Mostly Plants

Travelings, Cookings, and Musings from an Almost-Public-Defender

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Revising the Right to Trial by Judge?

April 29th, 2008 · 3 Comments

Following the acquittal of Shawn Bell’s killers, one of the lawyers pointed out an interesting discrepancy between the New York and Federal criminal procedure systems: in New York, a criminal defendant has a right to a jury trial, and can waive that right.  In the Federal system, however, the United States also has a right [...]

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Tags: On the Legal System

Sometimes even I agree with the Washington Times

April 18th, 2008 · No Comments

This Editorial in the Washington Times begins:
There are two kinds of people in the world: the kind who think it’s perfectly reasonable to strip search a 13-year-old girl suspected of bringing ibuprofen to school, and the kind who think those people should be kept as far away from children as possible
The first group includes officials [...]

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Tags: On the Legal System

Supreme Court says “All Systems Go” for Suffering and Death

April 17th, 2008 · 2 Comments

Yesterday, in an epic split decision reminiscent of Furman v. Georgia, the Supreme Court released its opinion in Baze v. Reese, the lethal injection challenge case. A copy of the opinion is at http://www.scotuswiki.com/index.php?title=Baze_v._Rees.

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Tags: On the Legal System

Comparing Euthanasia with the Death Penalty: a Response to Colb

April 2nd, 2008 · 2 Comments

In an article published this morning on Findlaw, Sherry Colb argues that comparisons of death penalty methods against animal euthanasia are fundamentally inapt. She responds to those of us who have cited the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) euthanasia standards in the death penalty debate by saying that nobody should be surprised that the [...]

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Tags: On the Legal System