Stuart Taylor Jr. arraigns the New York Times for the many weaknesses of the recent article by Duff Wilson and Jonathan Glater which sought to rehabilitate the prosecution’s crumbling case. “The Times still seems bent on advancing its race-sex-class ideological agenda, even at the cost of ruining the lives of three young men who it has reason to know are very probably innocent.” (Slate, “Witness for the Prosecution?”, Aug. 29). Earlier: Aug. 25, Jun. 24, etc.
Posts Tagged ‘crime and punishment’
Chutzpah files: John Mark Karr and Seth Temin
Now, the record will reflect that I was an early skeptic of the “solving” of the JonBenet case, but the AP’s quote of Karr’s public defender, Seth Temin, is a bit over the top: “We’re deeply distressed by the fact that they took this man and dragged him here from Bangkok, Thailand, with no forensic evidence confirming the allegations against him and no independent factors leading to a presumption he did anything wrong.” Er, wasn’t Karr a fugitive from justice from California? And there was that whole confession thing…
More files revealed in Duke rape case
Driving while loaded
A Nebraska state trooper stopped Emiliano Gomez Gonzolez for speeding on Interstate 80 in 2003 in his rental car, then proceeded to seize $124,000 from a cooler in the back seat. According to the Eighth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals (opinion, PDF), Nebraska was within its rights to seize the $124,000 as presumed drug money (it then became the subject of a federal forfeiture action) even though 1) Gonzolez had no substantial or drug-related criminal record; 2) witnesses backed up his claim that the money had been pooled by several immigrants for purposes of buying a refrigerated truck for his produce business. Gonzolez had initially denied carrying money, and a drug-sniffing dog had detected drug residues in the rental car, though the same would probably prove true of many other rental cars. (“Court rules 2003 money seizure correct despite no drugs found”, AP/Sioux City Journal, Aug. 19; TheNewspaper.com, Aug. 19; libertarian blogs galore including KipEsquire, Radley Balko, Unrepentant Individual). Mike Cernovich (Aug. 21) analyzes what he finds the dubious maneuvers of the Eighth Circuit panel majority in dodging the requirement of deference to the trial court judge’s findings.
Oz: “Sex swap murderer granted leave to sue prison”
Some headlines just seem meant to keep tabloids in business, but in this case the report appears in the undeniably respectable Sydney Morning Herald. Among the key claims of transsexual Maddison Hall, who at the time of a 1989 murder conviction was known as Noel Crompton Hall, was that “a guard kept calling her ‘him'”. (Tim Dick, Sydney Morning Herald, Aug. 15).
Deep pocket files: Wal-Mart on $4.2 million hook for carjacking
Katoria Lee refused a carjacker’s command to surrender her car-keys in 2001, so he shot her in the back. This, a Georgia state court jury decided, was the fault of Wal-Mart, who owned the parking lot where the shooting occurred. Eric Deown Riggins, 22, was caught within minutes, and is serving a 15-year sentence in state prison for the crime.
Lee’s attorney, Lance Cooper, mentioned the 398 visits by police to the Riverdale Wal-Mart in the twenty months before the accident as evidence that there should have been “more” security that made Wal-Mart at fault for a third-party’s malicious crime, but that figure is highly misleading, because, until very recently, Wal-Mart had a zero-tolerance shoplifting policy to press charges for even the most minor of shoplifting crimes. (Kathy Jefcoats, “Woman shot in Wal-Mart lot awarded $4.2 million by jury”, Atlanta Journal-Constitution Aug. 10).
Duke lacrosse affair: when faculty fan flames
If prosecutor Mike Nifong could accuse students of ghastly crimes on the flimsiest of evidence (Jun. 24 and earlier posts), one reason might be that the atmosphere at Duke University was such that, early in the case, 88 faculty members could sign a manifesto fanning the flames of public opinion against the accused students. Robert K.C. Johnson on Cliopatria has many details on the so-called Group of 88. Of the 69 signatories who are permanent faculty, “58—an astonishing 84.1 percent—describe their research interests as related to race, class, or gender (or all three), in some cases to an extent bordering on caricature.” One professor opines that the “members of the team are almost perfect offenders in the sense that [critical race theorist Kimberle] Crenshaw writes about,” since they are “the exemplars of the upper end of the class hierarchy, the politically dominant race and ethnicity, the dominant gender, the dominant sexuality, and the dominant social group on campus.” (Jul. 19) (via Coyote). For more on the case, see postings at Jeralyn Merritt’s Talk Left and the group Friends of Duke University.
Changing planes in U.S.? II
While I oppose laws banning online gambling as ludicrous public policy in a world with government-run lotteries that return sixty cents on the dollar, I don’t see the controversy (also Hurt) over arresting someone indicted for breaking those laws when they step foot on US soil. If Osama bin Laden were foolish enough to take a commercial flight from Karachi to Caracas that changed planes in Dallas, federales could surely arrest him while he was waiting in line at the Orange Julius. Airports don’t convey some sort of diplomatic immunity.
That said, as a public policy matter, America should perhaps be less inclined to assert jurisdiction for victimless Internet crimes committed over international borders, lest we lose the ability to defend the free speech rights of American citizens to discuss issues of religion or politics barred in other countries. And in conjunction with the NatWest Three extraditions (ably discussed by Kirkendall), one fears a European perception of the US as a nationwide judicial hellhole unsuitable for business dealings, much the same way an American might view doing business in Russia. Already, international companies are choosing to raise capital in international financial markets outside the US where once they went to New York, a problem discussed by Larry Ribstein and Henry Butler in a recent AEI book on Sarbanes-Oxley.
Separately, with respect to the new federal interest in focusing scarce resources on gambling, one wonders if Rep. Jefferson is hoping that he shredded his March Madness pool entry before the FBI searched his office. And see also Mankiw v. Passey (via Taylor).
Botched police raids
Radley Balko has a new report out for Cato (press release)(more). Check out a botched raid near you.
Exploding-townhouse suicide: gas co. blamed
Among the first legal actions filed in the wake of the spectacular Manhattan suicide of Dr. Nicholas Bartha is one by neighbors naming energy provider Con Ed (as well as Bartha himself) as a defendant. It alleges that Con Ed failed to install “safety devices” which would presumably have prevented Bartha from deliberately opening a flow of gas to his Upper East Side house for purposes of blowing it up. (AP/MyWay, Jul. 16).