http://overlawyered.com Chronicling the high cost of our legal system Tue, 14 Feb 2012 16:11:47 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 en hourly 1 http://overlawyered.com/2012/02/criminal-investigation-of-ada-noncompliance/ http://overlawyered.com/2012/02/criminal-investigation-of-ada-noncompliance/#comments Fri, 10 Feb 2012 12:03:27 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=27509 The U.S. Attorney’s office in Los Angeles appears to be proceeding on the theory that city and redevelopment officers committed potential “fraud” by accepting federal money for housing projects but omitting to run the projects in compliance with laws like the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requiring that accommodations be offered for disabled patrons. At Cato at Liberty, I wonder whether we’re in for another venture into criminalization of an area best left to civil law.

Tags: crime and punishment, disabled rights, housing discrimination, Los Angeles

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]]> http://overlawyered.com/2012/02/criminal-investigation-of-ada-noncompliance/feed/ 0 http://overlawyered.com/2012/02/america-as-prosecutocracy/ http://overlawyered.com/2012/02/america-as-prosecutocracy/#comments Sat, 04 Feb 2012 14:56:02 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=27348 Deposed press lord Conrad Black is taking a public stand against the law enforcement and corporate-governance authorities that put him behind bars. [Andrew McCarthy/The New Criterion, earlier]

Tags: crime and punishment, newspapers, prosecution

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]]> http://overlawyered.com/2012/02/america-as-prosecutocracy/feed/ 0 http://overlawyered.com/2012/01/annals-of-overcriminalization-whale-watching-biologist/ http://overlawyered.com/2012/01/annals-of-overcriminalization-whale-watching-biologist/#comments Fri, 27 Jan 2012 16:41:45 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=27181 The 1972 Marine Mammal Protection Act bans feeding protected dolphins, seals and whales. A grand jury has now indicted licensed marine biologist Nancy Black, who sought to record the behavior of killer whales by rigging attachments to some killed prey that the predators were in the process of eating. Black’s attorney says she also faces a charge of lying to federal investigators because when asked to turn over evidence she gave them footage of the incident that she had already edited for reasons unrelated to the investigation. [The Economist]

Tags: crime and punishment, endangered species, science and scientists

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]]> http://overlawyered.com/2012/01/annals-of-overcriminalization-whale-watching-biologist/feed/ 10 http://overlawyered.com/2012/01/january-21-roundup-3/ http://overlawyered.com/2012/01/january-21-roundup-3/#comments Sat, 21 Jan 2012 14:52:42 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=27016

Because judges should decide cases the way clamoring crowds want them to: “Occupy the Courts” [Althouse, Somin, earlier] Pittsburgh lawprof: bank’s office park has become public forum and is ours to seize [Daily Caller]

Some reactions to Megaupload indictment [Julian Sanchez, Ken at Popehat]

Kozinski, others trade quips at oral argument in Disneyland Segway ADA case [Courthouse News via Disabilities Law, earlier] “Ouch! Judge Posner eviscerates both a damages expert and the trial judge who let him testify against FedEx” [Technology Law Notes]

Victim of NYC gun laws: “Free Meredith Graves” [NRO] “NYC Business Bled To Death Over Toy Guns” [Moonbattery]

“Old Enough to Fight, Old Enough to Swipe: A Critique of the Infancy Rule in the Federal Credit Card Act” [Andrew Schwartz (Colorado), SSRN, via Ted Frank]

Federal drug cops unapologetic about role in Adderall shortage [Rob Port] A failure of central planning [Reuters, Jacob Sullum and more ("Does the DEA know what 'quota' means?")] Some trial lawyers pushing to ban the drug [via Ted Frank].

Go, my child, and steal no more: TSA agents who pilfered $40K from luggage get six months [AP via Balko]

Tags: Alex Kozinski, crime and punishment, debtor-creditor law, Disney, guns, NYC, pharmaceuticals, Pittsburgh, Richard Posner

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]]> http://overlawyered.com/2012/01/january-21-roundup-3/feed/ 6 http://overlawyered.com/2012/01/who-arranged-those-leniency-letters-anyway/ http://overlawyered.com/2012/01/who-arranged-those-leniency-letters-anyway/#comments Tue, 10 Jan 2012 05:44:15 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=26756 Curious goings-on during the sentencing process of a Vero Beach, Fla. lawyer gone wrong. [Vero Beach News]

Tags: crime and punishment, don't, Florida

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]]> http://overlawyered.com/2012/01/who-arranged-those-leniency-letters-anyway/feed/ 2 http://overlawyered.com/2011/12/december-19-roundup/ http://overlawyered.com/2011/12/december-19-roundup/#comments Mon, 19 Dec 2011 05:09:06 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=26261

