Monday, May 8, 2017
Court Junkie podcast episode on Eric Frein trial I was a law clerk when the murder of Corporal Bryon Dickson and near-murder of Trooper Alex Douglass sparked a weeks-long manhunt that resulted in the capture, trial and conviction of Eric Matthew Frein. I won’t talk about anything I did with …Wednesday, May 3, 2017
A disturbing sex trend called ‘stealthing’ is on the rise ‘Stealthing’ is the non-consensual removal a condom during sex. Alexandra Brodsky’s article in the Columbia Journal of Gender and Law [PDF] is powerful, nuanced and well-presented. And I, too, can be powerful, …Tuesday, May 2, 2017
Prosecuted by her legal counterpart: ‘It destroyed my life in so many ways’ This DA should resign, now: At least six defense attorneys and investigators say they faced threats of criminal charges by the Orleans parish district attorney for doing their jobs, the Guardian has found. Since …Friday, April 14, 2017
Mentally incompetent Utah man dies in hospital after jail episode left him paralyzed Is this the kind of country where we let mental illness go untreated to the point where someone in jail for fighting with a couple of cops is effectively allowed to commit suicide, while on suicide watch? Jail video …Tuesday, January 5, 2016
More than 13,000 untested rape kits in Florida This bit sent shivers down my spine: After Detroit processed a backlog of 11,000 rape kits, police identified more than 100 serial rape suspects. Why shivers? Because it instantly prompts me to wonder how many women were raped who wouldn’t have …Thursday, December 31, 2015
Bill Cosby charged with sexual assault in Pennsylvania The TV legend is accused of drugging and sexually assaulting former Temple University employee Andrea Constand when she visited his suburban Philadelphia home in 2004. A probable cause affidavit filed by investigators this week alleges that …Monday, September 21, 2015
Video gamer hunts down, stabs man who killed his online ‘Counter-Strike’ character Michael Sheridan reports at NYDailyNews.com: Julien Barreaux reportedly spent six months looking for the person who killed his online character in a virtual knife fight, and eventually found the foe …Thursday, August 27, 2015
Alison Parker, Adam Ward of WDBJ remembered by friends It’s inappropriate to use these tragic murders as fodder for the never-ending Second Amendment debate, and people on both sides of the isle are already guilty of that. If the killer’s intent was to terrorize, are those people who are …Tuesday, August 18, 2015
Lewis James Fogle Free, 34 Years After His Wrongful Conviction The case against Mr. Fogle itself was never a strong one – it was based entirely upon the testimony of so-called jailhouse informants, including a man himself suspected of the crime. It was only years after the 15-year-old victim’s body …Monday, July 13, 2015
Obama Plans Broader Use of Clemency to Free Nonviolent Drug Offenders Peter Baker of The New York Times: In his second term, Mr. Obama embarked on an effort to use clemency and has raised his total commutations to 43, a number he may double this month. The initiative was begun last year by James M. …Tuesday, February 10, 2015
Snapchat selfie gets teen arrested on murder chargeJill Daly, reporting at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: On Thursday, a woman told police her son had a copy of a Snapchat photo sent from the accused. Jeannette Sgt. Donald Johnston saw the photo, depicting the wounded victim in the chair as found by …Friday, November 21, 2014
Serial podcast presents novel collision of law and technologyThe incredible true crime podcast Serial presents a novel collision between technology and the law. This time, it’s not that technology plays or should play a particular part in the case itself, but that a podcast has shed light on a cold …Monday, August 5, 2013
U.S. directs agents to cover up program used to investigate AmericansJohn Shiffman and Kristina Cooke, reporting for Reuters Washington bureau: The undated documents show that federal agents are trained to “recreate” the investigative trail to effectively cover up where the information originated, …Tuesday, July 23, 2013
Christmas in jailJohn Futty, reporting for The Columbus Dispatch in Ohio: Judge Michael J. Holbrook placed Young on probation yesterday for five years and ordered that she spend a minimum of three days in jail each Christmas while on probation. This made me smile. Now, crime is bad, and Christmas …Monday, July 22, 2013
Norwegian rape victim Marte Deborah Dalelv “pardoned” by UAEI wrote yesterday about Ms. Dalelv’s 16-month sentence for sex outside marriage, among other absurd charges to levy against a victim of rape, in the city of Dubai in the United Arab Emirates. I’m happy to report that, according …Sunday, July 21, 2013
Dubai: Where rape is only a crime if you’re the victimUpdate: she has been “pardoned.” A Norwegian woman was raped, reported it to police, and was charged and convicted of extramarital sex, drinking alcohol, and perjury. She was sentenced to 16 months in jail. For being raped. And that’s three …Tuesday, May 7, 2013
Air Force sexual assault prevention officer charged with sexual batteryDisgusting. Anything less than dishonorable discharge and jail time will be an insult to victims and to this country.Friday, April 12, 2013
Dr. Kermit Gosnell: Philadelphia’s “Abortion” MonsterThe Atlantic's Conor Friedersdorf quoting the grand jury report (PDF) on Philadelphia “abortion” monster Kermit Gosnell: The Department of State, through its Board of Medicine, licenses and oversees individual physicians… Almost …Friday, January 11, 2013
UPenn criminologist Richard Berk’s recidivism-prediction algorithmWired's Kim Zetter: To create the software, researchers assembled a dataset of more than 60,000 crimes, including homicides, then wrote an algorithm to find the people behind the crimes who were more likely to commit murder …Wednesday, January 9, 2013
Witness intimidation reform on the horizon in PhiladelphiaThe Philadelphia Inquirer’s Craig R. McCoy reports on a recent special commission report on the problem and some suggested solutions. In a city where street wisdom warns that “snitches get stitches,” this is an encouraging development.Friday, September 21, 2012
Longread: Cameron Todd Willingham, Texas, and the death penaltyI usually like to include a quote from the longreads I share, but this story cannot be reduced to a single blockquote. Whether you support or oppose the death penalty, you should read this 2009 article by David Grann at The New Yorker. …