Indefensible

Did the cops plant the drugs?

2012-01-23T02:30:00.001-05:00

Interesting video in which the cops seem to plant drugs on a guy...

C.O.P.S The Real version...

2012-01-17T20:53:00.000-05:00

Avoid Chase Credit Cards!

2012-01-02T15:04:00.000-05:00

Astonishing as it may seem according to a TECHNICAL SUPPORT SUPERVISOR there is NO WAY to download a year's worth of credit card activity on a Chase-issued card. They only make 90 days worth of statements available.

HOW FREAKING STUPID IS THAT?

Makes them useless at tax time and useless for any accounting purposes.

Nasty Georgia Judge Accused of Misconduct Will FINALLY Resign...

2011-12-21T00:23:00.001-05:00

The Honorable Amanda Mc. Nasty Williams

Judge Amanda F. Williams was so nasty she once jailed a defendant for using the words baby momma, oh yeah she also detained offenders “indefinitely” without access to lawyers, Well now she's OUTTA HERE...

According to the commission’s 14-count list of charges against her, she sentenced drug-court defendants to “indefinite” detention “until further order of the court.” In one case, she ordered that a defendant be denied any communication.

“Nobody! Total restriction!” she ordered, according to the complaint. “No mail, no phone calls, no visitors.” The complaint says the defendant, who had a history of mental illness, spent 73 days in solitary confinement and tried to kill herself while in jail.

Prosecutor fighting charge of rape - SFGate

2011-12-01T13:43:00.000-05:00

How much do you love a prosecutor who allegedly rapes a woman while waiting for a jury in a molestation case? Seriously!

This from California:

As Michael Gressett waited for a jury verdict in a molestation trial, the Contra Costa County sex crimes prosecutor had what he called a "nooner," bringing a fellow prosecutor to his Martinez home for intercourse.

What happened next, on May 8, 2008, is the subject of an explosive rape case brought by the state attorney general. It involves a gun and an ice pick, but rests on a simple question that Gressett often asks juries to decide: Was the sex consensual or forced?

Firm stuff...

2011-10-04T02:41:00.000-04:00

This from MIPCOM 2011:
The head of the Moralto crime family is dead, 10 years have passed since the denoument of The Firm, and Mitchell McDeere and his family have spent it in the wilderness of the witness protection program. Now they want to rejoin the real world.

Kids v. Corporations..

2011-08-22T11:07:00.000-04:00

This fine op-ed is worth a read. Here's the basic idea:

Throughout history, societies have struggled with how to deal with children and childhood. In the United States and elsewhere, a broad-based “child saving” movement emerged in the late 19th century to combat widespread child abuse in mines, mills and factories. By the early 20th century, the “century of the child,” as a prescient book published in 1909 called it, was in full throttle. Most modern states embraced the general idea that government had a duty to protect the health, education and welfare of children. Child labor was outlawed, as were the sale and marketing of tobacco, alcohol and pornography to children. Consumer protection laws were enacted to regulate product safety and advertising aimed at children.

By the middle of the century, childhood was a robustly protected legal category. In 1959, the United Nations issued its Declaration of the Rights of the Child. Children were now legal persons; the “best interests of the child” became a touchstone for legal reform.

But the 20th century also witnessed another momentous shift, one that would ultimately threaten the welfare of children: the rise of the for-profit corporation. Lawyers, policy makers and business lobbied successfully for various rights and entitlements traditionally connected, legally, with personhood. New laws recognized corporations as legal — albeit artificial — “persons,” granting them many of the same legal rights and privileges as human beings. In an eerie parallel with the child-protective efforts, “the best interests of the corporation” was soon introduced as a legal precept.

A clash between these two newly created legal entities — children and corporations — was, perhaps, inevitable. Century-of-the-child reformers sought to resolve conflicts in favor of children. But over the last 30 years there has been a dramatic reversal: corporate interests now prevail. Deregulation, privatization, weak enforcement of existing regulations and legal and political resistance to new regulations have eroded our ability, as a society, to protect children.

Childhood obesity mounts as junk food purveyors bombard children with advertising, even at school. A recent Kaiser Family Foundation study reports that children spend more hours engaging with various electronic media — TV, games, videos and other online entertainments — than they spend in school. Much of what children watch involves violent, sexual imagery, and yet children’s media remain largely unregulated. Attempts to curb excesses — like California’s ban on the sale or rental of violent video games to minors — have been struck down by courts as free speech violations.

Nelson Mandela has said, “there can be no keener revelation of a society’s soul than the way in which it treats its children.” By that measure, our current failure to provide stronger protection of children in the face of corporate-caused harm reveals a sickness in our societal soul. The good news is that we can — and should — work as citizens, through democratic channels and institutions, to bring about change.

Final Draft Sucks...

2011-08-15T20:16:00.002-04:00

Don't think I've ever dealt with such a buggy, crappy program--particularly one that is so critical to the process it's designed for. The current snafu: Collabowriter -- a terrific feature in theory, and a useless one in practice. Leaving aside that connecting works about once ever dozen tries and that crashes are commonplace, my favorite new issue: Though both parties are using FD8, we can't collabowrite because we didn't have the same version. Ok, I had 8.01 and she had 8.02. So I had to go through the idiotic process of upgrading, which then requires yet another call to tech support to ACTIVATE all over again. And I suppose if that were it and all was solved, it'd be annoying but forgivable. But of course that doesn't fix the problem because now we don't have the same BUILD number. Are you kidding me? The builds were released two weeks apart.

Every experience I've ever had with this company has been a bad one (which seems odd given that they're in a tiny niche market.)

If only Google would assign a few of their techies to create a decent script writing program and put them out of business...

Tax Me! Says Warren Buffett

2011-08-15T01:33:00.001-04:00

What a phenomenal piece

"Last year my federal tax bill — the income tax I paid, as well as payroll taxes paid by me and on my behalf — was $6,938,744. That sounds like a lot of money. But what I paid was only 17.4 percent of my taxable income — and that’s actually a lower percentage than was paid by any of the other 20 people in our office. Their tax burdens ranged from 33 percent to 41 percent and averaged 36 percent.

If you make money with money, as some of my super-rich friends do, your percentage may be a bit lower than mine. But if you earn money from a job, your percentage will surely exceed mine — most likely by a lot."

Juliette Joins Us...

2011-07-13T03:02:00.000-04:00

Here's how deadline: covered it:

Juliette Lewis has signed on to star in NBC's midseason series The Firm, which stars Josh Lucas in the legal drama based on the film adaptation of the John Grisham novel that had Tom Cruise in the lead role of young lawyer Mitch McDeere. Lewis will play Tammy, the sassy secretary to Lucas' McDeere that was played by Holly Hunter in the movie (she was nominated for a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for that role).

Casting news...

2011-07-12T03:44:00.000-04:00

"Callum Keith Rennie has been booked as a series regular on NBC's midseason drama The Firm opposite Josh Lucas and Juliette Lewis. He will play Ray McDeere, the older brother to Mitch (Lucas).

Here's our star...

2011-06-01T18:31:00.000-04:00

Josh Lucas To Star In NBC’s ‘The Firm’

Meet television's Mitchell McDeere. Josh Lucas is in final negotiations to play the lead in NBC's midseason drama The Firm, based on the hit Paramount feature starring Tom Cruise as McDeere and on John Grisham's best-selling novel.

I guess it's official...

2011-05-17T16:21:00.001-04:00

Lukas Reiter will show-run The Firm, with the writers room to be filled by Alyson Feltes, Peter Noah, David Feige, William Rothko, Vincent Angell and Jonathan Shapiro.

I could not have said it better...

2011-05-04T21:38:00.001-04:00

This post by Anthony Bourdain, perfectly captures the El Bulli experience.

He lost the grey...

2011-05-02T17:21:00.000-04:00

Told You! Don't Give to the Kid's Wish Network!

2011-03-08T13:03:00.000-05:00

Once again, Kids Wish Network got ONE STAR from CharityNavigator.org Their efficiency rating was ZERO.
Here's the more recent financial information:

As reader's know, ever since they rudely woke me up one morning to demand money, I've been following this "Charity" which really just seems like a front for the president and the relatives he employs all of whom take home near six figure salaries.