Too much of a stretch: US nixes copyright in yoga exercises [Bloomberg, earlier]

“Know your rights dealing with cops” material construed as probative of criminality [Popehat] Is Justice Scalia really an “unlikely” champion of defendants’ Constitutional rights? [LATimes, Adler] “Overcriminalization: The Legislative Side of the Problem” [Larkin/Heritage, related Meese] When feds spring false-statements trap, it won’t matter whether you committed underlying offense being investigated [Popehat] “‘Clean Up Government Act’ sparks overcriminalization concerns” [PoL]

Former Attorney General Mukasey on ObamaCare recusal flap [Adler]

American Antitrust Institute proposals might be discounted given group’s longstanding pro-plaintiff bias [Thom Lambert]

NYC: “The tour guide said that the way to get rich is to be a zoning lawyer.” [Arnold Kling]

“Obama’s Top Ten Constitutional Violations” [Ilya Shapiro, Daily Caller] In at least two major areas, “Obama has broken with precedent to curtail religious freedom” [Steve Chapman]

Ted Frank-Shirley Svorny med mal debate wraps up [PoL, Bader]

Tags: antitrust, Barack Obama, constitutional law, crime and punishment, land use and zoning, medical malpractice, police, recusals, Ted Frank

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]]> http://overlawyered.com/2011/12/december-19-roundup/feed/ 0 http://overlawyered.com/2011/11/prosecution-roundup/ http://overlawyered.com/2011/11/prosecution-roundup/#comments Fri, 25 Nov 2011 16:08:03 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=24896

Six-year-old charged with sexual assault [Channel3000.com, Wisconsin; Radley Balko]

“Beware: Cities Hunting You Down For Reagan-Era Parking Tickets” [David Kiley, AOL]

Waco, Texas: “McLennan DA fights DNA testing because exonerations override juries” [Grits for Breakfast] Robert Mosteller, “Failures of the Prosecutor’s Duty to ‘Do Justice’ in Extraordinary and Ordinary Miscarriages of Justice” [Legal Ethics Forum]

Controlled substances: “Could a US lawyer lawfully counsel clients about this proposed new law?” [John Steele, LEF]

Mens rea erosion a “deeply troublesome trend” [Kevin LaCroix on WSJ] “Trial penalty,” long sentence minimums give prosecutors muscle to extract plea deals [NYT, Sullum] “Settlements feed U.S. prosecutor overreach” [Reynolds Holding, Reuters BreakingViews] “Responsible corporate officer doctrine” worries pharma defense lawyers [WSJ Law Blog] “The continuing quest to criminalize business judgment” [Kirkendall]

“More than three-quarters of turn-of-the-century Chicago homicides led to no criminal punishment — not because the perpetrator could not be identified, but because no jury would convict.” [William Stuntz's posthumous book via Cowen]

“Scalia criticizes narcotics laws” [for over-federalization] [WSJ]

Tags: Chicago, crime and punishment, illegal drugs, prosecution, traffic laws

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]]> http://overlawyered.com/2011/11/prosecution-roundup/feed/ 2 http://overlawyered.com/2011/11/theres-no-drug-war-exception-to-the-constitution/ http://overlawyered.com/2011/11/theres-no-drug-war-exception-to-the-constitution/#comments Fri, 04 Nov 2011 06:14:35 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=25509 Florida lawmakers have purported to impose strict liability on defendants for some drug crimes, but the mens rea (guilty mind) prerequisite is no mere option as a matter of constitutional principle. [Ilya Shapiro, Cato at Liberty] (& welcome Above the Law readers)

Tags: constitutional law, crime and punishment, illegal drugs

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]]> http://overlawyered.com/2011/11/theres-no-drug-war-exception-to-the-constitution/feed/ 2 http://overlawyered.com/2011/09/scientists-on-trial-at-fault/ http://overlawyered.com/2011/09/scientists-on-trial-at-fault/#comments Fri, 16 Sep 2011 13:54:16 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=24646 “In 2009, an earthquake devastated the Italian city of L’Aquila and killed more than 300 people. Now, scientists are on trial for manslaughter.” [Stephen S. Hall, Nature via Arts & Letters Daily]

Tags: crime and punishment, Italy, science and scientists

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]]> http://overlawyered.com/2011/09/scientists-on-trial-at-fault/feed/ 5 http://overlawyered.com/2011/09/overcriminalization-and-plea-bargaining/ http://overlawyered.com/2011/09/overcriminalization-and-plea-bargaining/#comments Fri, 02 Sep 2011 16:08:25 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=24411 How they feed off each other. [Lucian Dervan, Journal of Law, Economics and Policy, SSRN]

Tags: crime and punishment

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