tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-49850220680473284692024-03-16T03:00:48.039-04:00Criminal Law Practitioner BlogAmerican University Washington College of LawCriminal Law Brief Staffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09566844478679058150noreply@blogger.comBlogger267125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4985022068047328469.post-90804007658836515482015-09-08T10:21:00.000-04:002015-09-08T10:21:01.618-04:00D.C. Takes Bold Steps to Implement Body Cameras, Leading the Nation in Transparency<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; margin-bottom: 8px;">
Overview: </div>
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Since a grand jury declined to indict Darren Wilson for shooting and killing Michael Brown a year ago in Ferguson, Missouri, the public has called for reforms that would require law enforcement officers to wear body<a href="http://money.cnn.com/2015/08/07/investing/ferguson-body-cameras-taser-digital-ally/"> cameras while on duty</a>.<sup></sup> In that case, a series of witnesses had claimed Brown was shot while fleeing from Wilson and raising his hands <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2014/nov/24/ferguson-police-darren-wilson-michael-brown-no-charges">as if to surrender</a>.<sup></sup> However, according to the prosecuting attorney, several of those witnesses later recanted or admitted to not seeing the <a href="http://shooting./">shooting.</a><sup></sup> Proponents of placing body cameras on law enforcement officers claim that the cameras would benefit both police and civilians by better holding the police accountable for their treatment of suspects as well as helping to exonerate officers falsely accused of <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2014/nov/24/ferguson-police-darren-wilson-michael-brown-no-charges">misconduct</a>.<sup></sup> A poll conducted by <a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/news/americans-remain-divided-in-views-on-race-relations/">CBS revealed that 91 percent </a>of respondents supported on-duty police officers wearing body cameras.<sup></sup> Additionally, a study conducted by the University of Cambridge’s Institute of Criminology found that body-worn cameras reduced complaints against police by 90 percent and the use of force by police <a href="http://www.newsweek.com/amidst-debate-study-finds-body-cameras-decrease-polices-use-force-295315">by 50 percent</a>.<sup></sup></div>
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Under a new plan from District of Columbia Mayor Muriel E. Bowser, the city would release more footage from body cameras worn by law enforcement officers <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/dc-politics/dc-would-release-most-police-body-camera-footage-under-mayors-new-plan/2015/08/10/8b712128-3f11-11e5-b989-c4297962b4b8_story.html">than any other major U.S. city</a>.<sup></sup> Not only would the footage recorded by the body cameras be available for use in courtroom proceedings, but, also under Mayor Bowser’s proposal, private individuals will be able to request body camera footage recorded in public <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/dc-politics/dc-would-release-most-police-body-camera-footage-under-mayors-new-plan/2015/08/10/8b712128-3f11-11e5-b989-c4297962b4b8_story.html">outdoor spaces.</a><sup></sup> However, under Mayor Bowser’s plan, the public would <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/dc-politics/dc-would-release-most-police-body-camera-footage-under-mayors-new-plan/2015/08/10/8b712128-3f11-11e5-b989-c4297962b4b8_story.html">not have access to recordings taken indoors</a>.<sup></sup> Recordings taken in private indoor spaces would be exempt from disclosure under public record laws, attempting to balance the right to privacy with the <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/dc-politics/dc-would-release-most-police-body-camera-footage-under-mayors-new-plan/2015/08/10/8b712128-3f11-11e5-b989-c4297962b4b8_story.html">need for transparency</a>.<sup></sup> Yet, the exact line between a public space and a private one remains blurred for the time being. For example, Mayor Bowser has not made clear whether footage recorded in a department store, bar, or college dormitory will be considered private or public for the purposes of disclosure under public record laws.</div>
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Other major U.S. cities are also attempting to implement body cameras. Los Angeles recently approved the use of 7,000 body cameras to equip nearly all of its officers; however, <a href="http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-lapd-body-cameras-rules-20150427-story.html#page=1">debates ensued over who should be able to view the recordings</a>.<sup></sup> The approved plan in Los Angeles places a blanket ban on releasing the footage outside of formal legal proceedings and allow officers to have the first look at<a href="http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-lapd-body-cameras-rules-20150427-story.html#page=1"> the footage</a>.<sup></sup> New York began implementing body cameras in <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/50-nypd-cops-set-wearing-body-cameras-pilot-program-article-1.1927876">September of 2014</a><sup></sup>; however, debates continue on whether the recordings should be available to the public or whether disclosure would be prevented by a New York law that prevents the disclosure of records that could be used to <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/dc-politics/dc-would-release-most-police-body-camera-footage-under-mayors-new-plan/2015/08/10/8b712128-3f11-11e5-b989-c4297962b4b8_story.html">evaluate an officer’s performance</a>.<sup></sup> San Diego’s police chief, while stating that San Diego police officers who wore cameras used less force and received fewer complains from citizens, stood firmly behind the department’s policy of not releasing video footage obtained from body cameras to the <a href="http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/2015/may/18/body-camera-website-conference-zimmerman/">media</a>.<sup></sup> </div>
