Overlawyered » prosecutorial abuse

Reluctant to recant rape accusation

Walter Olson — Fri, 25 May 2012 12:23:46 +0000

Brian Banks served more than five years in prison after an old friend “falsely accused him of attacking her on their high school campus”:

In a strange turn of events, the woman, Wanetta Gibson, friended him on Facebook when he got out of prison.

In an initial meeting with him, she said she had lied; there had been no kidnap and no rape and she offered to help him clear his record, court records state.

But she refused to repeat the story to prosecutors because she feared she would have to return a $1.5 million payment from a civil suit brought by her mother against Long Beach schools….

It was uncertain Thursday whether Gibson will have to return the money.

[AP via Balko, Volokh; & welcome Reddit readers]

Meanwhile, on the opposite coast, high-profile Brooklyn sex crimes prosecutor Lauren Hersh has resigned following a furor over a sex trafficking case in which “prosecutors had held on to documents showing the victim recanted rape allegations one day after making them.” [NY Post, more] P.S. Daniel Fisher reminds us of Hersh’s “starring role in New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof’s expose of Backpage, the Village Voice’s online personals section.”

Tags: NYC, prosecutorial abuse, schools, third party liability for crime

Reluctant to recant rape accusation is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

May 7 roundup

Walter Olson — Mon, 07 May 2012 04:05:15 +0000

NY lawyer sanctioned $10K for behavior at deposition [Debra Cassens Weiss, ABA Journal]
Obvious dangers and the W.V. frat-house rear-launched bottle rocket case [Popehat, earlier here, here]
Review of Liberty’s Refuge, new book on freedom of assembly by Washington U. lawprof John Inazu [Anthony Deardurff, Liberty Law]
If forfeiture and asset freeze can be deployed in a copyright enforcement case, where will they strike next? [Timothy Lee, Cato]
Hard-hitting Kim Strassel column on Al “Crucify Them” Armendariz [WSJ, earlier] Exxon CEO Rex Tillerson: “If you want to live by the precautionary principle, then crawl up in a ball and live in a cave.” [Coyote] Washington Post on the case for the Keystone pipeline [Adler]
Losing two looks like carelessness: second Durham County D.A. removed from office for misconduct [Volokh, KC Johnson]
Why won’t the Eighth Circuit recognize fraudulent misjoinder? [Beck]

Tags: discovery, Eighth Circuit, Exxon, forfeiture, prosecutorial abuse, sanctions

May 7 roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Arizona update: Thomas faces disbarment

Walter Olson — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 04:16:43 +0000

Former Maricopa County, Arizona state’s attorney and frequent Overlawyered mentionee Andrew Thomas now faces disbarment for misdeeds that include launching unfounded prosecutions of local officials who had criticized him [Terry Carter, ABA Journal] The latest ABA Journal headline is an instant classic: “Defiant After Disbarment Ruling, Ex-Maricopa Attorney Andrew Thomas Compares Himself to Gandhi”

Tags: Arizona, prosecutorial abuse

Arizona update: Thomas faces disbarment is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

March 21 roundup

Walter Olson — Wed, 21 Mar 2012 04:11:06 +0000

Shame on DoJ: “Systematic concealment” of evidence when feds prosecuted Sen. Ted Stevens [WaPo, Caleb Mason/Prawfs] NYT notes feds’ losing streak in Foreign Corrupt Practices Act prosecutions [NYT, our latest]
Italy: tax officials stop luxury cars, demand drivers’ most recent tax returns [Secular Right]
Pinterest: casual users (perhaps especially casual users) might be opening themselves to copyright liability [DDK Portraits, WSJ Law Blog] And in case you needed a reminder not to publish photos grabbed from random web sources… [Webcopyplus]
In new Atlantic special report, Philip K. Howard collects papers on outdated government law and regulation from contributors Robert Litan, Julie Barnes, Mark Warner, Jim Cooper;
Institute for Justice sues IRS over its new licensing requirements for tax preparers [Ilya Shapiro and Chaim Gordon/Cato, Paul Caron/TaxProf, Katherine Mangu-Ward, Barton Hinkle]
“It is acceptable to refer to all court proceedings as a ‘trial,’ because seriously, you ever sat through one of those things?” [@FakeAPStylebook]
Christopher Booker series on child-snatching by UK authorities [Telegraph: first, second, third]

Tags: Child Protective Services, humor, Italy, Philip K. Howard, photography, prosecutorial abuse, taxes, taxpayers, United Kingdom

March 21 roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

The Justice Department’s FCPA fiasco

Walter Olson — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 15:29:10 +0000

For the third time in weeks, a federal judge has thrown out in whole or part a prosecution under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), this year’s booming subject of white-collar law enforcement. What’s more, judges in more than one of the cases have criticized the tactics of the U.S. Department of Justice in truly scathing terms, just as they have criticized DoJ tactics in environmental and other white-collar prosecutions over the past year. Isn’t it time — I ask at Cato at Liberty — for Congress to investigate? [earlier; related, Nathan Vardi/Forbes] (& welcome Instapundit, Damon Root/Reason, Memeorandum, Samuel Rubinfeld/WSJ “Corruption Currents”, Radley Balko readers).

