I What is Terrorism? In 2003, I read a book by Caleb Carr called The Lessons of Terror. In it, Carr argued that terrorism is a military threat and should be handled by the military in the way that the… Continue Reading
Here’s the memo. Some people seem to have not got it yet, so I’m giving you the salient points here. We do not afford criminals due process because we think the criminals are morally worthy of much of anything. They… Continue Reading
The Old Bailey is London’s primary criminal courthouse and has been for quite some time. Someone has done something rather extraordinary — compiled and made searchable on the internet records of every case the Bailey handled from 1674 to 1913. … Continue Reading
When the Legislature passes a law, with a plain, obvious meaning on its face, and a judge gets a case implicating that statute, and makes a point of saying that he thinks its result is “absurd” and instead creates his… Continue Reading
Biblical cherry picking doesn’t come any more awfully ironic than this. A better example of using religion to cloak naked, indefensible bigotry and hate is difficult to imagine. Regardless of whether the wearer of this tattoo had read Leviticus 19:28, his… Continue Reading
The Governator’s wife has been caught, three times, driving while using a cell phone. That’s all right — when her husband signed that new law requiring the use of hands-free sets while driving, he didn’t mean you. Governor Schwarzenegger promises… Continue Reading
Problem: You’re in custody for multiple armed robberies. This kind of sucks. You’d much rather be out at your liberty in the big, big city of New York. Solution: Wear a nice suit, politely and calmly ask a deputy where… Continue Reading
For some reason, the arrest and attempted extradition of Roman Polanski seems to be capturing everyone’s attention. I guess when you’re rich and famous, your doings are important to everyone. If Roman Polanski were not rich and famous, we wouldn’t… Continue Reading
It has long been the case that police have been held to a different, and frequently more lenient, standard with respect to the administration of criminal justice. Case in point: Actually, I think that the public ridicule of being mocked… Continue Reading
…So says the chief of police. Which is kind of an understatement. Dateline: Lakeland, Florida. Cops execute a search warrant, and bust in to a (suspected) drug-dealer’s house to seize evidence. While some of them search through the house, tag… Continue Reading