The Inquirer reported on the Philly.com website this morning that the owner and the operator of Pier 34, the collapse of which led to the drowning deaths of 3 youg women 7 years ago, have entered pleas of no contest and guilty, respectively, thus avoiding a re-trial on the same charges on which a Philadelphia…
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Key Hearing for Mumia Approaches. So Does Death
The Inquirer reported in yesterday’s paper on a critical argument that will be held in the US Third Circuit Court of Appeals this Thursday in the long running case of convicted cop killer Mumia Abu Jamal (and truthfully, have there been more than a handful of hot Broadway shows that have run longer than this…
They Can’t Blame Imus for This, Can They?
It appears that the senior class president at Rutgers University will not be allowed to graduate with her class. University administrators appparently took a dim view of her part time job burgling her fellow students. Maybe she can claim that she stole from her schoolmates because she suffered from ,ow self-esteem caused by Don Imus….
The Duties of a Criminal Defense Lawyer
Cris Arguedas, the renowned California defense lawyer, links on her law firm’s website to an outstanding article that she wrote some years ago in which she describes what are, and what are not, the duties of a criminal defense lawyer. I strongly urge everyone who is interested in the justice process, as well as those…
The Duke Lacrosse Case: The Aftermath
Some time has now passed since the dismissal of the charges against the Duke Three. We now begin to confront the aftermath. One man who was very silent during the process – understandably – was the now former Duke lacrosse coach Mike Pressler. Pressler’s book on the whole catastrophe, ‘It’s Not About the Truth,” will…
Should Prostitution be Legalized (or at least de-criminalized)?
One note up front – I am not interested here in the esoteric and arcane distinctions between legaization and decriminalization. That is a discussion for another time. That said. A commenter to an earlier post linked to a site called Prostitution Pro-Con. This site, to which I have linked, offers a wealth of information and…
Why Is Prostitution Illegal?
Cathy Young of Reason magazine very persuasively argues that the continuing criminalization of prostitution is the real scandal that has been exposed in the D.C. Madam fiasco: The resignation of Randall Tobias, the chief of the Bush administration’s foreign aid programs, for “personal reasons” following the revelation that he had engaged the services of two…
The Federal Hate Crimes Bill Is a Dangerous Expansion of Federal Authority
Jacob Sullum of Reason magazine on the federal hate crimes bill: “Hate crimes have no place in America,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi boldly declared last week, “no place in a nation where we pledge every morning ‘with liberty and justice for all.’” Pelosi was urging her colleagues to approve a bill aimed at violence motivated…
Guilty Plea in OxyContin Case
From yesterday’s Times: The company that makes the narcotic painkiller OxyContin and three current and former executives pleaded guilty today in federal court here to criminal charges that they misled regulators, doctors and patients about the drug’s risk of addiction and its potential to be abused. To resolve criminal and civil charges related to the…
Federal Judge Enjoins D.C. Madam From Releasing More Phone Records
The Washington Post reports that the federal judge presiding over the D.C. Madam case has enjoined the alleged Madam, Jeane Palfrey, from making any further release of her phone records: Deborah Jeane Palfrey, the woman accused of being the D.C. madam, can’t release any more phone records that would reveal patrons of her Washington escort…