There are actually 52 court systems in the United States: the 50 state systems, the federal system, and the local court system in the District of Columbia. The supremacy clause of the U.S. Constitution requires that federal law trumps any…
Category: Criminal Law
2016
The current presidential election campaign has awakened the racial divide in this country. And it’s not a pretty sight. The latest example of this divide is the controversy swirling around the “fist salute” given by 16 graduating African-American female cadets…
2016
Category: Criminal Law | DWI
Currently pending before the Supreme Court are consolidated cases from Minnesota and North Dakota—under the title of Birchfield v. North Dakota—that could significantly change the way states deal with suspected drunk drivers.
The question before the Court is this:…
2016
You know there is a need for “reform” when all sides of the political spectrum join forces in demanding it. The staggering expense of incarceration has compelled both liberal and conservative elected officials and advocacy groups to stand together in…
2016
Category: Criminal Law
We recently posted a piece about bail which is an essential component of our criminal justice system but which is too often abused by those in charge of running it. What we did not discuss in that piece are the…
2016
Category: Criminal Law | Uncategorized
The recent dust up between former President Bill Clinton and the activist from Black Lives Matter raised the serious, and quite relevant, question about whether there are two systems of justice in this country, one white, one black.
Clinton…
2016
Category: Criminal Law | State of Texas Law
This past February the Texas Forensic Science Commission (TFSC) recommended that Texas courts discontinue allowing prosecutors to introduce bite mark evidence in criminal trials to prove the guilt of defendants.
A study produced last year by the American Board…
2016
Category: Criminal Law | Prosecutorial Misconduct
Keeping African Americans off juries in criminal case is not a new phenomenon. In fact, currently pending before the U.S. Supreme Court is the case of Timothy Foster—a teenager convicted in a 1987 capital trial in Rome, Georgia during which…
2016
Category: Appeals | Criminal Law | Guns
A stun gun is more commonly known as a Taser. It is a device or weapon from which an electrical current may be fired through wires with the ability to incapacitate, injured or even kill someone.
In 2014, the…
2016
Category: Appeals | Criminal Law | Sex Crimes
In September 1994, four San Antonio women—Elizabeth Ramirez, Cassandra Rivera, Anna Vasquez, and Kristie Mayhugh—were arrested and charged with sexually assaulting two nieces, ages 9 and 7, of Ramirez. All admitted lesbians, the four women soon found themselves the focus…