SCOTUS Orders the Release of More than 45k California Felons

Photo Credit: LA TimesIn a hotly contested 5-4 plurality decision that will surely go down as one of the more controversial cases of this decade, SCOTUS affirmed the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in ordering the release of more than 45,000 California felons.  The decision will precipitate the largest release of prisoners in American history.Brown v Plata began it's marathon crawl through the federal court system in 1990, when a case was filed challenging the poor status of mental health treatment in the California prisons.  Then in 2001, a companion case challenging the medical care of prisoners was initiated.These consolidated cases have everything, from a procedural standpoint.  For example, a "special master" first...

Read more »

Posted in: California,California Department of Corrections,Chief Justice John Roberts,constitution,cruel and unusual punishment,eighth amendment,Justice Antonin Scalia,prison,prisoners,SCOTUS

Was Clarence Darrow America's Greatest Lawyer?

The Old Lion's AutobiographyHe walked away from the University of Michigan Law School after his first year, declaring formal education a "waste of time".  At the height of his game in the mid-1920s, he was the first trial lawyer in America to weave his client's interests through the available media, and thus into our societal fabric.Darrow is perhaps best remembered for defending the teen-aged murderers in the Chicago case known as Leopold and Loeb.  The accused boys, wealthy pampered law students, received life prison sentences, narrowly avoiding a death sentence.  And of course, Darrow successfully defended teacher John T. Scopes, accused of teaching evolution in a Tenessee public...

Read more »

Posted in: American Civil Liberties Union,Black Bottom,Clarence Darrow,lawyer,Salon,University of Michigan Law School

White House Proposes Stiffer Penalties in Computer Hacking Legislation

This week, President Obama announced a legislative initiative designed to strengthen the penalties for convicted computer hackers. The initiative proposes a mandatory 3-year prison term upon conviction of a number of computer crimes; the sentence would be served consecutively to any other convicted counts.The computer fraud and abuse act is already on the books.  Obama's proposal is aimed at introducing stiffer mandatory penalties - something like Michigan's mandatory two year consecutive sentence for a weapons-related conviction. The initiative also introduces a broad definition of a "critical computer infrastructure", seeking to regulate the reporting of breaches of such infrastructure(s).  A critical computer infrastructure...

Read more »

Posted in: computer,computer fraud and abuse,cyber crime,hacking,President Obama,RICO,telecommunications

Murder has no Statute of Limitations

Veteran defense lawyer Michael McCarthy (L)and veteran prosecutor John SkrzynskiProsecutors cannot take their time once they make the decision to prosecute a case.  Generally, the law does not reward any party that sleeps on their rights and duties.Normally, the prosecutor has a certain period of time, known as the "statute of limitations", within which to charge a crime.  An exception to this rule is murder; there is no statute of limitations on a murder charge.The Oakland County Prosecutor recently brought two cases that alleged murders that took place in 1978 and 1968, respectively.  The 1968 case charged Nolan Ray George, a suspected serial killer, with the first degree murder of Gwendolyn Perry.  Likewise, the 1978...

Read more »

Posted in: attorney,defense lawyer,John Skrzynski,Michael McCarthy,murder,Oakland County Prosecutor,serial killer,statute of limitations

Medical Marijuana Act Going Up in Smoke?

For some time, this blog has been tracking the various twists and turns of the Michigan Medical Marijuana Act.  Every week, there has been something new on this topic.This week, it was a Dearborn district court judge declaring the entire MMA unconstitutional on federal preemption grounds.  Judge Mark Somers invoked the doctrine of federal preemption and the supremacy clause in denying defendant's motion to dismiss in People v Brandon. He caught headlines by ruling that the MMA conflicted with an area controlled by federal law.This week also gave us a rare "about face" from the Court of Appeals on the issue of video taping oral arguments in a seminal marijuana case.  A journalist, Eric VanDussen, sued the Court of Appeals...

Read more »

Posted in: Dr. Ruth Buck,Eric VanDussen,Judge Mark Somers,Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette,Michigan Medical Marijuana Act,Robert Lee Redden,Supremacy Clause