Check out my previous post on this subject HERE

DON'T TRUST Red Line Auto Trans Inc, Chicago Trucking Company, Illinois Freight Shipping Carrier

2011-02-01T11:39:00.000-05:00

These guys -- Red Line Auto Trans Inc, Chicago totally ripped me off.

This was a nightmare from start to finish.
They damaged my car which I promptly noted on the bill of lading. Then they asked me to get estimates and promised to make it right. They didn't. They avoided returning my calls, and have spent 8 months giving me the run-around.

DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES.

THEY LIED TO ME, AND DID EVERYTHING THEY COULD TO AVOID RESPONSIBILITY.

I have shipped my car across the country three times- this was the only time it was a problem.

Feel free to contact me if you want more information.

Here's their info: MY ADVICE:
DON"T LET THEM SHIP YOUR CAR!

5721 N KIMBALL AVE SUITE A
CHICAGO, IL 60659
USDOT: 1977714

For Poor Defendants, a Flawed Bail-Bond System

2011-01-10T00:23:00.000-05:00

A fine piece of work by the NYT whose criminal justice coverage has improved significantly recently.

For Poor, Bail System Can Be an Obstacle to Freedom

Before George Zouvelos agrees to post someone’s bail, a customer must put up cash, sign a 20-page contract and initial 86 separate paragraphs. Those paragraphs are chock-full of fees: $250 if the defendant misses a weekly check-in; as much as $375 an hour for obscure tasks like bail consulting and research; and unspecified amounts if Mr. Zouvelos, a bail bondsman based in Manhattan, farms out tasks like obtaining court documents or delivering release papers to jail.

Then there are the thousands of dollars that Mr. Zouvelos can charge if he decides to revoke a bond and return a defendant to jail, as he did 89 times during a four-month period last year.

The common perception of how the bail-bond system operates is fairly straightforward: A bondsman bails a defendant out of jail. If that defendant misses a court appearance, the bondsman can “surrender” him — chase him down and haul him back to jail.

The reality is more troubling... Those who are supposed to give poor defendants a shot at freedom while their cases are pending are instead the ones locking them up and disenfranchising them further.

Palin Targeted Giffords

2011-01-08T16:55:00.002-05:00

Check this out.
Yep--she was on a list of SarahPac's "targets" marked with a gunsight..

They Just Make S%$t up: Republicans Reject Cost Estimate of Health Law Repeal

2011-01-07T11:12:00.001-05:00

I just love this:

The nonpartisan budget scorekeepers in Congress said on Thursday that the Republican plan to repeal President Obama’s health care law would add $230 billion to federal budget deficits over the next decade.

The new Speaker's response?:

“I do not believe that repealing the job-killing health care law will increase the deficit,” he said.

“C.B.O. is entitled to their opinion,” he said, but he said Democrats had manipulated the rules established for determining the cost of a program under the 1974 Budget Act.

Classic: Republican "belief" vs actual analysis.

“C.B.O. can only provide a score based on the assumptions that are given to them,” Mr. Boehner said. “And if you go back and look at the health care bill and the assumptions that were given to them, you see all of the double-counting that went on.”

But the analysis released by the budget office on Thursday was based on the health care repeal bill that House Republicans introduced on Wednesday. And it highlighted the difficult position that Republicans are in as they try to address what they insist are the top two priorities of voters who elected them in November: cutting the deficit and undoing the health care law.

According to the budget office, those goals are contradictory.

Oops.

Oh and they forgot the slave bit of the constitution yesterday...

A friend of mine sent this to me...

2011-01-06T00:54:00.000-05:00

I have to say I was stunned when a friend of mine sent this to me:

It's by some guy named Porter Stansburry, and it is the sort of tripe that circulates among republicans:

This is why there are no jobs in America

I'd like to make you a business offer. Seriously. This is a real offer. In fact, you really can't turn me down, as you'll come to understand in a moment...

Here's the deal. You're going to start a business or expand the one you've got now. It doesn't really matter what you do or what you're going to do. I'll partner with you no matter what business you're in – as long as it's legal. But I can't give you any capital – you have to come up with that on your own. I won't give you any labor – that's definitely up to you. What I will do, however, is demand you follow all sorts of rules about what products and services you can offer, how much (and how often) you pay your employees, and where and when you're allowed to operate your business. That's my role in the affair: to tell you what to do.

Now in return for my rules, I'm going to take roughly half of whatever you make in the business each year. Half seems fair, doesn't it? I think so. Of course, that's half of your profits. You're also going to have to pay me about 12 percent of whatever you decide to pay your employees because you've got to cover my expenses for promulgating all of the rules about who you can employ, when, where, and how. Come on, you're my partner. It's only "fair."

Now ... after you've put your hard-earned savings at risk to start this business, and after you've worked hard at it for a few decades (paying me my 50 percent or a bit more along the way each year), you might decide you'd like to cash out – to finally live the good life. I know, I know. You put up all the original capital. You took all the risks. You put in all of the labor. That's all true. But I've done my part, too. I've collected 50 percent of the profits each year. And I've always come up with more rules for you to follow each year. Therefore, I deserve another, final 20 percent slice of the business.

So here's my reply to my friend:

I've got a great business proposition for you:

You can start whatever business you like, and keep 100 percent of what you make. Only thing is, if someone screws you on a deal, you don't get to run to the courts, see, 'cause there aren't any. If you want to deliver something to market, you don't get to use my roads. Or my water. If your factory burns down, better call your own folks though where they'll get the water, I'm not sure, but hey--no worries. Also, might need some folks to dig a latrine. Shit begins to stink when it's not burried, and all that sewer stuff--that's for all my other partners. Oh yeah, and when the "Businessman" next door--you know "bubba the ballbreaker" comes and very sweetly asks for your safe...you're on your own pal. Hope you're good with that shotgun. Go forth prosper.

Fun with tilt shift...

2010-10-22T16:40:00.003-04:00

Totally off topic, but just found a cool site which will employ the principles of tilt-shift photography to your own photos. You can find it here

Here's an old photo of mine of Christo and Jeanne-Claude's installation here in NY.

Jail and Jobs - Look at these numbers...

2010-09-29T12:21:00.000-04:00

--Incarceration reduces former inmates’ earnings by 40 percent when compared to demographically similar counterparts who have not been imprisoned.

--Young black men who dropped out of high school are more likely to be incarcerated than employed.

--There are twice as many minor children with incarcerated parents as there are incarcerated parents.

Check out the shocking charts here...

The news...

2010-09-28T12:51:00.002-04:00

From Huff-Po's front page...

2010-09-28T01:09:00.000-04:00

It is an article of faith among the right wing punditocracy that the Democrats are bad for business, bad for the markets, and bad for the economy. The numbers, though, tell a completely different story. And yet, we Democrats seem powerless to counter this right-wing narrative. Rather than tout our accomplishments we seem to prefer to empathize with those still suffering.

Let's take, just for fun, one of the most widely regarded metrics -- the Dow Jones Industrial Average. If we look at how the markets have performed in the first 21 months of various administrations, it turns out, the markets love Democrats generally, and that in fact, in the first half of his term, Obama has presided over the biggest market rally of any newly elected president in more than 45 years. But do we tout this huge improvement? Oddly no.

Here's the breakdown with the actual DJIA historical data...

UNDER RONALD REGAN:

DOW BEGAN: 970.99
DOW ENDED: 824.01
For a LOSS of 17.8 PERCENT

UNDER GEORGE H.W. BUSH

DOW BEGAN 2,239.11
DOW ENDED 2,427.48
For a moderate GAIN of 7.8 PERCENT

BILL CLINTON:

DOW BEGAN: 3,241.95
DOW ENDED 3,878.18
For a GAIN of 16.8 PERCENT

GEORGE W. BUSH

DOW BEGAN 10,581.90
DOW ENDED 7,698.81
For a whopping LOSS of 37.4%

And finally...