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It is clear that Mayor Bowser’s plan for implementing body cameras in the District of Columbia is a bold and decisive move towards transparency in law enforcement, surpassing other movements throughout the Nation. The implementation of Mayor Bowser’s plan will certainly affect both practitioners representing both civilian and police defendants as well as prosecutors dealing with self-defense claims and cases of alleged police misconduct. Footage taken from body cameras would present undisputed facts, and a trial would, therefore, focus mostly on legal issues. The clear evidence provided by body cameras would thus facilitate plea deals, quicker settlements, and judgments as a matter of law. Also, it may be difficult to suppress evidence obtained from body cameras as it would be highly probative to the fact finder. A practitioner moving to suppress such evidence would have to demonstrate that the footage is somehow prejudicial. Additionally, where the footage is not released to the public and is only available for courtroom use, the prosecutors may be required to produce the footage, and defense attorneys may have an ethical duty to acquire the footage and review it with their clients. Also, venue problems may arise where body camera footage is available to the media, as jurors may be unfairly prejudiced by the media’s portrayal of the footage. The introduction of evidence from body cameras is likely to be a huge game-changer in criminal cases that will keep practitioners on their toes.</div>
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By Alyssa Mance</div>
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Senior Staffer </div>
Criminal Law Practitioner Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02441151995382969692noreply@blogger.com390tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4985022068047328469.post-17109197987842263762015-08-31T21:10:00.000-04:002015-08-31T21:10:41.506-04:00Untested Rape Kits: Who is to blame and what is the solution?<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Times New Roman';">
In the United States, sexual assaults occur every <a href="http://www.endthebacklog.org/backlog/what-backlog"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(4, 51, 255); color: #0433ff;">two minutes</span></a>. After a sexual assault, if a victim goes to the hospital, medical personnel compile a rape kit. A rape kit is a type of forensic DNA evidence collected from victims after a sexual assault has taken place. The process is often invasive and can take hours to complete. Police departments and prosecutors use the evidence collected during this process to identify suspects, increase the likelihood of prosecution, and in some instances exonerate <a href="http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2015/07/16/untested-rape-kits-evidence-across-usa/29902199/"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(4, 51, 255); color: #0433ff;">wrongly identified and prosecuted individuals</span></a>. What then is the problem that law enforcement, prosecutors, and defense attorneys are running into concerning rape kits? Many are untested. </div>
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During an investigation conducted by USA Today and a number of journalists from sister stations in summer of 2015, USA Today reported that there are at least <a href="http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2015/07/16/untested-rape-kits-evidence-across-usa/29902199/"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(4, 51, 255); color: #0433ff;">70,000 untested rape kits</span></a> spreading across 1,000 police agencies. Although this has been one of the largest and most detailed inventories conducted on untested rape kits ever, there are still potentially <a href="http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2015/07/16/untested-rape-kits-evidence-across-usa/29902199/"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(4, 51, 255); color: #0433ff;">hundreds of thousands</span></a> of untested rape kits that have yet to be identified. The study did not reach the over 18,000 police departments nationwide during the investigation phase. To add to the number of untested rape kits, news reports state that there are still <a href="http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/rape-kits-n393186"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(4, 51, 255); color: #0433ff;">thirty-four</span></a> states who have yet to count the number of untested rape kits in their possession. The problem is even greater in smaller, <a href="http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2015/07/24/thousands-untested-rape-kits-collecting-dust-as-blame-shifts-from-states-to-doj/"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(4, 51, 255); color: #0433ff;">rural communities</span></a> who are not equipped to handle rape kits appropriately. One of the hindrances to testing rape kits is that it costs approximately <a href="http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2015/07/16/untested-rape-kits-evidence-across-usa/29902199/"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(4, 51, 255); color: #0433ff;">$1,000 per rape kit</span></a>. </div>
