“A pot-smoking city [of Ottawa] worker couldn’t convince a court that his reefer madness was a disability. …[Claude] Lavoie tried to claim his penchant for pot qualified as a disability, which would have obliged the city to accommodate him under provisions of the Ontario Human Rights Code.” [Ottawa Sun]
Posts Tagged ‘illegal drugs’
Police and prosecution roundup
- Tony Jalali case: “Anaheim, feds try to seize office building under forfeiture laws because owner rented to medical marijuana dispensaries” [@radleybalko, Institute for Justice]
- Judge Ciavarella, of cash-for-kids Pa. scandal, sentenced to 28 years [Citizens Voice, background]
- Explosion in US prison population isn’t just from War on Drugs [Pfaff via Greenfield] Reform of (and reduction in) incarceration too important to be left to liberals [Eli Lehrer, Weekly Standard]
- “Report details lives ruined for children put on sex-offender registries” [Susan Ferriss, Center for Public Integrity via Lenore Skenazy]
- Criminal justice reform, per the NAACP’s Ben Jealous, is “one area where GOP can connect with black voters” [Jeremy Kolassa]
- “It’s actually a really good book, making me despise Geragos all the more.” [Scott Greenfield reviews Mistrial] And an oldie but goodie: Greenfield reviews “The Complete Idiot’s Guide to the Criminal Justice System”;
- Alleged “duty injury king” of Cook County jail dethroned after one comp claim too many [Chicago Sun-Times]
- Tip from Georgia cops: avoid situations where you might have to cling to hood of moving car [Lowering the Bar]
- ABA’s evidently already made up its mind to oppose Stand Your Ground (SYG) laws, but is holding public “hearings” on the topic anyway [ABA Journal]
- Don’t forget to check out Cato’s National Police Misconduct Reporting Project, which you can also follow on Twitter and like on Facebook
Police and prosecution roundup
- Tsarnaev case: Orin Kerr on how the public often miscontrues Miranda rights, and on how courts decide when house-to-house police searches are proper.
- Two-month-old falls on patio and hurts head; then begins Minneapolis family’s encounter with Child Protective Services [Free-Range Kids]
- Dilatory criminal lawyer in Bronx: “Courts in Slow Motion, Aided by the Defense” [NYT via Legal Ethics Forum]
- Former Monster exec imprisoned on backdating charge: if you’re making it in the business world, inform yourself about criminal law [Alex Cohen, Atlas; related Fox Business video] “Ira Stoll on the Compliance Boom” [Reason]
- The Senator from Doonesbury disappoints again: Liz Warren blasts GOPer as soft on legal pot [Jesse Walker, @radleybalko] “A Heartbreaking Drug Sentence of Staggering Idiocy” [Conor Friedersdorf, The Atlantic]
- Why does Arizona keep trying to put Debra Milke to death on the word of a multiply perjurious cop? [Popehat]
- Top cop’s $400K disability deal was part of the sleaze-scape in Bell, Calif. [Tim Cavanaugh, City Journal, earlier]
“City to Store Owner: You May Not Sell Brillo Pads”
The city of Minneapolis attaches “voluntary conditions” to a permit for a convenience store at a location previously troubled by crime, and among them are prohibitions on the sale of “drug paraphernalia” that many of us would not have recognized as such, including small plastic bags, dice, and steel-wool pads. [Volokh]
Kansas couple: indoor hydroponics prompted “pot” raid
The couple say they believe they were raided because of their use of an indoor gardening setup to raise six tomato, melon and squash plants in their basement. “A drug-sniffing dog was brought in to help, but deputies ultimately left after providing a receipt stating, ‘No items taken.'” [Heather Hollingsworth, AP]
Nevada bill: let patients sue docs, drugmakers over addiction
“A bill that would allow patients addicted to prescription drugs to sue the doctors who prescribed the medication — and the drug’s makers — was met with stiff opposition Wednesday in a Nevada legislative hearing.” Sen. Tick Segerblom (D-Las Vegas), who introduced SB 75, defended the measure: “They know the person can get addicted to the drug so they should pay for the process of them getting off it.” [AP; related effort to use drug-dealer-liability laws] (& White Coat)
Police and prosecution roundup
- “Once your life is inside a federal investigation, there is no space outside of it.” [Quinn Norton, The Atlantic]
- “Cops Detain 6-year-old for Walking Around Neighborhood (And It Gets Worse)” [Free-Range Kids] “Stop Criminalizing Parents who Let Their Kids Wait in the Car” [same]
- Time to rethink the continued erosion of statutes of limitations [Joel Cohen, Law.com; our post the other day on Gabelli v. SEC]
- “Are big-bank prosecutions following in the troubled footsteps of FCPA enforcement?” [Isaac Gorodetski, PoL]
- The “‘professional’ press approach to the criminal justice system serves police and prosecutors very well. They favor reporters who hew to it.” [Ken at Popehat]
- Scott Greenfield dissents from some common prescriptions on overcriminalization [Simple Justice]
- Anti-catnip educational video might be a parody [YouTube via Radley Balko]
- “Too Many Restrictions on Sex Offenders, or Too Few?” [NYT “Room for Debate”]
- Kyle Graham on overcharging [Non Curat Lex] “The Policeman’s Legal Digest / A Walk Through the Penal Laws of New York (1934)” [Graham, ConcurOp]
- “D.C. Council Proposes Pretty Decent Asset Forfeiture Reform” [John Ross, Reason] And the Institute for Justice reports on forfeiture controversies in Minnesota and Georgia.
- Does prison privatization entrench a pro-incarceration lobby? [Sasha Volokh, more]
To be jailed in Arizona for driving under the influence…
…you don’t actually need to have driven under the influence. If it’s an illegal substance, metabolites in your blood may suffice whether or not you were impaired at the time you actually did the driving. At least that’s the ruling of a state court of appeals; the Arizona Supreme Court could still reverse it. [John Ross/Reason, Scott Greenfield]
Torts roundup
- “City to pay $22.5 million to bipolar woman released in high-crime area” [Chicago Sun-Times, Greenfield]
- On Medicaid settlement clawback evasion, Obama acts in line with wishes of both plaintiff’s and defense sides, though against interests of federal Treasury [Ted Frank] Michael Greve on Delia v. EMA, the Medicaid recoupment case before SCOTUS [Law and Liberty]
- From Sasha Volokh, a Glee-ful Torts exam [Volokh]
- Congrats to Abnormal Use, repeat winner in Torts category of ABA Journal Blawg 100;
- UK: personal injury firms say they’ll need to lay off workers if government carries through on reform of civil suits [Law Gazette]
- “How the First Amendment affects tort law” [Beck, Drug and Device Law]
- Bummer: after involuntary pot brownie incident, lawsuit names club where incident took place [NJLRA]
“A Risk of Relapse Is a Disability, Court Rules”
“A federal appeals court on Thursday ruled that insurance companies can be required to pay long-term disability benefits to a recovering drug addict if the person would face a significant risk of relapse by returning to work.” The First Circuit parted company with the Fourth, which has ruled the opposite way. [Jacob Gershman, WSJ Law Blog, subscription; Colby v. Union Security Insurance, PDF]