OBAMA

DOW BEGAN 7,949.17
DOW ENDED: 10,819.31
For a GAIN of 26.5%

Ok, so let's all agree to just trust the actual numbers which make clear that Democratic presidents have been great for the market, and that that Obama in particular has been wildly effective in shepherding in a massive recovery So from now on, instead of whining about how much better we need to do, let's try, just for once crowing about the biggest market rally in the first half of a new president's term in more than 45 years.

Just run the freaking numbers...

2010-09-27T16:25:00.008-04:00

The right wing pundits constantly yammer about their faith in the markets. So in light of all the criticism of Obama and economic policy, I thought I'd take a look at how the markets actually performed in the first 21 months various presidencies.

Check it out!

UNDER RONALD REGAN:

DOW BEGAN: 970.99
DOW ENDED: 824.01
For a LOSS of 17.8 PERCENT

UNDER GEORGE H.W. BUSH

DOW BEGAN 2,239.11
DOW ENDED 2,427.48
For a small GAIN of 7.8 PERCENT

BILL CLINTON:

DOW BEGAN: 3,241.95
DOW ENDED 3,878.18
For a GAIN of 16.8 PERCENT

GEORGE W. BUSH

DOW BEGAN 10,581.90
DOW ENDED 7,698.81
For a whopping LOSS of 37.4%

And finally...

OBAMA

DOW BEGAN 7,949.17
DOW ENDED: 10,819.31
For a GAIN of 26.5%

Ok, so can we please cut out all this crap now? Let's all be good little republicans and trust the actual numbers which make clear that democratic presidents have been great for the market. The market LOVES democrats, and that what the numbers actually make clear is that Obama has been astonishing at rallying the market, and wildly effective in shepherding in a massive recovery. Indeed, as the numbers make clear, Obama can legitimately claim to have presided over the biggest first 1/2 term market rally in more than 40 years.

INDEFENSIBLE for Kindle...

2010-09-17T16:06:00.001-04:00

Yes indeed, after some fiddling around, INDEFENSIBLE is now available for the kindle. If you want to order--
just click here!

And yes...the Ipad version should be coming soon.

Prison Rape by Guards Rampant in NY...

2010-08-26T17:24:00.000-04:00

A new report indicates that "Facilities run by the New York State Department of Correctional Services have the highest rates of staff sexual abuse for both men's and women's prisons."

The study, conducted by the Department of Justice's Bureau of Justice Statistics estimates that 88,500 adults held in U.S. prisons and jails are sexually abused annually, either by staff or fellow inmates. The survey paints a grim picture of a system of mass incarceration where all too many prisoners, stripped of their autonomy or ability to defend themselves, spend their sentences terrorized by sexual predators.

Defying some of the pop-cultural stereotypes, however, it turns out most of that predation is carried out by guards, rather than inmates.

You can read the study HERE. But one thing to keep in mind. This suggests that almost as many people are sexually assaulted in our prisons as outside (excluding date/acquaintance rape which accounts for the majority of sexual assault/abuse complaints).

Watch as NYPD Officers Assault Iraq War Vet...

2010-07-16T17:24:00.002-04:00

I find particularly creepy how they insure that no one is around before proceeding with the brutalization...

What a Scam! Don't give to the Kids Wish Network

2010-06-06T12:04:00.000-04:00

I got a call one weekend morning not long ago. Some woman asked me if I wanted to donate to the Kids Wish Network. "No" I said, "and please don't call me in the morning, or at home, or...ever." Then I mentioned that I was on the do not call list. This provoked a small tirade about how they were exempt, being a charity and all, and she couldn't believe I wouldn't want to support granting wishes to dying kids.

Hmmm.

Well, it turns out, I don't. And neither (hardly) does the Kid's wish network. With a little digging and some help from Charity Navigator and the Kids Wish Network 2008 IRS form 990, here's what you get:

The Comeon:

They use this kid to con you into lining their pockets!

Here's the reality:

Total expenditures $16,895,430
Fund raising costs $12,490,985
Program expenses for children $2,294,167
Other expenses $2,110,278

The three top people are all related: a husband named Mark Breiner earns nearly $160,00) just in salary plus big benefits. His wife Shelley earns nearly $115,000 a year plus benefits, and it appears (though I can't confirm) that his mother in law (or another relative) draws almost $90,000.00.

In other words, this "charity" gives about 10 cents on the dollar to "charity" while using the bulk of their 15 million dollars to enrich a single family, and keep the scam going though aggressive fundraising.

So, if you are thinking about giving to the "Kids Wish Network" Don't. Just pass out a few bucks to homeless guys on the street. At least you know who the direct beneficiary of that charity is.

Say this and this guy will sue you...

2010-05-16T23:41:00.000-04:00

This is Steve Theriot

If you say that he is "just another Jefferson Parish politician thug mobster trained by his mentor John Alario, dressed up in a facade of respectability by a corrupt Louisiana Legislature.”

He will try to sue you.

Really.

Hell hath no fury like a judge embarrassed

2010-05-12T13:42:00.000-04:00

Judge Michael Gary

Ever wondered how judges manipulate the system to impose their own sort of justice? Here's a great example. According to that sage source the post, " A red-faced Brooklyn jurist -- smarting from an oversight that forced him to let a subway vandal go free last week -- yesterday seized on the man's inability to show up in court to hit him with 11 months behind bars. Justice Michael Gary said the failure of the subway vandal-artist known as Poster Boy to appear in court last Thursday (he came on Friday--a day late) meant his carefully negotiated no-jail plea was now worthless. "I owe you nothing," Gary told Henry Matyjewicz, 28.

So what did Judge Gary gave him for being a day late? 11 months in jail rather than the non-jail 210 hours of community service he'd been promised. And why? The post speculates that the judge might have "been steaming over the coverage he got in The Post over his first, failed attempt to jail Matyjewicz."

So here we have an absolutely perfect example of how the system really works:

1. A judge makes a perfectly reasonable (and legal) decision.
2. The post criticizes the judge for being soft on crime.
3. The Judge, bowing to political pressure, finds an excuse to seem like a bad-ass after all and sends a guy to jail for almost a year because he was a day late for court.

Now, it's not like Gary is above doing this sort of thing. Nor even that he's a decent sentencer. In fact, In 2003, an appeals court reversed him for imposing a 15-year maximum sentence in a robbery case where the defendant had beaten a murder charge. The appeals court said Gary was punishing the defendant, Jared Errington, for the murder, rather than the robbery, and sent the case back for sentencing by a different judge. And that, by the way, explains the 11 months rather than the maximum year-long sentence he could have imposed: It's insurance against an appeal--an effort to look considered rather than vindictive.

So to all ye who wonder how it really goes down. Look no further...

Great defense...

2010-05-12T11:34:00.000-04:00

A wheelchair-bound lawyer who suffers from cerebral palsy and cannot control the movement of his arms and legs astonishingly faces charges he sexually assaulted a judge while they were alone in a Queens office, authorities said. Hippocrates "Chicho" Mertsaris, 35, is accused of slapping a 40-year-old administrative judge for the Taxi and Limousine Commission on the rear end in October as she walked near him in a small room in the commission's Long Island City office, according to court documents.
An attorney for Mertsaris, a TLC lawyer, says his client has "no voluntary control of his arms or legs." "We are not saying he didn't touch her, but he didn't grab her or feel her up. Nothing like that," said attorney Wyatt Gibbons. "It was nothing sexual." But the judge, whose name has been withheld because she is considered a sex-crime victim, decided to press charges, and Mertsaris was charged.

Colbert Rips Anti-Gay Activist (Brilliant)

2010-05-06T10:02:00.000-04:00

The Colbert Report

Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c

Alpha Dog of the Week - George Rekers

www.colbertnation.com

Colbert Report Full Episodes

Political Humor

Fox News

The Face of Prosecutorial Abuse...

2010-05-05T11:33:00.000-04:00

Virginia's Tea Party AG--Ken Cuccinelli

So here's a perfect example of why prosecutors with a political agenda are so damn scary. The Attorney General of Virginia is on freakish crusade to enforce a set of norms the Tea Party and Taliban both love. He's used the power of the state to try to rescind anti-discrimination policies for gays and lesbians, approved a new policy allowing sectarian prayer by state police chaplains at public events, and even tried to cover up the bare-breast of the Roman Goddess who has graced the state seal since 1776. Now he's been turned back on several of these efforts, but he seems undeterred. His most recent target of intimidation? A climate scientist.

