Blog Posts

The single most important criminal justice reform within reach in each statehouse is the elimination of mandatory minimum prison sentences and consequences. The ends of justice require it. Sound economics counsel it. Only anger and fear stand in the way of meaningful reform.Law students are taught,...

The single most important criminal justice reform within reach in each statehouse is the elimination of mandatory minimum prison sentences and consequences. The ends of justice require it. Sound economics counsel it. Only anger and fear stand in the way of meaningful reform.
Law students are...

I received an email from a reader of this blog at about midnight last night. He did not believe he belonged on his state's sex offender registry, could I help?
Lawyers are must seek a separate license for each jurisdiction in which they want to practice. While nothing prevents a lawyer from...

The world is composed of four classes of people, at least that is so in the bizarre cosmos of federal law enforcement. Understanding what to do when an anonymous lawman moves you from one category to another may be the difference between freedom and prison.
Like it or not, we are all subjects....

It is the Fourth of July, or close enough to it to write about it. That means it is time for the inevitable patriotic gush. I should hold forth about how happy I am to be an American. I should declare that the great promise of liberty for all has been redeemed on these shores. I should re-read the...

A law student I admire sent me a note not long ago asking, in effect, whether those calling for the reform of sex offender legislation were opposed to punishment for those engaged in real acts of sexual misconduct. The hypothetical case she used as an example was that of a 50-year-old man who...

In a better world we could all be prosecutors, at least some of the time. I know I wish I had the experience of prosecuting a person accused of a crime. I was reminded of this by reading the post of a law student, Laura McWilliams, who has decided that she wants to land on the state's side of the...

I've been hearing the sound of one hand clapping for the past couple of weeks, and was prepared to ignore it. But I've never been good at walking away from controversy. I suppose that is why I gravitated to the law.
Blogging has become second nature to me. I do it because I am proud and like it...

Elena Kagan will be confirmed as the next justice of the United States Supreme Court. But I wish the Senate would withhold approval. If she believes it is inappropriate to comment on the issues that might come before her, then the Senate should respond by doing likewise: Refusing to...

Mickey Sherman stumbled yesterday, but will he fall? Most likely not. He's got powerful friends and a telegenic smile. Odds are, yesterday's conviction for failure to pay taxes will simply be a bump in the road. But it will be a close call. A very close call. And knowing Mickey, he might just come...