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Before the USA Today study, Congress attempted to address the issue when it unanimously enacted the SAFER Act in 2013. <a href="http://www.endthebacklog.org/ending-backlog-government-responses/federal-responses"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(4, 51, 255); color: #0433ff;">SAFER</span></a> provides $45 million in resources to assist local police departments across the nation in testing rape kits by providing them with a greater percentage of the grant money to provide to each state under the Debbi Smith Act. In addition, the law establishes standards for tracking, storing, and using DNA evidence during sexual assault prosecution. </div>
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Despite this new law, there are still potentially hundreds of thousands untested rape kits sitting in police agencies across the country waiting to be tested. Many critics are blaming the Department of Justice, stating that they have failed to provide the guidelines and funds to the states to address the issue. However, it is unclear who is to blame. Because of the confusion, some states have recently stepped up and taken actions into their own hands. For example, in New York City, the city had a backlog of approximately 17,000 untested rape kits. In response to this backlog, the city prioritized untested rape kits and developed a system to test every rape kit within their jurisdiction. As a result, the arrests for rape percentage increased significantly from <a href="http://www.endthebacklog.org/backlog/what-backlog"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(4, 51, 255); color: #0433ff;">40% to 70%</span></a>. </div>
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If the SAFER Act is enforced and states are required to test all pending untested rape kits in their jurisdiction or if states begin testing themselves, it will have substantial effects on local practitioners. If untested rape kits begin to produce DNA profiles, then prosecutors must determine whether the case is prosecutable. If cities that have a backlog begin testing untested rape kits in an effort to decrease their backlog, prosecutors, the courts, and defense attorneys could see similar results to those in New York City: a significant increase in the number of rape arrests and investigations. It is estimated that approximately <a href="http://www.npr.org/2015/05/20/408293080/untested-rape-kit-backlog-represents-a-public-safety-issue-in-u-s"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(4, 51, 255); color: #0433ff;">50% of the untested rape kits</span></a> will deliver a DNA profile, leaving a large number of potentially prosecutable cases in the hands of local prosecutors.</div>
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In the event cases associated with untested rape kits are deemed prosecutable, it will require prosecutors to reopen the case entirely by interviewing victims, obtain samples to confirm that the DNA is from the alleged perpetrator, and investigate the circumstances of the incident. Of the hundreds of thousands of untested rape kits, if even 50% of them create DNA profiles as the estimates suggest, prosecutors will see a significant increase in their caseload, especially in the cities with the deepest backlogs. In smaller, rural communities, practitioners could see their work load double. The courts as well as defense attorneys will also see a significant increase in sexual assault cases if prosecutors deem these cases prosecutable, increasing the number of cases that defense attorneys take on and the number of cases that the courts will have to hear. </div>
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By Emma McArthur </div>
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Senior Staffer</div>
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Criminal Law Practitioner Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02441151995382969692noreply@blogger.com35tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4985022068047328469.post-87740161213655774032015-08-23T21:28:00.000-04:002015-08-23T21:28:10.876-04:00One Stop Shopping - Fighting Child Trafficking through Eliminating the Online Middle-men<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Super Bowl XLVIII will go down in history as being one of the most boring
Super Bowls since its institution.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Your
humble author will remember it by turning off the TV after half time, and going
to do his Property reading, that suddenly became boundlessly fascinating in
comparison.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For the parents of sixteen
runaway children, who had been coerced into juvenile prostitution however,
February 2, 2014 will be among the most memorable days of their lives. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">In a coordinated effort by over twenty law enforcement agencies
throughout the country, sixteen juveniles were </span><a href="http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/02/04/super-bowl-prostitution/5207399/"><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">rescued from
their assorted pimps and johns amidst the Super Bowl festivities</span></a><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This raid, however, begets questions as to
how these girls, and the </span><a href="http://arkofhopeforchildren.org/child-trafficking/child-trafficking-statistics"><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">three to four
hundred thousand trafficked children in the United States are trafficked</span></a><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">. The brave new
world of the Internet has left trolling for prostitutes on dingy street corners
obsolete. </span><a href="http://arkofhopeforchildren.org/child-trafficking/child-trafficking-statistics"><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Over seventy
five percent</span></a><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> of all trafficked children in America are believed to be
advertised and trafficked over the Internet. This may conjure an image of a
fat, sweaty man sitting in a darkened basement firing up his TOR client to head