As Dahlia LIthwick ably reports in Slate, the AG has filed " A civil investigative demand (or CID, which is basically a subpoena) with the University of Virginia on April 23, giving the school 30 days to produce more than 10 years' worth of documents related to the state-funded research of a former faculty member, Michael Mann. Operating under the Virginia Fraud Against Taxpayers Act, the CID seeks from the university, among other things, "any correspondence, messages or emails" to or from Mann and 40 named climate scientists; any documents sent to or from Mann that reference any of those 40 scientists; and any "documents, things or data" submitted in support of any of five different grant applications that amounted, in total, to almost $500,000. The university is also expected to turn over "any and all emails or pieces of correspondence from or to Dr. Michael Mann since he left the University of Virginia."

And why? Because while he'd like to further the science deniers who persist in thinking that global warming is a hoax, Cuccinelli understands that issuing CID's and targeting academics will have a chilling effect--making scientists and academics fear that research with politically sensitive implications will bring down the heavy hand of the tea-party taliban upon them.

And that, is a scary world indeed.

The DVD of season two...

2010-05-03T01:35:00.000-04:00

So turns out the complete second season of RTB will be released on DVD on May 11th.

Who should replace Justice John Paul Stevens?

2010-04-11T03:35:00.001-04:00

I've just written up (for Slate) my pick for who should replace Justice John Paul Stevens...and the winner is...

Jeffrey Fisher

Here's the piece...

In the spirit of an off-beat list, my vote goes to 40-year-old Jeffrey Fisher, co-director of Stanford Law School's Supreme Court litigation clinic. He has the temperament, track record, consensus-building skills, and life expectancy to make him a formidable nominee. Wildly accomplished for his years, Fisher is already considered one of the most influential lawyers in the country. Charmingly, he also served as a clerk for Justice Stevens. As a litigator, Fisher has compiled an astonishing string of high court victories, in part because of his impressive ability to persuade Justice Scalia to side with criminal defendants. That skill alone would make him a formidable presence on the court. Moreover, having never been a judge, (before joining the Stanford faculty, Fisher worked at the well-regarded law firm of Davis-Wright Tremaine), his paper trail is mostly academic. The big strike against him is age. Then again, in 1811, James Madison swore in Associate Justice Joseph Story. His age at the time: 32.

Judge Gleeson tells it like it is...

2010-04-08T03:45:00.000-04:00

Thanks to my old colleague Frank for passing this to me:

Some Excerpts from United States v. Vasquez, No. 09-CR-259 (JG), 2010 WL 1257359 (E.D.N.Y. March 30, 2010)

When people think about miscarriages of justice, they generally think big, especially in this era of DNA exonerations, in which wholly innocent people have been released from jail in significant numbers after long periods in prison. As disturbing as those case are, the truth is that most of the time miscarriages of justice occur in small doses, in cases involving guilty defendants. This makes them easier to overlook. But when they are multiplied by the thousands of cases in which they occur, they have a greater impact on our criminal justice system than the cases you read about in the newspapers or hear about on 60 minutes. This case is a good example.
...

When the case was first called for sentencing in December, I pointed out the obvious: the five-year mandatory sentence in this case would be unjust. The prosecutor agreed, and welcomed my direction that she go back to the United States Attorney with a request from the Court that he withdraw the aspect of the charge that required the imposition of the five-year minimum. She asked for a couple of months to make the case that the sentence enhancement should be abandoned.

On March 5, 2010, the prosecutor appeared again, shadowed by a supervisor. She reported that the United States Attorney would not relent. She offered two reasons. The first was that I might have failed to focus on the fact that Vasquez had "received a bump down," meaning he was allowed to plead to the five-year mandatory minimum rather than to the ten-year mandatory minimum that he, his brother, and three other co-defendants were originally charged with. I think this means that Vasquez should be grateful the government did not insist on a ten-year minimum sentence based on additional quantities of cocaine it concedes he knew nothing about and could not be held responsible for under the guidelines, presumably on the theory that other members of the same conspiracy dealt those quantities. I suppose there is some consolation in the fact that the government did not pursue that absurd course, which would have produced an even more egregious injustice if Vasquez had been convicted. But that hardly explains, let alone justifies, the government's insistence on the injustice at hand
...
I recognize that the United States Attorney is not required to explain to judges the reasons for decisions like this one, and for that reason I did not ask for them. But the ones that were volunteered do not withstand the slightest scrutiny.

As a result of the decision to insist on the five-year mandatory minimum, there was no judging going on at Vasquez's sentencing. Though in theory I could have considered a sentence of greater than 60 months, even the prosecutor recognized how ludicrous that would be, and asked for a 60-month sentence. But the prosecutor's refusal to permit consideration of a lesser sentence ended the matter, rendering irrelevant all the other factors that should have been considered to arrive at a just sentence.

The defendant's difficult childhood and lifelong struggle with mental illness were out of bounds, as were the circumstances giving rise to his minor role in his brother's drug business (i.e., it was to support an addiction, not to become a narcotics entrepreneur with a proprietary stake in the drugs), the fact that he tried to cooperate but was not involved enough in the drug trade to be of assistance, the effect of his incarceration on his three-year-old daughter and the eight-year-old child of Caraballo he is raising as his own, the fact that he has been a good father to them for nearly five years, the fact that his prior convictions all arose out of his ex-wife's refusal to permit him to see their three children.

Sentencing is not a science, and I don't pretend to be better than anyone else at assimilating these and the numerous other factors, both aggravating and mitigating, that legitimately bear on an appropriate sentence. But I try my best to do just that, and by doing so to do justice for the individual before me and for our community. In this case, those efforts would have resulted in a prison term of 24 months, followed by a five-year period of supervision with conditions including both other forms of punishment (home detention and community service) and efforts to assist Vasquez with the mental health, substance abuse, and anger management problems that have plagued him, in some respects for his entire life. If he had failed to avail himself of those efforts, or if, for example, he intentionally had contact with Melendez without the prior authorization of his supervising probation officer, he would have gone back to jail on this case.

The mandatory minimum sentence in this case supplanted any effort to do justice, leaving in its place the heavy wooden club that was explicitly meant only for mid-level managers of drug operations. The absence of fit between the crude method of punishment and the particular set of circumstances before me was conspicuous; when I imposed sentence on the weak and sobbing Vasquez on March 5, everyone present, including the prosecutor, could feel the injustice.

In sum, though I am obligated by law to provide a statement of "reasons" for each sentence I impose, in this case there was but one: I was forced by a law that should not have been invoked to impose a five-year prison term.

How the Republicans would spend your money...R.N.C. Spends Thousands on Jets, Limos and Clubs - NYTimes.com

2010-03-29T16:49:00.001-04:00

The Republican National Committee spent about $30,000 in the month of February on private airplanes and limousines, not to mention the $1,946.25 charge at Voyeur West Hollywood, which was described by The Los Angeles Times last year as a “high-end nightclub” with an interior “reminiscent of the masked orgy scene” from the movie “Closer."

Scary New GOP Poll...

2010-03-24T14:12:00.000-04:00

Harris Poll Findings...

57 percent of Republicans (32 percent overall) believe that Obama is a Muslim
45 percent of Republicans (25 percent overall) agree with the Birthers in their belief that Obama was 'not born in the United States and so is not eligible to be president'
38 percent of Republicans (20 percent overall) say that Obama is 'doing many of the things that Hitler did'
Scariest of all, 24 percent of Republicans (14 percent overall) say that Obama 'may be the Antichrist.'

So is there hope for America or are we toast?

The End is Near...

2010-03-12T17:53:00.000-05:00

Texas Conservatives Win Vote on Textbook Standards

Texas Wants to put the Moral Majority in Textbooks...

2010-03-11T11:21:00.000-05:00

The Texas school board is holding hearings on changes to its social studies curriculum that would portray conservatives in a more positive light, emphasizing the role of Christianity in American history and include Republican political philosophies in textbooks.

Phyllis Schlafly in our Kid's Textbooks?

