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Thanks to the long weekend, the Jumpstart will not be ready until later this evening, when it will be called (as usual) the wind-down. My apologies. If you’re itchin’ for some readin’, click on some links on the left.

Who’da thunk it? Fourth of July is almost around the corner (and fireworks are still illegal) and before you know it, it’ll be snowing again. Dammit.

These stories and posts should take your mind of that chilling eventuality:

• A whole bunch of new laws go into effect Tuesday - including, ofcourse, the stiffer penalties for home invasions.
• What effect will California’s same-sex ruling have on the CT Supreme Court (whose decision has been pending over a year, btw)?
• Georgia’s Supreme Court is poised to review a non-capital sentence for proportionality under the Eight Amendment.
• SexCrimes has all the post mortem on Kennedy.
• Scott brings us a juror’s take on a potential sentence incorporating acquitted conduct.
• Maybe our job is not thankless after all?
• The Confrontation Blog deconstructs Giles - part one and part two.
• Answering some questions on the impact of Heller.
• My post on the CT Supreme Court’s year-in-the-making magnum opus reversing kidnapping precedent is here.

Enjoy the day!

photo credit: Taekwonweirdo

Apparently there’s a hail advisory for this part of the State. Which one of you angered the weather Gods? Make it up to them by spending your morning reading some of these stories and posts:

• Rest in peace, George Carlin.
• The big news in Kansas is that juveniles now have the right to a jury trial.
• SL & P brings us news of a bizarre motion filed by prosecutors in a death case, seeking to bar the defense attorneys from crying in court. The comments are a must-read too.
• A prosecutor admits to throwing a re-trial where there was strong evidence of innocence. More from Talkleft.
• Man sues church after falling due to receiving the holy spirit. Yeah, it’s exactly what you think it is.
• The Kelo decision was not that bad.
• Western Justice ponders the existence of a “crime gene”.
• Grits reports on how flawed ID and crime lab procedures not only imprison innocent men, but also hamper crime-solving.
• Anne Reed loves the bumper sticker question.
• From across the pond: defendants have the right to know the identity of witnesses testifying against them.
• CDW’s weekly edition is here.
• AFI’s Top 10 courtroom dramas.
• Having wrapped up Hartford’s crime problem, mayor Eddie Perez led a demonstration outside the Hartford Courant to protest anonymous commenters on its message boards.

Have a good day!

It’s going to be a busy week folks, so posting may be slow. These stories should tide you over, at least for today:

• America’s oldest continuously published newspaper is about to undergo some drastic changes for the worse.
• Blackwater joins the “war on drugs”.
• From Co-Op, what to watch for in D.C. v. Heller (the gun case).
• There’s no such thing as closure.
• Why jurors found R.Kelly not guilty.
• Another district court finds a portion of the Adam Walsh Act unconstitutional.
• Scott on why Kozinski’s recusal creates a bigger problem than the files on his computer.
• Jailhouse lawyer helps reverse conviction.
• The country’s public defender systems are crumbling.

Looks like others were busy this weekend too. Have a good day!

photo credit: David C. Foster

It’s going to be a scorcher today!

• CT’s Supreme Court issues a gay marriage ruling.
• Another Texas oddity: A motor vehicle known as the Cruzin’ Cooler. Take a guess.
• Someone far smarter than me tries to untangle the hodgepodge in U.S. v. Santos
• A law grad in Michigan was denied admission to the bar after he answered truthfully about his views on the justice system.
• America’s prison population has hit an all-time high (particularly amusing to me since I spent all day yesterday watching the first season of Weeds. Yes, that is a pot joke).
• Mark Bennett exposes yet another member of the seedy bar: Ollie the Cabdrivertising Attorney. We all have an Ollie in our local bars.
• Anne Reed on gaze aversion by jurors.
• NY appellate court upholds warrantless use of GPS to track suspect.
• When you fight about everything in a case and file stupid motions, you get rulings like this.
• Juries writes about CT’s new opt-in jury duty law and the Constitutional problems it might present.
• Lowering the bar reviews the history of the use of the F-word in SCOTUS oral arguments.
• Norm is on trial representing a long-lost Bobbitt.
• SL & P reports that the “soft on crime” presidential mud-slinging has begun.
• Obscenity is what 6 people think it is: “Max Hardcore” found guilty.
• Scott comments on a judge finally using discretion to block attempts to give a defendant a length sentence.
• CDW’s weekly edition is here.

