Showing posts with label process. Show all posts
Showing posts with label process. Show all posts

Thomas Sowell: Supreme Hypocrisy

Politics as usual.  If there is one thing that is bipartisan in Washington, it is brazen hypocrisy. Currently there is much indignation being expressed by Democrats because the Republican-controlled Senate refuses to hold confirmation hearings on President Obama's nominee to the Supreme Court, to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Justice Antonin ... MORE

How The West Was Shunned In Primary Politics

by Froma Harrop.   There's a not-insignificant part of the United States known as the West Coast. It includes such prominent states as California, Oregon and Washington. These states have yet to hold a single presidential primary or caucus. But at 8 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time on Tuesday, this population center of 50 million-plus souls was informed that the ... MORE

New Hampshire Committee Approves Jury Nullification Bill

Because justice is a result, not just a process. A New Hampshire House committee has approved a bill that would make jury nullification an official aspect of the state legal system. A coalition of nine representatives introduced House Bill 1270 (HB1270) in January. The legislation would allow a defendant or defense attorney to request that the court  ... MORE

Why Grand Juries Are A Prosecutor's Best Friend

by Sara J. Berman.   Choosing evidence to control the outcome. Unlike a preliminary hearing, held in court with the defense side present, the grand jury does not make its decision in the context of an adversary proceeding. Rather, grand jurors see and hear only what prosecutors put before them. (Prosecutors technically have an obligation to     ... MORE

Frank Parlato: It's Time You Understood Jury Nullification

Justice is a result, not simply a process.   Jury nullification is the term used when a jury – or even a single juror – votes to acquit a criminal defendant who is technically guilty, but who juror(s) do not believe deserve punishment. It occurs in a trial when a jury reaches a verdict contrary to the judge’s instructions. It occurs when a single juror  ... MORE

Cynthia M. Cale: Forensic DNA Evidence Is Not Infallible

Some new techniques have higher probability of error. Earlier this month, the Texas Forensic Science Commission raised concerns about the accuracy of the statistical interpretation of DNA evidence, and it is now checking whether convictions going back more than a decade are safe. Despite how it is often portrayed, in the media and in courts,    ... MORE

How Presidential Debates Have Rigged The Election

by Alexandra Shapiro.  Suppose Congress passed a law that said only Democrats and Republicans can ever be president of the United States. You don’t need to be a lawyer to know this would be unconstitutional — and completely antithetical to what a democracy is supposed to be about. In our form of government, people get to choose their leaders.    ... MORE

Dreadful Criminal Justice System Destroyed Kalief Browder

by Scott Schackford.   Elizabeth Nolan Brown linked to a piece at The New Yorker this morning about the suicide of Kalief Browder, 22, who spent three years at Rikers Island, often stuck in solitary confinement, without ever seeing a trial. The journalist, Jennifer Gonnerman, originally dove deep into Browder's case back in October, and it's worthy  ... MORE

How Jury Duty Almost Turned Me Into An Anarchist

by Matt Welch.     A painful government process. "Jury duty!?!?" the former aide to a certain libertarianish senator wrote me Tuesday, after I had mentioned how I was spending my day. "A very anti-libertarian and statist idea. Compulsory service to the state. I treat jury duty like I treat voting—I show up if I feel like it. And I have not felt like showing  ... MORE