One guideline requires publishers to include a section on “the conservative resurgence of the 1980s and 1990s, including Phyllis Schlafly, the Contract with America, the Heritage Foundation, the Moral Majority and the National Rifle Association." Another states that the Civil Rights movement created “unrealistic expectations of equal outcomes” among minorities.

I don't even know what to do with this one.

Goofy but funny...

2010-03-10T21:37:00.001-05:00

quo erat demonstratum

2010-02-19T20:45:00.000-05:00

No Misconduct Found in Interrogation Memos

David Feige: My President's Day Message--An Open Letter to President Obama

2010-02-16T03:03:00.000-05:00

Here on HuffPo

My President's Day Message--An Open Letter to Obama

2010-02-15T23:56:00.000-05:00

Dear Mr. President,

Thank you for all your e-mails over the past few years. Energized by the spirit of tolerance and the promise of change, I have enjoyed signing petitions, opening my heart and my home to your events, and even sending in the occasional donation or two.

But I'm afraid you've lost me.

I have watched in horror as the sweeping mandate you so skillfully won has been squandered. You have failed at every turn to practice the politics necessary to change the course of this country, sacrificing health care reform, regulation of the financial system and greater freedom and equality for all Americans on the altar of a personal crusade for civility in a long-since broken institution. Your commitment to bipartisanship and compromise has resulted in neither. Your opponents have derailed every initiative and gutted every innovation, while you have continued to reach out, coaxing and pleading for a better day that simply will never come. Your opponents have won. Their obstructionism has prevailed. I understand that you expect me to blame them for their conduct. I do not. I blame you. Your desire to shift the glaciated culture of Washington elevates discourse over policy, and civility over action. That is not the change I voted for.

To imagine that we could not undo with 60 seats what George Bush accomplished with 53, is a profound statement about the utter ineffectiveness of your high road rhetoric. I have devoted my life to trying to make this country better, and I had pinned my hopes on our ability to do that. I no longer believe that either you or the democratic party will ever be up to that task.

My heart is broken, my wallet is closed. I am done.

E-mail me no more.

With deepest regrets,

David Feige.

Brilliant

2010-02-11T02:42:00.001-05:00

Hat tip to the contrarian for this one.

Supreme Court Rules Death Penalty Is 'Totally Badass'

Sotomayor sees inexcusable lawyering as a "strategic choice"

2010-01-20T11:42:00.000-05:00

I've been saying since the start that Sotomayor is going to be a terrible disappointment, and that we've squandered the chance to bring on a powerful voice for the disenfranchised.

So right here, in the wake of a Coakley loss, is the proof of concept:

The Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld the death sentence of a mentally impaired Alabama man who killed his former lover despite the fact that his lawyer, ( who lacked criminal law experience) failed to tell jurors that he had an IQ of less than 70 and had been classified as mentally retarded.

''Even if it is debatable, it is not unreasonable to conclude that ... counsel made a strategic decision not inquire further into the information contained in the report about Wood's mental deficiencies and not present to the jury such information,'' Justice Sonia Sotomayor said."

Really? Shame on you.

Gotta Love This...

2010-01-03T18:05:00.000-05:00

Let's do the numbers...

2009-12-30T22:59:00.004-05:00

Ever since the show was cancelled, I keep getting asked about our numbers. And thanks to the good folks over at The Futon Critic, I can provide them. Now one thing about numbers—there are lots of ways to slice them including important things like the demographics, the number of people who watch live vs. time shifted, and stickiness (how often a DVR viewer skips commercials). But partly because it’s self-serving, and partly because it’s easiest, I’m using what are called “Live + 7” numbers which reflect the total audience who watched live or engaged in DVR playback within 7 days of the original broadcast.

So with that in mind, for all my friends and interlocutors, here are the stats…

In our second season (2009) Raising the Bar averaged just under four million viewers a week (3,961,000).

That’s more than any show on A&E, ABC Family or AMC—and yes, that includes Mad Men which averaged about two and a half million a week (2,496,000) and Breaking Bad (1,628,000).

And the other shows I’m regularly asked about?

South Park (which I love) had 3,481,000 viewers (but kicked our asses in 18-49)

Damages had about a third as many viewers at 1,398,000

On HBO we were slaughtered by True Blood (5,003,000) but beat out every other series including Hung (3,617,000), Entourage (3,460,000), Big Love (2,320,000), Curb Your Enthusiasm (1,518,000) and Bored To Death which managed about a quarter as many viewers (948,000).

On Showtime Dexter had about three fifths of our audience (2,166,000) Weeds less than half (1,524,000), Nurse Jackie about a third (1,314,000), Californication less than a quarter (981,000), and The Tudors (779,000) and The L Word (642,000) less than that.

And yes we beat everything on TBS and SyFy as well.

So who ate our lunch? USA. Basically everything they put on kicked our asses. Burn Notice, (7,677,000), Royal Pains, (7,474,000) Monk, (6,259,000) White Collar (6,080,000) and even Criminal Intent, (4,447,000) gave us a whupin. And of course TNT’s own The Closer (which was our lead-in) continued to post huge numbers.

Hope that answers the questions. And as we say in the biz "that's a wrap."

Episodes 13, 14 and 15...

2009-12-29T17:18:00.000-05:00

For those of you wanting to know how RTB turns out, you can find the last three episodes onlinehere.

This from Simple Justice

2009-12-29T12:08:00.000-05:00

Hat tip to Simple Justice who had this nice post on the recent decision in People v. Radcliffe More on this soon...

Britain to Tax Banker Bonuses

2009-12-09T18:19:00.000-05:00

I love the way they're doing this. We won't of course, but we should--a windfall profits tax is perfectly appropriate here. At least as long as we're not going to just chuck the whole system and adopt an APT tax which is what we should do.

Thinking about time...

2009-12-01T11:17:00.002-05:00

In the wake of yesterday's news that RTB had been cancelled, I found myself thinking a lot about the whole arc of my life, (leaving The Bronx Defenders, writing Indefensible, going back and forth to Hollywood etc) and more specifically about time and doing time. It turns out there's a handy website that calculates the number of days between dates, allowing me to easily determine that there were 1,259 days from the day I got a phone call from Steven Bochco and we agreed to do a show, until its cancellation two seasons later. In the spirit of idiotic RENT songs, the website also informs me that: 3 years, 5 months and 10 days also converts to:

108,777,600 seconds
1,812,960 minutes
30,216 hours
179 weeks (rounded down)

But put another way, it's almost exactly a four year prison sentence with good time, or what the feds would describe as a 48 month guideline sentence.

I am sad to see the show fall by the wayside. There was so much more I thought the show had to say, and I really felt we continued to improve from a story and character standpoint. I suppose I was even naive enough to think that a third season would have offered us a critical reappraisal. But, as a friend of mine use to say, "at least no one calls me "old peg leg".

TNT Cancels Mark-Paul Gosselaar's Raising the Bar - E! Online

2009-11-30T18:44:00.000-05:00

Bummer

The gutsiest move by a politician in a long time

2009-11-23T21:01:00.000-05:00

Gov. Ted Strickland grants clemency to 78 people and why? Rehabilitation! And not just your drug guys doing 100 years for possession either, he actually released people convicted of murder, and other serious crimes. Bravo Governor. I'm sending you a donation today, and I urge other readers to do the same or to at least write and express your approval:

You can do that HERE

Justice à Manhattan

2009-11-20T12:02:00.000-05:00

I love the french Here's the awesome plot summary of one of my RTB episodes:

Jerry et Richard se battent pour des clients victimes de verdicts injustes. Richard doit affronter le juge Kessler, qui est davantage préoccupé par un rencard surprise que par le procès... Pendant ce temps, Bobbi lutte pour régler une situation bouleversante impliquant son ex-mari.

C'est bien.

Court officer steals documents from the defense file on videotape!

2009-11-20T10:51:00.000-05:00

Now he has to apologize or go to jail.

Judge Donahoe held Deputy Adam Stoddard in contempt for the Oct. 19 incident in which he could be seen on a courtroom security video sneaking up behind attorney Joanne Cuccia in the middle of a hearing and taking a document from her file.

