Back...

Updates have been a little slow, but with good reason!

I've gotten a few new articles to post, I'll try and break it up over a few posts to prevent TL/DNR.

First, for any Defense Attorney who has ever wondered if a particularly punitive judge or prosecutor gets "paid by the prisoner", law. com informs us,tragically, it's certainly possible!

Next up, Sentencing Law & Policy points us to a study promoting military service as an alternative to incarceration. It addresses not just the idea of paying back to society, but the rehabilitative effects of military discipline. Of particular interest to my closest colleagues... it included substantial interviews with inmates of the Kentucky DOC. (For those who prefer the actual journal article over a blogger's summary click here [pdf])

Last for this post...

...The Iowa Legislature may change Sex Offender restrictions from residency-based to presence/loitering-based.

Thomas Ferguson, Black Hawk County attorney, said trading residency restriction
for exclusion zones makes sense."That would be more effective in achieving the
goals of protecting children and be more efficient in the use of law enforcement
resources," Ferguson said."The residency restriction just bans someone from
sleeping near certain designated areas --- school and day cares --- but it
doesn't really prohibit them from spending their day in an area where kids can
be," Ferguson said.

It's important to note that this policy shift is being lobbied for by prosecutors and sheriffs.

Crossing Child Victims in Sex Cases

For those dual-discipline science/lawyer geeks, Mark Bennett of Defending People has a really interesting post discussing an article on how to question a child victim in sex cases.

For those of you who don't like reading studies and statistics I'll summarize...

...The only factor between the Prosecution questioning the child victim and the defense is the complexity of the Defense Attorney's cross. In short, if te child answers "I don't know" or "No" and expanding, it works against the defense. To keep your case on an even playing field, ask the child simple questions that elicit a "yes" response, without elaboration.

Easier said than done, I know... but something to keep in mind.

Nothing Earth-Shattering

Just a few posts, won't change your world, but maybe worth a read...

Grits For Breakfast once again says what I've been saying long before I took the LSATs,, spend $10 on Mental Health and Education services now, or dump $1,000 into prisons later. Mental Health, Education and Rehab services are seen as part of the "Left-Wing agenda" while "Tough on Crime" is a cornerstone of the "Right". But if proper Mental Healthcare and Education leads to reduced crime, and smaller government budgets... isn't that just best for everyone?

Read the article here.


Blawgs are still writing slams on the 5-4 Herring decision, limiting the excusionary rule. Here's another post from Simple Justice on the matter.


Last, from the "You thought YOU had the child support record!?!" category...

...In my office gossip, we bandy about figures of $16,000, $36,000, $40,000...

This is the mark to beat in arrearage!

First Post

A few articles/entries I've been storing...


First, an interesting case on Terry stop patdowns and subsequent inadmissibility of drug evidence out of Ohio. (from FourthAmendment.com)

Second, a trio of blogosphere musings that, will surprise few but comfort many of my colleagues.

• Simple Justice, An excellent law blog by a New York State private criminal defense attorney, posted this musing about why clients aren't always forthcoming with us.

• ...and Mr. Greenfield at Simple Justice followed up with this posting, discussing how the adversarial process is not always Defense Attorney v. Prosecution, or even Defense Attorney v. Prosecutor & Judge... but all too often Defense Attorney v. Prosecutor, Judge and YOUR OWN CLIENT!

• Another site I will be stealing from linking to frequently is Grits for Breakfast, a great blawg that focuses on Texas Criminal Justice, with a lot to say about juvenile law in Texas. GFB gave me the link to a Texas Criminal Defense Attorney who blogged about the differences in defense work, after serving as a prosecutor. Again, nothing shocking to my defense brethren, but comforting to see it in writing from another jurisdiction... it's the same all over!

Third, Blawgs react to the (horrible) decision in Herring v. U.S. [pdf]... Apparently our government of limited power can extend its power if the cops screw up...

• Jon Katz, MD
• And, of course, Simple Justice
  

Lastly, two Grits for Breakfast (again) postings about false confessions. First. and Second.

...and to sign off from my first substantive post... I steal quote Keith Olbermann...
who steals from... borrows...quotes... (no, no, no, as much as I agree with his politics, but not his methods).... Steals from Edward R. Murrow...

"Good night and good luck..."

Introduction, Welcome to ODAB

The intent of this chunk of webspace is to aggregate postings from around the web that I hope will be of interest to my colleagues. As defense attorneys, we need to be on top of new developments in a number of fields to stay on top of our game. We all know a once a year "Views from the Bench" CLE won't hack it. A sample of topics you can expect to find regularly addressed on these pages:

Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Amendment laws
Drug law reform
Juvenile Justice
Socioeconomic factors to Crime, Rehabilitation and Drug Abuse
Prison reform
Sex Offender Issues
Drug and Alcohol Abuse and Recovery
Death Penalty Issues
Evidence Law
Kentucky Law Updates

And much more.

At this time, I don't expect to be commenting too much on the links I post. As I said, i just want to create a convenient one-stop shop for interested colleagues, without flooding inboxes with "Hey, Read This Article" emails.

Again, this is the plan as of this first postings. As with an undertaking of this nature, I suspect a year from now this will be a very different animal than what I imagined.