutors to turn over evidence that would help the

"Major" Morihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08182065360609364477noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36060265.post-32277970052401856232008-10-30T06:40:00.005-04:002008-10-30T07:16:11.512-04:00

Just for the record, here is one plan put forward by a couple of lawyerly individuals in the New York Times.I like the community based aspect of this one. My thoughts on this are for agencies at Hud or Treasury to work with existing local-community based non-profits, such as Habitat and others, to provide funding and/or guarantees for private buyouts and lease-backs for those still able to make

"Major" Morihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08182065360609364477noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36060265.post-81343478065961370282008-10-26T17:48:00.004-04:002008-10-26T18:02:08.199-04:00

Here is the Scotuswiki on a Supreme Court case that promises to be interesting to say the least. Quickly, the court's oral argument has taken place and further briefing ordered on whether Saucier v Katz (2001) should be overruled. More, after digestion commentary, to be forthcoming. This is important because the qualified immunity test maintained in Saucier essentially makes it impossible to

"Major" Morihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08182065360609364477noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36060265.post-90646714073433827972008-10-25T07:37:00.003-04:002008-10-25T07:45:04.207-04:00

Ronald Dworkin in NYRB, among others in the special election issue.If McCain wins, however, Kennedy's vote would probably be irrelevant and his influence negligible because Mc-Cain's first appointment would probably create an unstoppable rock-solid conservative majority for a generation or more. (Stevens is eighty-eight, Souter sixty-nine, and Ginsburg, Kennedy, and Breyer in their seventies.) We

"Major" Morihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08182065360609364477noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36060265.post-7807405930433818562008-10-22T06:54:00.005-04:002008-10-22T07:21:55.950-04:00

What to make of the idea of more economic stimulus, now that we seem to be determined to shore up failed banks, and the bankers that failed them? The first rule: avoid a massive asset bubble. We've seen at least two recently; real estate and before that, high tech stock. The second rule: all public spending is political, whether we recognize it or not. If I'm not mistaken, that's why we've

"Major" Morihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08182065360609364477noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36060265.post-35551529334438704812008-10-21T07:07:00.004-04:002008-10-21T07:17:50.483-04:00

If perfunctory or truncated review of Georgia's death sentences by the state Supreme Court would be likely to result in imposition of arbitrary and unconstitutional sentences, then, by similar logic truncated federal habeas review over state criminal proceedings would likely result in rising incidents of unfair and unconstitutional decisions at the state level. At this link is the opinion by

"Major" Morihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08182065360609364477noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36060265.post-56621695599824199702008-10-16T18:36:00.004-04:002008-10-16T19:39:01.305-04:00

We're off on a tangent, political economy, aka the credit crisis, global recession, market meltdown. M y previous post focused on this and questioned specifically what caused the market to tank, banks to stop lending if that is indeed the situation, and well, putting us all through another Black October.Fareed called it "hiding mountains of debt in complex instruments." As is often the case

"Major" Morihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08182065360609364477noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36060265.post-17768398033825984962008-10-13T18:13:00.004-04:002008-10-13T18:40:18.148-04:00

Here's what I want to know more about. What about this "hiding mountains of debt in complex instruments?"It brought down Enron and others. Is that what the "mortgage backed securities" were all about? This is Fareed, in Newsweek:If there is a lesson to be taken from this crisis, it's a simple and old rule of economics: there is no free lunch. If you want something, you have to pay for it. Debt

"Major" Morihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08182065360609364477noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36060265.post-8611479695818036972008-10-08T07:25:00.002-04:002008-10-08T07:28:48.050-04:00

Continuing to review the Hoffmann & King, Rethinking the Federal Role in State Criminal JusticeDRAFT, forthcoming N.Y.U.L.Rev. DRAFT, at page 9 we find the following remarkable conclusions:Given the time to habeas filing and disposition, most defendants convicted of felony offenses in state court have no practical access to federal habeas review.22 For the latest year with available data, 60% of

"Major" Morihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08182065360609364477noreply@blogger.com0