An arrest can be a traumatic experience.
Last year NBC News reported about the arrest of 16-year-old Trevor Lawrence in Washington, D.C. The Black teenager was standing in line in a sandwich shop when two white police officers entered…
2022
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An arrest can be a traumatic experience.
Last year NBC News reported about the arrest of 16-year-old Trevor Lawrence in Washington, D.C. The Black teenager was standing in line in a sandwich shop when two white police officers entered…
On November 14, 2022, Taylor Renee Parker became the seventh woman to arrive on Texas’ death row. The 29-year-old Parker was convicted on October 4, 2022, of capital murder by a Bowie County jury. On November 9, 2022, the jury …
Category: Capital Crimes | Criminal Law | Death Penalty
On November 9, 2022, the State of Texas executed 61-year-old Tracy Lane Beatty. He was the 577th person put to death by lethal injection in this State since 1982. Scores of these individuals were executed despite highly credible evidence of…
Category: bail reform | Criminal Justice Reform | Criminal Law
In current reelection campaign ads, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott tries to bolster his artificial “law-and-order” bona fides with assertions that he stopped dangerous criminal predators from being released from jail through a “cashless” bail system. The campaign ad is vintage…
Category: Constitutional Law | Criminal Law | Federal Criminal Law
The Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution provides five distinct procedural safeguards for those accused of a crime and to secure life, liberty, and property. Those safeguards are:
right to grand jury indictment for capital or infamous crime;
double jeopardy,…
Category: Constitutional Law | Criminal Law
The August 8, 2022 search and seizure at former President Donald J. Trump’s Mar-A-Lago private club/residence by the FBI has put the issues of search warrants, subpoenas, and probable cause at the forefront of political debate and social discourse across…
Bigamy and polygamy are illegal in all 50 states. It is irrelevant to the criminal law that all the spouses in a polygamous marriage are aware of the other spouses and choose to voluntarily engage in such a marriage for…
Category: Criminal Justice Reform | Criminal Law | Due Process | Jury Selection
Texan and former U.S. Supreme Court Justice Tom C. Clark once said, “The jury system improves the quality of justice and is the sole means of keeping its administration attuned to community standards.”
The Constitution of the United States and…
Category: bail reform | Criminal Justice Reform | Criminal Law
The COVID 19 pandemic (“pandemic”) taught the American criminal justice system one thing: the nation’s cash bail system is a for-profit practice that has nothing to do with public safety. …
Category: Appeals | Criminal Law | Federal Criminal Law | SCOTUS
The Sixth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution guarantees a criminal defendant the right to effective assistance of counsel at both the trial and appellate level. A defendant raising an ineffective assistance claim in a post-conviction proceeding must meet a two-prong…