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Public Defense

A Public Defender

Criminal law news from Connecticut and around the country.
By Gideon

Post Frequency: 10.1/day

Last Entry: March 31, 2011 at 12:17:35

What is our job?

Posted on June 15, 2008
The Windypundit, in an effort to get a fellow Chicago blogger blawging, asks indirectly whether our job is to protect people’s rights or to help criminals “get away with it”: Most criminal lawyers get asked that last question all the time, so I figured it was an easy one, but Rob took issue with my first [...

Sunday stupidity: gravity edition

Posted on June 15, 2008
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-IqlnCnKaM SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Sunday stupidity: gravity edition", url: "http://apublicdefender.com/2008/06/15/sunday-stupidity-gravity-edition/" });

Friday foux de fa fa

Posted on June 13, 2008
How many ways can one say TGIF? Here are a few: Happy Birthday Miranda Judge and prosecutor of death row inmate had secret relationship. Dallas public defender facing budget cuts. How photo arrays are really conducted (they tell you what to do). Norm fights for his client and gets what he wants...

Malum is back

Posted on June 12, 2008
Welcome back Malum In Se Hostis Civitas! SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Malum is back", url: "http://apublicdefender.com/2008/06/12/malum-is-back/" });

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Porn is in the eye of the beholder

Posted on June 12, 2008
A variant on “I’ll know it when I see it”. When the story broke yesterday that pornographic images and videos were discovered on the personal website of the Ninth Circuit’s Chief Judge Alex Kozinski, I was naturally curious to see these pictures and read about how they were discovered...

The purpose of habeas corpus

Posted on June 12, 2008
More from Boumediene: Indeed, common-law habeas corpus was, above all, an adaptable remedy. Its precise application and scope changed depending upon the circumstances. See 3 Blackstone *131 (describing habeas as ?the great and efficacious writ, in all manner of illegal confinement?); see also Schlup v...

Boumediene and habeas corpus

Posted on June 12, 2008
Plenty of other commentators have far more intelligent comments and insights on Boumediene [pdf] than I have to offer, so I will direct you to them (see this SCOTUSblog post for a collection of links as well). I do want to leave you with this quote from Justice Kennedy’s opinion, via Orin at Volokh: Officials charged with [...

Futility

Posted on June 11, 2008
I’ve spent the last hour or so looking for a new theme. Ugh. No luck whatsoever. Some came close, but not close enough. So you guys are stuck with the status quo for now. Sorry. SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Futility", url: "http://apublicdefender...

The invisible ?trend?: banned words

Posted on June 11, 2008
Alternate title: It’s better to keep your mouth shut and let people think you’re stupid… From CrimProf and Appellate Law, this story about a growing “trend” where judges are preventing witnesses from using words that are legal conclusions...

More comment remixing

Posted on June 09, 2008
I’ve just intalled and activated a new comment plugin that provides a few more features. Since no one besides me seems to use nested comments to reply directly to the comment they’re replying to, now there are two additional buttons: reply and quote...

Monday Morning Jumpstart

Posted on June 09, 2008
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...

Sunday Stupidity: Tropic Thunder edition

Posted on June 08, 2008
From the MTV Movie Awards, a funny skit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TqAMTKNxX40 SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Sunday Stupidity: Tropic Thunder edition", url: "http://apublicdefender.com/2008/06/08/sunday-stupidity-tropic-thunder-edition/" });

The criminal justice paradox in Connecticut

Posted on June 08, 2008
This is a post that has been in the making for a long time. It is incomplete and at times will be incoherent. These are questions, however, that I think are worth exploring and attempting to answer. So bear with me on this Sunday as I ramble. Anyone who has followed this blog for the past [...

Judge for a Day III

Posted on June 07, 2008
Here’s another installment of “Judge for a day”. The setup, for new readers, is simple. I give you a factual scenario, you tell me what sentence you’d impose as a judge. The facts are as follows: Defendant is involved in a DUI accident...

