The So-Called Austin Mayor blog links to a Sun Times column by Mary Mitchell about some Chicago cops who were called in to do a welfare check on 82-year-old Lillian Fletcher and ended up tasering her. I'm not particularly willing to let cops get away with stuff, and this sounds pretty awful, but...I think the cops might have done the best they could in a … [Read more...] about Tasering During a Welfare Check
More Economic Thinking About Snitching
I'm having a little trouble finding time to keep up the conversation, but Scott Greenfield at Simple Justice has responded to my speculative post on why clients might prefer to hire a lawyer who refuses to represent snitches. He says some nice things about me, but his response makes it clear that I get way too much of my information about the criminal justice system from … [Read more...] about More Economic Thinking About Snitching
Snitching and Criminal Defense
Some of the practicing lawyers in the blogosphere are arguing about whether it's ethical to refuse to represent clients who snitch to the government to get a better deal. On one side we have Mark Bennett, who refuses to have anything to do with snitches. His contract with his clients makes this clear in advance. Scott Greenfield at Simple Justice feels about the same way. On … [Read more...] about Snitching and Criminal Defense
Scattershot
A few random shots: New York mayor Micheal Bloomberg thinks that having illegal drugs in your system when you die undoes the heroism of an NYPD detective who was one of the first on the scene at Ground Zero. Find out the salary of every single employee of the City of Chicago or Cook County. Scott H. Greenfield notes that it's "better to be gouged and fed then to not be … [Read more...] about Scattershot
Scattershot Posting
A few random shots: How not to run a confidential tip line. (ht Balko) Mike Mette's dad is driving him to prison. If the G.I. Joe movie ever makes it out of development, rumor has it Joe might lose his American identity and become a member of an international special forces team based in Brussels, presumably working for the European Union. Maybe he could go … [Read more...] about Scattershot Posting