June is here! Here are some stories to get your day (and month) started:

• The Day has this great feature on the New London public defender’s office.
• Mike at C&F takes on the anti-gay marriage lobby.
• Ken at KL deconstructs a dashboard-cam video and concludes that the cop was justified in shooting.
• Mark Bennett leaves the hidden meaning in this sentence up to us.
• A Seattle judge rules that breathalyzer tests will be inadmissible until accuracy questions are resolved.
• Yet another mis-ID wrongful conviction from IL.
• Grits reports that some police depts in TX are doing the right thing by dismissing cases after evidence room thefts.
• Charles Kenville at the Iowa Champion breaks down the reasons why it is a good idea never to talk to the cops.
• Norm brings some much needed sanity to the Doninger case.
• Scott writes of people’s fascination with crime and criminals.
• SL&P has this post about the inevitability of GPS monitoring and technocorrections.

Short list today, but I have to get out and enjoy the day!

Just because I was on sabbatical doesn’t mean the rest of the blogosphere was too. They kept themselves busy and here are some of the choice stories:

• Dan Solove at Co-op suggests further that the Federal statute used to indict Lori Drew is unconstitionally vague.
• Mike at C&F points to contradiction between the government freezing assets upon arrest and the presumption of innocence. More from CrimProf blog.
• Mark Bennett tells us the humorous story of a reporter who made several attempts to interview a defendant and then referred his attorney to the First Amendment.
• Anne Reed brings us the latest tale of Batson challenges, this time because of cameras in the courtroom. Maybe this’ll change Norm’s mind about them.
• EvidenceProf has a new essay arguing that there should be a “wrongful incarceration/execution” exception to attorney-client confidentiality.
• David Giacalone at f/k/a has this absolutely riveting post on the meaning and pronunciation of the word synecdoche.
• Grits asks that question: Is LWOP worse than the death penalty [Scott answers it - I think - here], while continuing his outstanding coverage of the LDS disaster.
• From SL&P, a story about the Japanese using technology to avoid sentencing disparities.
• Professor Scott takes on that old law school staple: the slippery slope.
• Skelly does some super sleuthing.
• CDW reports on a possible TX death-row exoneration.

Enjoy the day off!

The sands of time are unstoppable! Welcome to almost-June. Sigh.

• Mike at C&F takes the church to task on its “marriage only between man and woman because of procreation” position.
• The ’sphere is beginning to pick up the “H.I.V. spit as deadly weapon” story I noted a few days ago: Grits here and Scott here.
• The Juries blog has an update on FL’s new policy permitting jurors to ask questions, which I was not a fan of. The verdict: working out pretty well! Goes to show what I know…
• CDW’s weekly roundup is here.
• Strange discussion over at Volokh on “stupid nerds” and whether they’re the ones who shoot up schools.
• Old school Bill O’Reilly - remixed.
• Man in jail because daughter fails to get GED = no wonder there’s prison overcrowding
• BCT laments the lack of a unified open file/Brady policy.
• Blawg Review #160 is up across the pond.
• MO’s legislature has kicked knee-jerk into high gear in response to the Lori Drew/Megan Meier incident with a poorly written piece of legisation.
• A Florida license with a Virginia address: It’s legal.
• Cops in NJ don’t have to reveal their surveillance locations during examination.
• EyeID points out flaws in the ABA’s proposed cross-racial jury instruction.
• British judges drop the wigs.
• Author pleads guilty in obscene text case, leaving Constitutional challenge for someone else.
• Norm’s latest update on the Fieger trial.
• SL & P brings us some troubling evidence of racial disparity in sentencing.
• Scott wonders (not really) why law enforcement seem to only have recordings of conversations that harm our clients.
• The Windypundit is looking for a Chicago criminal defense attorney. Got one to recommend?