During several days of testimony following the incident, Stoddard said he happened to have glanced at the file and saw the words “going to,” “steal” and “money” grouped together in a sentence. It made him think a crime was taking place and gave him the authority to pull the document, he said.

But Donahoe rejected that story, saying there’s no way “a reasonable detention officer” would have thought a crime was taking place based on what he saw.

“There was no immediate or future security threat that would have justified a reasonable detention officer in DO Stoddard’s situation removing, seizing and coping a document from a defense attorney’s file,” Donahoe wrote in his ruling, which was made public today. “A reasonable detention officer would have recognized after spending approximately 37 seconds reading the paragraph in question, that the ‘key words’ had nothing to do with an immediate or future security threat to the jail or anyone else.”

Here's the video!

Alexander Cockburn quotes me...

2009-11-20T02:28:00.000-05:00

how cool is this?!

"They will offer these and scores of other persuasive arguments, and it is impossible to imagine they will prevail. As David Feige, a public defender in the Bronx, presaged in a smart piece on the Slate site, these efforts by the defense team will fail and produce bad law."

Another little Slate piece...

2009-11-19T17:57:00.000-05:00

The real price of trying Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. - By David Feige - Slate Magazine

Old Video From the TCA's

2009-11-18T02:58:00.001-05:00

TNT's Raising the Bar
by tvguide

Makes me nostalgic.

Fernando Bermudez Declared Innocent of Murder

2009-11-16T16:08:00.000-05:00

It's about time.

Congratulations to former colleague Michael Risinger and his wife who represented Fernando and were instrumental in his exoneration.

Someone knows how to spell schadenfreude

2009-11-13T16:54:00.000-05:00

OOPS!:

A man blamed a low-flying pelican and a dropped cell phone for his veering his million-dollar sports car off a road and into a salt marsh near Galveston. The accident happened about 3 p.m. Wednesday on the frontage road of Interstate 45 northbound in La Marque, about 35 miles southeast of Houston.

The Lufkin, Texas, man told of driving his luxury, French-built Bugatti Veyron when the bird distracted him, said La Marque police Lt. Greg Gilchrist. The motorist dropped his cell phone, reached to pick it up and veered off the road and into the salt marsh. The car was half-submerged in the brine about 20 feet from the road when police arrived."

Facebook update saves teen from jail

2009-11-13T16:32:00.000-05:00

Hat tip to Joel...

Memories...

2009-11-12T18:52:00.000-05:00

Makes me nostalgic...

Republicans and Democrats like us...

2009-10-06T00:58:00.000-04:00

Ok, dear readers, I'd love your analysis of this one:

Want to grab a Republican and not in the usual TV places? Try "Wipeout" on ABC. A Democrat? How about TNT's "Saving Grace"?

In July, TiVo used Power||WatchTM ratings service -- one that surveys its DVR users -- to examine party affiliations concerning TV programming. It didn't just measure the seemingly obvious TV news show category, but monitored general entertainment programming, as well.

The highest-rated show for those who identify themselves as Republicans was Discovery Channel's "Deadliest Catch," a show about real-life lobster fishermen in the rough and cold waters of Alaska. The show grabbed a 4.9 rating among Republican viewers, with an index of 130.2, which equates to some 30% over the average.

The second-best show was ABC's special "J.K. Rowling: A Year in the Life," which took in a 3.8 Republican rating and a 125.2 index. ABC's "Wipeout," the reality athletic competition show, was in third with a 6.6 rating and a 116.2 index.

For those identified as Democrats, the best-rated show was TNT's "Saving Grace," a drama about an Oklahoma City detective who deals with crime and her guardian angel. It scored a 5.3 rating among Democrats and a 153.6 index -- the highest index for either party affiliation.

Almost as high for the Democrats was Bravo's "Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List," which took in a 6.4 rating and a 151.2 index. "The Closer," another TNT show, was in third place with a 9.6 rating and a 138 index. The best-rated broadcast network show was NBC's "The Philanthropist," with a 5.8 rating and a 137.2 index.

Where did Democrats and Republicans meet? TNT's "Raising The Bar," about young public defender lawyers and young DAs in New York City, which scored well on both lists. For Republicans, this pulled in a 4.2 rating and a 112.9 index; for Democrats, the show earned a 4.8 rating and a 128.8 index.

Among TV news shows, Republicans and Democrats split along party lines, according to what critics believe are their affiliations. Eight of the top 10 shows for Republicans were on the Fox News Channel, while eight of the top 10 show shows for Democrats were either MSNBC or CNN.

So: Is this a good metric of the Political Engagement of Viewers? If so, is there a correlation between political engagement and purchasing?

Hmmm.....

Weird NYT goof...

2009-09-27T11:04:00.002-04:00

This looks to me like an e-mail from the writer to the assignment editor.

Just once and for all, can we get this straight?

2009-09-22T17:15:00.000-04:00

Ok, I'm sick and tired of hearing about how you can't release pedophiles and rapists because they all re-offend.
Let's once and for all understand what our ownBureau of Justice Statistics says:

THESE ARE THE MOST RECENT LONG-TERM STUDY NUMBERS:

Of the 272,111 persons released from prisons in 15 States in 1994, an estimated 67.5% were rearrested for a felony or serious misdemeanor within 3 years, 46.9% were reconvicted, and 25.4% resentenced to prison for a new crime.

Within 3 years of release, 2.5% of released rapists were rearrested for another rape, and 1.2% of those who had served time for homicide were arrested for a new homicide.

Sex offenders were less likely than non-sex offenders to be rearrested for any offense –– 43 percent of sex offenders versus 68 percent of non-sex offenders.

Sex offenders were about four times more likely than non-sex offenders to be arrested for another sex crime after their discharge from prison –– 5.3 percent of sex offenders versus 1.3 percent of non-sex offenders.

On a given day in 1994 there were approximately 234,000 offenders convicted of rape or sexual assault under the care, custody, or control of corrections agencies; nearly 60% of these sex offenders are under conditional supervision in the community.

Of the 9,691 male sex offenders released from prisons in 15 States in 1994, 5.3% were rearrested for a new sex crime within 3 years of release.

Approximately 4,300 child molesters were released from prisons in 15 States in 1994. An estimated 3.3% of these 4,300 were rearrested for another sex crime against a child within 3 years of release from prison.

JUST TO BE CLEAR:

Released prisoners with the HIGHEST rearrest rates were robbers (70.2%), burglars (74.0%), larcenists (74.6%), motor vehicle thieves (78.8%), those in prison for possessing or selling stolen property (77.4%), and those in prison for possessing, using, or selling illegal weapons (70.2%).

Released prisoners with the LOWEST rearrest rates were those in prison for homicide (40.7%), rape (46.0%), other sexual assault (41.4%), and driving under the influence (51.5%).

Within 3 years, 2.5% of released rapists were arrested for another rape, and 1.2% of those who had served time for homicide were arrested for homicide.

Ok, can we all please stop echoing the bullshit now?

A must read...

2009-09-05T01:45:00.000-04:00

Just read this piece. It's called The Rubber Room and it's about education in NYC

Unhappy Ashcroft...

2009-09-04T17:28:00.000-04:00

A federal appeals court has ruled that former Attorney General John Ashcroft may be held liable for people who were wrongfully detained as material witnesses after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

In a harshly worded ruling handed down Friday, a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals called the government's use of material witnesses after Sept. 11 ''repugnant to the Constitution and a painful reminder of some of the most ignominious chapters of our national history.''Sweet.

Love the LA Times....

2009-08-28T04:29:00.000-04:00

Compare this from today with this from just a year ago...

Teddy Kennedy: May he rest in peace

2009-08-26T02:26:00.000-04:00

A real loss.:

"He was a Rabelaisian figure in the Senate and in life, instantly recognizable by his shock of white hair, his florid, oversize face, his booming Boston brogue, his powerful but pained stride. He was a celebrity, sometimes a self-parody, a hearty friend, an implacable foe, a man of large faith and large flaws, a melancholy character who persevered, drank deeply and sang loudly. He was a Kennedy."

It's only taken eight years...

2009-08-24T12:30:00.000-04:00

But finally there's a little more progress on double blind sequential line-ups. Turns out, Dallas has adopted what they term a pioneering new photo lineup approach, and only 8 years after I filed the first motion on this in People v. Franco.

