That’s the title of a newly published book edited by lawprof Joan Heminway, featured in this podcast from Glenn and Helen Reynolds. I haven’t had a chance to see the book itself, but I do like its cover art.
Posts Tagged ‘crime and punishment’
Duke lacrosse prosecution scandal
Crazed samurai killer wins only $1 in police brutality case
Perhaps this Pennsylvania jury considered that it was steering things down the middle with its result:
Five Bethlehem police officers used excessive force to restrain a man high on crack cocaine who killed a drug dealer with a samurai sword and set him on fire, a federal jury ruled Tuesday night.
… [Sonny] Thomas, 50, who testified he suffered bruises and recurring migraine headaches as a result of the violent scuffle, sought $35 million in damages but was awarded $1….
Thomas testified he had smoked 12 rocks of crack cocaine during the four hours before stabbing [19-year-old Carlos] Garcia more than 80 times with a 4-foot-long samurai sword.
Police, who arrived at the grisly scene to find Garcia’s body set ablaze with the sword sticking out of it, said Thomas ignored an order to surrender, while Thomas countered that he put up no resistance but was beaten anyway. While finding five of the police officers at the scene responsible for excessive force, the jury exonerated five others. The federal judge who presided over the trial, John Fullam, called the jury’s verdict “remarkable”. (Matt Birkbeck, “Samurai killer wins police brutality case, $1 award”, Allentown Morning Call, Nov. 29). For more on “one-dollar” verdicts by juries in excessive-force cases filed by criminals, see my 1994 City Journal article on New York’s “mugger millionaire” case.
Hate crime laws
Editorial writer Michael McGough of the L.A. Times has come to dislike them:
If their overarching purpose is to affirm the equality of all people, then the law should punish all assaults the same, regardless of the race, gender, religion, sexual orientation, disability or veteran status of the victim. The “protected class” should be human beings.
(“There’s little to like about hate-crime laws”, Dec. 3).
Judge agrees with exec: the Paxil made me do it
Patrick Henry Stewart stole $1.8 million from his employer before being caught, but he won’t be going to prison; U.S. District Court Judge James Moody Jr. bought his claim that the antidepressant Paxil caused his embezzling, and was sentenced Monday to 12 months of home confinement and five years’ probation instead of the 41-51 months the U.S. Attorney recommended. Stewart had originally claimed that he began embezzling because he was angry over his employer’s reneging on a promised six-digit bonus before changing his story successfully; his inability to control his actions didn’t extend to lying about the scope of the fraud when caught. (Scott Barancik, “Ex-Jabil exec won’t go to prison”, St. Petersburg Times, Nov. 21 (via Obscure Store)).
Nifong faces Durham voters
Can prosecutors be made to pay a price at the ballot box for malfeasance? Durham, North Carolina, county district attorney Mike Nifong is up for re-election, and has run well in polls despite his hounding of three Duke lacrosse players — perhaps the year’s banner case of abusive prosecution (see Oct. 11, Oct. 12, Oct. 30, etc.). One challenger, County Commissioner Lewis Cheek, “has said he won’t serve if elected, instead allowing Gov. Mike Easley to appoint a new prosecutor”; a third candidate, Steve Monks, has been waging a write-in campaign. (Ray Gronberg, “Durham DA race is hot”, Durham Herald-Sun, Nov. 6; Ruth Sheehan, “Turning the tide in Durham”, Raleigh News & Observer, Oct. 30). For some recent developments in the case, incidentally, see here, here and here (witnesses say accuser soon after incident performed dances inconsistent with alleged injuries), here (Nifong never interviewed accuser), and here (“Go ahead, put marks on me”). Update: and yet more doubt cast here (Nov. 11).
UK: Publishing grifter’s photo = violating her human rights?
Jewelers in Kensington, West London, have been repeatedly victimized by a conwoman who poses as a wealthy shopper from Dubai and scoops up thousands in merchandise when novice clerks are distracted. The latest victim of the scam, jewelry designer Isabel Kurtenbach, says she asked police about posting a store-cam photo of the thief to warn other shops, and was told not to because it would be a violation of the perpetrator’s human rights. (Evening Standard, Oct. 26; Daily Telegraph, Oct. 27)(via Zincavage). Subsequently, the Lord Chancellor said the police’s advice had been “plainly wrong” and that storekeepers had every right to post such photos. (Guardian, Oct. 30).
Kudos to Judge James T. Warren
Paul Theodore Del Vacchio is the worst kind of gambling addict—the kind that isn’t very good at gambling. He stole $500 thousand from his casino employer, and sought mercy from the court on the grounds that his addiction made him do it to cover gambling losses. (Well, he also bought a $20,000 pool for his 2700-square-foot home.) No dice:
“There are a lot of people addicted to gambling who don’t steal anything. They get themselves in debt, sure. They may lose everything. They may lose their family. They may lose their house. They may lose their cars, but they don’t steal….
“We can’t let everybody who comes in here and wants to use an addiction, whether it be compulsive gambling, whether it be compulsive drinking, whether it be drug addiction, we can’t as a society let them utilize that as a method of getting out of their wrong acts. You know, it’s like my saying I’m addicted to beautiful women and fast cars, so I get to steal from the court’s trust account….
“He’s here because he’s a thief. He’s a thief. That’s the bottom line. He’s a thief. And he needs to acknowledge that, not use the gambling as a crutch. He let down his family. He let down his friends. He let down his employer. He let himself down. But the bottom line is he’s a thief, and he needs to be punished for being a thief.”
Del Vacchio got the maximum sentence of four years. (Ashley Powers, “A gambler with a disorder, or just a plain old thief?”, LA Times, Nov. 1).
“Follow the Money”
That’s the title of my “Rule of Law” column in today’s Wall Street Journal.
The trial lawyers have now enlisted themselves in the war against terror. One can imagine a parody — a team of wing-tipped attorneys parachuting into the wilds of Afghanistan, armed with subpoenas forcing Osama bin Laden to produce all relevant documents and secure his attendance at a 20-day videotaped deposition (damn the Geneva Conventions against torture). The legal and photocopying bills alone crush al Qaeda.
The reality is more prosaic, and less amusing. For just as Willie Sutton legendarily said he robbed banks “because that’s where the money is,” plaintiffs’ attorneys are weaving creative legal theories to hold legitimate third parties liable for the intentional acts of terrorists. This friendly fire could end up doing almost as much financial damage as the terrorists themselves, with the lawyers getting rich in the process.