Have a good day!

photo credit: coalandice

Isn’t it remarkable how time always flies in the spring and summer and crawls along in the fall and winter? We’re already into the second week of May. Don’t blink, or you’ll miss the rest of it. In fact, keep your eyes wide open and enjoy the following stories and blog posts:

• S.cotus at Appellate points out the silliness in CNN legal commentator Sunny Hostin’s rant about pro-se defendants.
• Here’s one way to avoid jury duty: get high outside the courthouse. Of course, that all but ensures repeat trips to the building, but hey, at least its not for jury duty.
• Law Geek index is at 100 with this post, fantasizing about introducing real legal concepts to Grand Theft Auto IV.
• It might be a good idea to let your client know that you’re being prosecuted too.
• Mark Bennett wonders if there is a market for the hired-gun prosecutor.
• The Fifth Circuit comes close to reversing another conviction for (not so?) faulty voir dire.
• Grits turns his attention to the next frontier in wrongful convictions: Arson.
• Lawmakers in Missoura are voting on a proposal to require proof of citizenship from anyone registering to vote.
• Three eight-graders suspended for not standing during the pledge of allegiance.
• Iowa’s Supreme Court approves of indefinite confinement of “Sexually Violent Predators”.
• Are cameras reducing crime in Philly? asks the Judgment Day blog.
• The Judge who sued the Korean dry cleaners for $65mil (and lost) is now suing to get his job back (and only $1mil in damages).
• Norm Pattis takes issue with CJ Rogers’ proposal to allow camera phones into courts. I disagree.
• Prof. Berman points to an editorial on racial inequality and drug arrests and Scott goes in-depth. (Berman’s also making a short-list of possible SCOTUS appointees).
• Then there’s the whole “rape by fraud” melee.
• Has the defense bar been gutted by fear?
• The Legal Satyricon has the latest on the AutoAdmit/Yale defamation lawsuit.
• The CT Lege’s special session may include ethics reform.
• The Windypundit has another radical idea for reform: Permit lawyers to use peremptories on judges.

What? You want more?

photo credit: (nutmeg)

Happy Cinco de Mayo folks! Hope you all treated yourself to a cerveza today. If not, just ogle the picture in this post.

Here’s what you missed while boozin’ it up in honor of the 5th of May:

• Norm takes umbrage at defendant’s tactics of throwing his client - New Haven detective Clarence Willoughby - under the bus.
• Scott once again lambasts former Judge Cassell for his approval of a curious article that concludes blacks receive longer sentences because they are, well, more prone to committing crimes. Be warned, some seemingly racist commenters have crawled out of the woodwork.
• What’s the best defense for the guy that tried to cash a check for $360 billion.
• A survival guide to legal blogs and blogging, from Bag and Baggage. She’s right - that cover is fantastic.
• Crime and Consequences is miffed by “us” when we “blur the line between an inability to reprosecute and actual proof of innocence”. Uh, okay.
• Carolyn Elefant reminds us to stop naysaying.
• An explosion rattled the San Diego Federal Courthouse early yesterday morning.
• From LBW, man asks court to change his name to “In God We Trust”.
• SL & P brings us the story of how fiscal pressures are leading states to release inmates early.
• Volokh tries to make sense of this L.A. Times article about twisting DNA statistics.
• An update on Tim Masters.
• The WSJ Law Blog asks if lawyers blogging about cases is a good thing or a bad thing.
• CDW’s weekly roundup is here.
• The Top 11 Jesus sightings.
• The Windypundit has yet another idea to reform the criminal justice system: make juries rule on Motions.
• Mark Bennett hands out the first Asshat of the Day Award (ADA).
• Alltop.com launched its Law section, compiling posts from the top blawgs.

Don’t overdo it! It’s only Monday, after all.