Better late than never.

D.

A little preview of my episode...

2009-08-17T03:58:00.000-04:00

The whole gang...

2009-08-17T03:56:00.000-04:00

6 months in jail for yawning -

2009-08-12T11:57:00.000-04:00

THanks to O for this one:

JOLIET, Ill. – Drowsy spectators in one suburban Chicago courtroom might want to stifle their yawns from now on. Clifton Williams, 33, of Richton Park, is facing six months in jail for making what court documents call a yawn-like sound in Will County Judge Daniel Rozak's court last month. The yawn happened as Williams' cousin, Jason Mayfield, was being sentenced for a drug charge on July 23. Rozak found Williams in contempt of court and sentenced him to six months in jail. However, Rozak could free Williams after a status hearing Thursday, if Williams apologizes and the judge accepts. By then, Williams will have served 21 days.

Witnesses disagree about whether Williams' yawn was out of line.
Charles Pelkie, spokesman for the Will County state's attorney's office, said the prosecutor in the courtroom at the time told him that what came out of Williams' mouth could hardly be called a "yawn." "This was a very loud, boisterous, deliberate attempt on the part of this individual to disrupt the proceedings and show disrespect to the court," Pelkie said. "It was not a guy who involuntarily yawned. This guy was making a statement — a very loud statement — in court."

Mayfield disagreed, saying it was "not an outrageous yawn." Williams has written his family to say that he can't believe he's in jail "for nothing." A message left for Rozak Tuesday was not immediately returned.

Six months is the maximum sentence judges can give for criminal contempt without a jury trial.

If poverty tends to criminalize people, it is also true that criminalization inexorably impoverishes them.

2009-08-10T11:25:00.000-04:00

If you read one thing today, let it be this perfect Times Op-Ed called Is It Now a Crime to Be Poor?

In it, the incomparable BARBARA EHRENREICH observes:

""The viciousness of the official animus toward the indigent can be breathtaking. A few years ago, a group called Food Not Bombs started handing out free vegan food to hungry people in public parks around the nation. A number of cities, led by Las Vegas, passed ordinances forbidding the sharing of food with the indigent in public places, and several members of the group were arrested. A federal judge just overturned the anti-sharing law in Orlando, Fla., but the city is appealing. And now Middletown, Conn., is cracking down on food sharing."

40,000 to be released in CA

2009-08-06T05:40:00.000-04:00

What a perfect synopsis:

The massive 750% increase in the California prison population since the mid-1970s is the result of political decisions made over three decades, including the shift to inflexible determinate sentencing and the passage of harsh mandatory minimum and three-strikes laws, as well as the state’s counterproductive parole system. Unfortunately, as California’s prison population has grown, California’s political decision-makers have failed to provide the resources and facilities required to meet the additional need for space and for other necessities of prison existence. Likewise, although state-appointed experts have repeatedly provided numerous methods by which the state could safely reduce its prison population, their recommendations have been ignored, underfunded, or postponed indefinitely. The convergence of tough-on-crime policies and an unwillingness to expend the necessary funds to support the population growth has brought California’s prisons to the breaking point. The state of emergency declared by Governor Schwarzenegger almost three years ago continues to this day, California’s prisons remain severely overcrowded, and inmates in the California prison system continue to languish without constitutionally adequate medical and mental health care.

Where do these people get their "facts"

2009-07-29T23:52:00.000-04:00

The Bridge:

2009-07-10T11:59:00.000-04:00

Finally...
Roadside Camp for Miami Sex Offenders Leads to Lawsuit

Pick A Number: What does Madoff get?

2009-06-27T15:32:00.002-04:00

Thanks to the promptings of my friend Randy, I've been thinking about the Madoff sentencing...

Here's the problem as I see it. The magnitude of his crimes are virtually unprecedented, and his lifespan is quite short, so in truth I think that almost all of these discussions are academic. The question then becomes, if a 13 year sentence is functionally the same as a 150 year sentence, it seems you can basically buy some deterrent value with very little personal cost. Now that said, I think the judge will be sensitive to seeming absurd or seeming to overtly pander, so my guess is he'll impose a sentence consistent with Madoff being a young guy. Say something around 600 months (or 50 years) Maybe a touch more. If there were a betting pool, I'd put my money on 56 years.

The usual things obtain when you're talking about sentencing: Is this really a life we want to waste in prison? The problem is, in his case, with the number of victims and the length of the fraud, there is a very good argument that he's done nothing but carry on a massive criminal enterprise for the bulk of his life. So other than the acceptance of responsibility, I'm not sure I see a lot of argument for anything that would genuinely count as leniency.

So what do you think the Judge sentences Madoff to?

Leave your predictions in the comments...

Bail for NJ Blogger Accused of Threatening Judges - NYTimes.com

2009-06-25T18:02:00.000-04:00

No Bail for NJ Blogger Accused of Threatening Judges

We Find the Defendant Not Guilty (if That's O.K. With Everyone) - New York Times

2009-06-22T21:06:00.000-04:00

It's kind of funny to look back at this piece as we, in the RTB writer's room begin to ponder our season finale (RTB 215). I suppose it's a nice metric by which to judge one's own show. I wrote this for the New York Times back in January of 2006...

Long strange trip.

We Find the Defendant Not Guilty (if That's O.K. With Everyone)

By DAVID FEIGE
Published: January 1, 2006

FROM the airy second-floor ballroom of a once-grand hotel, David Swain, the preening, pugilistic focus of ABC's new show "In Justice," presides over an organization he calls the National Justice Project. Loosely based on the many "innocence projects" that have sprung up across the country since the advent of DNA testing, the show, in its promotional materials, claims to offer "a completely new take on the procedural drama."

The criminal justice system has always made for good drama, and over the years the political and narrative tides have shifted back and forth between the values of protecting the innocent and nailing the guilty. But 15 years into the reign of "Law & Order" (with no end in sight), "In Justice" makes it clear that even a series about wrongful conviction must tiptoe around the idea of setting the inmates free.

The show's solution is to create a zero-sum world in which for every innocent person who is exonerated and liberated, a sneaky perp must get his or her comeuppance. The problem is not merely that "In Justice" is terribly inaccurate (though it is), but that it shows just how rigid our collective view of the criminal justice system has become, and how unwilling we are to rethink our view of cops and prosecutors as heroes.

Police procedurals have often both reflected and predicted our criminal justice sensibilities. From 1957 to 1966, when "Perry Mason" first graced our televisions, viewers were accustomed to seeing the failures of the system, such as innocent people being accused of crimes they simply didn't commit. And while Perry Mason often identified the real perpetrator, as a zealous defense lawyer he nonetheless embodied the era of the Warren court, and presaged a great expansion in civil liberties. It was, after all, well into the show's run that the Supreme Court decided Miranda v. Arizona (the seminal 1966 decision that required police to read suspects their rights before interrogating them), Gideon v. Wainwright (the 1963 decision requiring that poor people be represented by counsel when charged with serious crimes) and Mapp v. Ohio (the 1961 decision banning the use of evidence discovered during illegal searches).

But in the intervening decades, from "Hill Street Blues" through the wildly successful "Law & Order" franchise, police dramas have moved from a presumption of innocence to a certainty about guilt. And as goes television, so goes America.

"Law & Order" had its debut in 1990, at the height of the crack craze and the apotheosis of violent crime. It brilliantly exploited the crook fear of the late 80's and early 90's by recasting the entire criminal justice system - lionizing sharp-featured, street-savvy prosecutors and cops and rendering defense lawyers as ineffective and largely irrelevant. Both on our televisions and in our courthouses, the focus of the criminal justice system became ensuring not the freedom of the innocent but the incarceration of the guilty.

Through more than a decade of falling crime rates, mandatory sentencing minimums and an incarcerated population that nearly tripled, from 739,000 in 1990 to well over two million today, "Law & Order" made more than a billion dollars while adroitly exporting its clever formula to a number of successful progeny. Other than "The Practice," David E. Kelley's darkly rich drama about a scrappy defense firm, there hasn't been a genuine challenge to the "Law & Order" worldview since it took to the airwaves.

