…Science never is. On the plus side, science can improve on its errors. From the New York Times: “If we say there is a 1-in-10-quadrillion chance that someone else might have the same DNA profile, but there is also a 1-in-10,000 chance that there was a mistake in generating the profile, the only number the jurors should be paying attention…
Tag: courts
Terry v. Ohio. Happy 50th Anniverary, Detective McFadden!
Fifty years ago today on the streets of downtown Cleveland, Detective Martin McFadden, plain-clothed and without a walkie-talkie (two-way radios didn’t become standard for another decade) stopped and arrested John Terry and two other guys after observing them casing a storefront for United Airlines. This arrest lead to the landmark 1968 Supreme Court Case of Terry v. Ohio (the two…
Stand your ground
Am I disappointed in the verdict? Yes. Is it inconceivable based on the idiodically written stand your ground law? Alas, no. And now that Zimmerman walks free, can we talk more about repealing this horrible law? Legal justice is not moral justice. I wrote this last year: The law is written in such a way that even if you are…
Zimmerman Trial (2): Justice vs. Stand Your Ground
I received this interesting and thought-provoking email from my friend Alan (bold added): It seems to me that if Zimmerman is convicted of a felony, then the Florida laws are apparently defensible. Sure, a guy is allowed to shoot someone in certain circumstances; in this case such circumstances did not present and so he’s going to jail. The laws did…
The Law and Order Database
Why TV isn’t reality. And done in such a charming nerdy way.
Gathering a City Jury
Baltimore City tries to increase jury attendance. Currently only 27 percent of those summonsed actually show up. In one more rural counties in Maryland, the show-up rate 99%. Because, you know, it’s a duty and you’re not supposed to have a choice. From the Sun: Technically, the law allows for a fine of up to $1,000 and 60 days in…
Spread those cheeks
The Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of strip searches for minor offenses. This isn’t a big surprise. The Court has always granted a lot of discretion to jails and prisons to run their own affairs, with regard to safety, broadly defined: Maintaining safety and order at detention centers requires the expertise of correctional officials, who must have substantial discretion to…
A little history of the courts and the plea bargain
From the NYT: Conventional histories cite the mid-1700s as the turning point in the development of the modern adversarial system of justice in England and Colonial America, with defense lawyers and prosecutors facing off in court, Mr. Hitchcock and Mr. Turkel said. Their analysis tells a different story, however. “Mapping all trials suggests that the real moment of evolution was…
What is wrong the C.J. system
There’s very little that strikes me as more absurd than offering or accepting a guilty plea for time served. It represents so much about what’s wrong with the criminal justice system. And that’s a lot. If you’re guilty, then it’s a travesty of justice because you get to go home. If you’re innocent, it’s an even worse travesty. But you…
Geert Wilders is a Prick
But his acquittal in Dutch court is an important victory for free speech in the Netherlands. As a side note, the Dutch legal system has some peculiarities from an American perspective, and not just the fact that somebody can be tried for what they say: The verdict had been expected as prosecutors themselves had called for his acquittal, arguing that…