A horse I can get behind

Posted on June 07, 2008
Teen brings pony to last day of school, gets arrested. Full post later. SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "A horse I can get behind", url: "http://apublicdefender.com/2008/06/07/a-horse-i-can-get-behind/" });

Whither humanity?

Posted on June 06, 2008
Here’s the video of the hit and run that has CT in an uproar. Warning: It’s pretty disturbing. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQad4Y1SZGs SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Whither humanity?", url: "http://apublicdefender.com/2008/06/06/whither-humanity/" });

Et tu Florida?

Posted on June 04, 2008
Don’t feel so lonely, Minnesota. You’re not alone. As a wave of cuts in indigent funding seems to be sweeping across the country, Floridians are next in line to be submurged under the tides of cutbacks. The Miami-Dade Public Defender’s Office plans to begin turning away thousands of cases in the coming weeks, arguing it is [...

The tender Crawford

Posted on June 04, 2008
As if child sex cases weren’t difficult enough, there are a couple of disturbing developments (at least here in CT) in this arena. The first, covered well by Norm, is a proposed change to the Connecticut Code of Evidence. Norm explains: Proposed Section 8-10 of the Rules would permit a statement made by a child to be [...

On the law

Posted on June 04, 2008
From Fred Rodell: The Law is the killy-loo bird of the sciences. The killy-loo, of course, was the bird that insisted on flying backward because it didn?t care where it was going but was mightily interested in where it had been. And certainly The Law, when it moves at all, does so by flapping clumsily and [...

Monday Morning Jumpstart: June Swoon

Posted on June 02, 2008
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...

Sunday stupidity: $50k edition

Posted on June 01, 2008
SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Sunday stupidity: $50k edition", url: "http://apublicdefender.com/2008/06/01/sunday-stupidity-50k-edition/" });

Leaving town

Posted on June 01, 2008
A beautiful sketch. Look around, there’s lots of good stuff. SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Leaving town", url: "http://apublicdefender.com/2008/06/01/leaving-town/" });

Much ado about douchebaging?

Posted on May 30, 2008
The blawgosphere is up in arms about the 2nd Circuit’s decision today in Doninger v. Niehoff, a.k.a., the “douchebag” case (get the witty title? ;)) I have not been inclined to follow this case very closely and I will admit that I made up my mind early on, stemming from some archaic sense of discipline and [...

6 tips for being an effective trial lawyer

Posted on May 28, 2008
Mike at C&F reviews a book that he recently read (and recommends), entitled “Don’t Believe Everything You Think: The 6 Basic Mistakes We Make in Thinking.” It is primarily a book about the human mind and the tricks it plays on us...

Tackling the real cause of recidivism

Posted on May 28, 2008
It is no secret that one of the main causes of recidivism is a lack of opportunities for recently released offenders. As I’ve stated before, I’d like to see states take steps to ensure that, upon release, offenders have access to housing and jobs...

New Haven cop sentenced

Posted on May 28, 2008
to 15 months for stealing money and manipulating evidence. SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "New Haven cop sentenced", url: "http://apublicdefender.com/2008/05/28/new-haven-cop-sentenced/" });

New York has full faith and credit

Posted on May 28, 2008
In a very, very interesting move, N.Y. Governor David Paterson has directed state agencies to revise their regulations to recognize same-sex marriages performed in other jurisdictions. This will make NY the first (and only?) state to have no legislation permitting same-sex marriages, but policies recognizing those marriages from other states...

How stupid are we?

Posted on May 28, 2008
I don’t know what’s worse: That people saw terrorist undertones in this picture or that Dunkin Donuts yanked it. Image: Dunkin Donuts/L.A. Times Tags: rachael+ray, dunkin+donutsSHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "How stupid are we?", url: "http://apublicdefender...

The mess in Minnesota

Posted on May 28, 2008
45 years after Gideon’s promise, it seems that Minnesota is going backwards. It always astounds me when I read stories from other states about their public defense systems and their inadequate funding. Makes me feel lucky and proud to be in CT. But this is utter nonsense...

Monday Morning Jumpstart: Memorial Day edition

Posted on May 26, 2008
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...

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