But amid resistance to the Patriot Act, revelations of a secret domestic spying program and a growing awareness - even among senators and governors - that the genuinely innocent can in fact be convicted, this would seem to be the time for the pendulum to swing back toward a more nuanced view of the criminal justice system.

"In Justice" is, in fact, that first small step, though it is clearly terrified about abandoning the cop and prosecutor archetypes that "Law & Order" erected. The result is, that unlike "Perry Mason," "In Justice" simply can't seem to play defense lawyers or the National Justice Project straight.

That David Swain omits the word "innocence" from his project's name is no accident. The National Justice Project seeks both to free the innocent and to incarcerate the guilty - thereby blurring the lines between prosecutors and defense lawyers to virtual irrelevance. This isn't just a convenient dramatic device; it also reflects the fear that merely freeing the innocent won't sell. The consequence of that fear is a show that ignores the fundamentally adversarial relationship between prosecutors and defense lawyers, and squanders the narrative tension that might otherwise propel the show toward righteous indignation.

Swain himself (played by Kyle MacLachlan) comes across as a man more motivated by ambition and ego than by compassion; heroic crusading defense lawyers aren't ready for prime time just yet.

While the show does do an outstanding job of vividly portraying the agonies of prison, the dangers of false confessions, the vagaries of eyewitness identification and the pressure on criminal defendants to snitch, at its root it seems more likely to adopt the traditional shibboleth of incompetent defense lawyers than to turn a critical eye toward bad judges or venal prosecutors. And it is in the acceptance of this worldview that the show falls most dramatically short of its promise.

Even in its structure, "In Justice" is familiar. After the view from the jury box and a plea from a desperate defendant or his family, the rest of the hour follows Swain and his team, led by Charles Conti (Jason O'Mara), his chief investigator - an ex-cop who once put away the wrong guy before quitting the force and turning toward righteousness - as they pound the pavement, engage in elaborate expository disquisitions and eventually solve the case. In the end, it takes only a few minutes for the prosecutors to see the light, for the real perpetrator to confess and for the wrongly convicted to walk dramatically out of prison.

At the end of the first episode, a teary-eyed brother embraces his newly freed sister. "Thank you," he murmurs to Swain, "thank you for giving me back my family." Moments later, as Swain turns maudlin, Conti fixes him with a perplexed look.

"You know," Conti says, "I can never tell if you are a cynical man pretending to be sentimental or the other way around."

Swain, cocking his head in the canny fashion of a supermodel on a photo shoot, glances back at his trusty sidekick. "Does it matter?" he asks archly.

It won't be long before there is a show for which the answer to that question is "yes."

David Feige is a public defender in the Bronx and a writer. "Indefensible," his book about the criminal justice system, will be published in June by Little, Brown & Company.

Iconic (literally someone made these)

2009-06-17T00:18:00.000-04:00

Jerry Kellerman (jerrykellerman) on Twitter

2009-06-15T01:33:00.000-04:00

Just for fun, you can follow .Jerry Kellerman (jerrykellerman) on Twitter

RTB Season Two Premieres Tonight!

2009-06-08T22:16:00.001-04:00

Tune in for Season Two of Raising the Bar
10 PM on TNT!

And leave comments below to let me know what you think.
I look forward to any and all of them...

Funny...

2009-05-13T02:45:00.000-04:00

Pretty Funny...

2009-04-30T23:19:00.000-04:00

Jail Term Sought in Medical Marijuana Case - NYTimes.com

2009-04-23T16:32:00.000-04:00

Government lawyers are expected to ask a federal judge to impose a five-year sentence on the owner of a marijuana dispensary.

H. Marshall Jarrett, the director of the Executive Office for United States Attorneys, on Friday sent a letter to United States Attorney Thomas P. O’Brien of Los Angeles guiding him to seek a five year sentence. Mr. Jarrett was the head of the Justice Department’s ethics office until Mr. Holder replaced him following allegations of prosecutorial misconduct in the corruption case against former Alaska Senator Ted Stevens.

Yep, Change but no change...

What Music Should Be...

2009-04-13T02:04:00.001-04:00

No reason to post this, except that the Counting Crows Rock just totally rock the house...

Moses is Departing Egypt: A Facebook Haggadah

2009-04-02T11:32:00.000-04:00

Hat tip to my friend Mitch who sent me this brilliant bit

More Repulsive Tripe from Caitlin Flanagan

2009-03-21T21:11:00.000-04:00

In this Op-Ed Caitlin Flanagan (voted one of MSN's 13 Women who make us cringe) is once again cringe-worthy with this absurd argument about Sarah Jane Olsen. As usual she gets it back-asswards cloaking her argument for forcing SJO to serve her parole in California in the rhetoric of racial equality.

But that's probably why this self-styled housewife should stick to writing about domestic issues rather than legal or political ones. If she'd managed to talk to anyone involved in the criminal justice system, including even the one person she quotes in the piece, she'd realize that the problem isn't allowing SJO out of prison nor is the issue that she gets to go home to Minnesota, the problem is others don't get those benefits. And the solution? Not to burn precious space on the TImes Op-Ed page whining about Olsen's crime, but rather to advocate for more liberal parole rules everywhere.

How about a little note about how overcrowded California prisons are already stuffed full of parole violators sent back only on "technical specs"?

How about a nice piece about the dangers of mass incarceration or the absurd sentences meted out to those self same folks who have committed lesser crimes? Flanigan has made a career out of shaming working women and glorifying home-makers.

Time to make some donuts.

RTB en Italia...

2009-03-15T20:37:00.002-04:00

I came across a listing for "Avvocati a New York" And what it is? Yep, RTB.

Here's the awesome auto translation of the description...

"The series tells the stories of private and professional group of young lawyers of the Big Apple, the court rivals, but friends in private life. Every day have another case to solve that sees them in opposing the classroom, but their relationship of mutual friendship that has lasted since the university is stronger than any rivalry.
Among them is Jerry Kellerman (Mark-Paul Gosselaar, the popular protagonist of Bayside School), a public defender and courageous idealist who is always committed to the maximum for his client. His head is Rosalind Whitman (Gloria Reuben), including but tough, that spurs the most of his team. Together with them, work Woolsley Patrick Richard (Teddy Sears,) and Roberta "Bobbi" Gilar (Natalia Cigliano). In the department of public prosecution, however, there are Ernhardt Michelle (Melissa Sagemiller), Nick Balco (Currie Graham) and Marcus McGrath (J. August Richards), really relentless in putting criminals behind bars. The group is also the Judge Trudy Kessler (Jane Kaczmarek), a former public defender who presides over the court with an iron fist, and his mysterious assistant Charlie Sagansky (Jonathan Scarfi).

Most Immigrants In Detention Do Not Have Criminal Records

2009-03-15T18:25:00.000-04:00

"The data show that 18,690 immigrants had no criminal conviction, not even for illegal entry or low-level crimes like trespassing. More than 400 of those with no criminal record had been incarcerated for at least a year. A dozen had been held for three years or more; one man from China had been locked up for more than five years."

Outrageous.

Barbie Party...

2009-03-10T01:35:00.000-04:00

Fun. But over by 10.

Top Judge in Texas Closes Early to Insure Execution...

2009-03-07T13:43:00.001-05:00

Evil judge Keller

And what kind of Judge is she? In 1998, she wrote the opinion rejecting a new trial for Roy Criner, a mentally retarded man convicted of rape and murder, even though DNA tests after his trial showed that it was not his semen in the victim. “We can’t give new trials to everyone who establishes, after conviction, that they might be innocent,” she later told the television news program “Frontline.”

Her campaign slogan? "Pro-Prosecution"

Shame on Texas. Conduct like this, she should be off the bench.

Here comes the DVD...

2009-02-27T03:14:00.000-05:00

Judges get paid to incarcerate kids...

2009-02-15T22:57:00.000-05:00

No really. It's true.

Fox News Producer's Arrest Warant

2009-02-10T21:11:00.000-05:00

Oops, looks like it's for child porn

ColorLine's 2009's Innovators

2009-01-14T14:08:00.000-05:00

Guess who made the list? You guessed it. The Bronx Defenders!