Tags: Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, prosecutorial abuse

The Justice Department’s FCPA fiasco is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

“Isolated” EPA enforcement abuse

Walter Olson — Sat, 08 Oct 2011 15:05:20 +0000

Louisiana plant manager Hubert Vidrine has won a rare $1.7 million verdict against the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for malicious prosecution, with a judge lambasting EPA’s enforcement apparatus for “reckless and callous disregard” of Vidrine’s rights. Agency defenders say it was an isolated case of a rogue agent, a proposition I examine in my latest Cato post. More: Orin Kerr, Volokh.

Tags: Environmental Protection Agency, prosecutorial abuse

“Isolated” EPA enforcement abuse is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

New conservative group urges rethink of crime policy

Walter Olson — Thu, 16 Dec 2010 20:53:50 +0000

Because being tough on crime doesn’t have to mean endorsing the unbounded growth of the prison-industrial complex and the endless criminalization of formerly lawful behavior. Endorsers include such prominent figures as former Attorney General Edwin Meese, Grover Norquist, Ward Connerly, John DiIulio, and Viet Dinh. [RightOnCrime.com]

Tags: crime and punishment, prosecutorial abuse

New conservative group urges rethink of crime policy is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

November 8 roundup

Walter Olson — Mon, 08 Nov 2010 05:18:51 +0000

“Dad Settles Suit Against Crocs Over Daughter’s Escalator Injury” [ABA Journal, Knoxville News]
Almost unheard-of: “California state bar to investigate 130 prosecutors” [LEF]
Judge flays U.S.-based lawyer in Chevron-Ecuador suit [Law.com, more, Dan Fisher/Forbes]
“Federal Government Acknowledges Constitutional Limits on Housing Discrimination Law” [Eugene Volokh on HUD dismissal of "Christian-roommate" complaint, earlier]
“Brave and brilliant decision” from Judge Posner points way to provide relief from class action plaintiffs who won’t accept defeat [McConnell and Beck, Trask]
“Referring to Former Boss as Slimebag Does Not Constitute Disparagement, At Least in Ohio” [Robert Fitzpatrick]
“Couldn’t get elected dogcatcher” — actually, dogcatching’s harder than being a Senator [Christopher Beam, Slate]
Midterm election wipeout — for Republicans, that is [four years ago on Overlawyered]

Tags: apparel, California, Chevron, class actions, prosecutorial abuse, Richard Posner

November 8 roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

October 4 roundup

Walter Olson — Mon, 04 Oct 2010 12:36:23 +0000

O.J. Simpson trial 15 years after [Tim Lynch, Cato at Liberty; a couple of my reactions back then]
Hackers expose internal documents of British copyright-mill law firm [Steele, LEF] Insult to injury: now that target law firm may be fined for privacy breach [same]
BAR/BRI antitrust case: “Judge Cites ‘Egregious Breach’ of Ethics, Slashes Law Firm Fee from $12M to $500K” [ABA Journal]
“Confessions of former debt collectors” [CNN Money via CL&P]
Big investigative series on prosecutorial misconduct [USA Today]
“Even with malpractice insurance, doctors opt for expensive, defensive medicine” [Jain/WaPo] “Medical malpractice suits drop but take a toll” [Pittsburgh Post-Gazette; Paul Carpenter, of the Allentown Morning Call, on problem and possible solutions] A contrary view: Ron Miller.
“Card check is dead … long live card check” [Hyman]
“Canada: Deported Russian spy sues for readmittance” [four years ago on Overlawyered] A role model for some in the spy ring recently deported from the U.S.?

Tags: antitrust, attorneys' fees, card check, copyright, debtor-creditor law, defensive medicine, OJ Simpson, Pennsylvania, prosecutorial abuse

October 4 roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Texas prosecutor charges nurses for reporting doctor

Ted Frank — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 14:26:24 +0000

Two Winkler County nurses filed accusations of problematic practices against Doctor Rolando G. Arafiles Jr. before the Texas Medical Board in April; a prosecutor who was friends with the doctor has now charged the two with a felony, “misuse of official information.” Local and national nursing associations have protested and established a legal defense fund. (Kevin Sack, “Nurse to Stand Trial for Reporting Doctor”, New York Times, Feb. 6; KFDA (undated)). It’s possible that the nurses made false accusations maliciously, but that seems something that could be handled through civil suits and then only after the Texas Medical Board adjudicated the complaints. Such overreaching by doctors could backfire, as it would give credence to the proposition that medical malpractice lawsuits are a necessary check to incompetent doctors.

Tags: crime and punishment, medical malpractice, prosecutorial abuse, Texas, whistleblowers

Texas prosecutor charges nurses for reporting doctor is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system