Minnesota was one of the first states in the nation to establish a civil commitment program for violent sexual offenders. A federal court in June 2015 declared the state’s much mimicked 21-year-old program unconstitutional. That same day Texas Gov. Gregg…
CRIMINAL JURISDICTION
Criminal Jurisdiction:
A Criminal Law Blog from a Defense Perspective
2017
Category: Constitutional Law | Criminal Law | Federal Criminal Law
No man is above the law. That’s what former President Theodore Roosevelt told this nation.
President Donald J. Trump does not believe in this rule of law.
This was evidenced during a January 2016 campaign rally in Sioux…
2017
Category: Constitutional Law | Federal Criminal Law
Article II, Section 2, clause one, of the Constitution, dealing with the powers and duties of the President, provides that he or she “shall have the power to grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offences against the United States, except in…
2017
Category: Cryptocurrency | Cyber Crimes | Fraud
The federal government is undertaking a review of new kinds of financial fraud.
Cryptocurrency is a general term for digital, cloud-based currency which fluctuates in value. Some entrepreneurs are using these digital currencies to commit fraud, which has…
2017
Judges have a sworn duty to be impartial when trying cases, especially criminal cases where life and liberty are at stake and the government bears all burden of proof.
Elia Cornejo Lopez was elected to a criminal court judgeship…
2017
Category: Criminal Justice Reform | Criminal Law
The Chicago Police Department (CPD) is one of the oldest modern police forces in the world. Perhaps that explains the department long history of sordid misconduct which includes:
The systematic torture of African-American suspects between 1972-1991
Officers involved in…
2017
Category: Appeals | Criminal Law
Jamie Hallmark entered into a plea agreement in Houston County. The written agreement stated that when she showed up for sentencing, she would receive a three-year sentence unless she failed to show, at which time she would be sentenced within…
2017
Category: Constitutional Law | Criminal Justice Reform | Criminal Law
Karen Fonseca is a 46-year-old resident of Fort Bend County, Texas. She does not like President Donald Trump, and pretty much has the same feelings toward all the people in the county who voted for Trump. She expressed her displeasure…
2017
Category: Appeals | Criminal Law
Harris County’s Precinct 4 is the largest Constable’s office in the United States with nearly 500 sworn deputies funded by a $52 million annual budget. Mark Herman, a three decade veteran with the Precinct 4 office, was appointed constable by…
2017
Category: Criminal Law | Federal Criminal Law
The nation’s “prison industrial complex”—which drew its name from the “military industrial complex” coined by President Eisenhower in 1959—began in earnest with President’s Reagan “Crime Control Act of 1984” and was provided with steroids through President Clinton’s “Violent Crime Control…