to a particularly sticky corner of the Deep-Web and paying bitcoins to an
unknown trader. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">This image is incorrect. The vast majority of child prostitutes in
the United States can be accessed through one perfectly legitimate looking
website: Backpage.com. Investigators have found that “nearly every time a child
is trafficked in the United States, </span><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/06/opinion/nicholas-kristof-making-life-harder-for-pimps.html?ref=topics&_r=1"><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">they have been
sold on Backpage</span></a><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Backpage maintains that it is no different than any other online It’s
difficult to quantify what percentage of the ads on the Craigslist-like site
are for adult services. With that having been said, a cursory look into
Backpage’s adult section in my current residence in Brooklyn, New York has
shown that, since I started writing this post three hours ago, </span><a href="http://brooklyn.backpage.com/FemaleEscorts/?layout=gallery&page=7"><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">over two hundred
ads</span></a><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">
(<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Note – that link is, obviously, NSFW</i>)
have been posted in just one section of the adult division, including an ad for
“recently arrived, tight young Asian girls. VERY DISCRETE.” (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Note – No, I am NOT providing a link for
this</i>.) In contrast, there have been thirty postings for landlords looking
to show their apartments in the past forty-eight hours. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Backpage itself has few illusions about the manner of services it
provides. Cook County Sheriff Thomas Dart has recently put pressure on VISA and
Mastercard to not allow them to use their cards to pay for ads for </span><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/06/opinion/nicholas-kristof-making-life-harder-for-pimps.html?ref=topics&_r=1"><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">potentially
trafficked persons</span></a><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">, citing, among other things, the prevalence of child
trafficking on Backpage’s ads. Visa, MasterCard, and American Express, in a
rare stroke of integrity for the credit card industry have since agreed to
refuse to allow their cards to be used to pay for ads for sex trafficking. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Rather than take this as a sign that human trafficking, and
particularly child trafficking is something that isn’t, and never should have
been accepted, Backpage doubled down on their sex trafficking ads, wrapping
themselves in the cloak of the First Amendment. Recently, Backpage has </span><a href="http://www.dailydot.com/lifestyle/backpage-free-adult-ads-war/"><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">removed any and
all fees for placing ads on their “Adult Services” section</span></a><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Note that it requires money to place an ad to sell a couch or an
apartment, but not a trafficked child. This step becomes particularly odious
when Backpage sidesteps any technical difficulties related to lack of credit
card verification by allowing them to enter the promo code “</span><a href="http://imgur.com/sU5FfQq"><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">FREESPEECH” as a one hundred percent off coupon for any
person wishing to peddle any and all sex services</span></a><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> on Backpage. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Backpage has been sued by two girls who were trafficked on their
site, emphasizing that the search terms “underage,” “fresh,” (a known euphemism
for underage) and “schoolgirl” were</span><a href="http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/backpage-ad-site-aider-of-traffickers-or-way-to-stop-them/"><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> permitted on
their site</span></a><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As a result of these
lawsuits, it has been found that </span><a href="http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2014/10/16/child-sex-trafficking-victims-suing-backpage-com/7lcO2fP91ToEdWt4dKLIVK/story.html"><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Backpage has
refused to put in any manner of analaytic</span></a><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> tools that would allow them to
curb child trafficking. Backpage claims that they employ a “</span><a href="http://abcnews.go.com/US/washington-teens-sue-backpage-sex-trafficking/story?id=16888671"><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">triple tiered</span></a><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">” prevention
system to avoid trafficking children. Attorneys for the three girls have held
that this “prevention system” doesn’t amount to much more than </span><a href="http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/nation/story/2012-07-29/teenagers-backpage-lawsuit/56579318/1"><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">clicking a box
to ensure that the poster is over the age of eighteen</span></a><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">. In short,
Backpage’s robust, triple-tiered prevention system is exactly as ironclad as
the same methods used to keep bored teenagers from watching videos on
pornhub.com. Which is to say . . . not very<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4985022068047328469#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">[1]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Backpage has responded by suing Sheriff Dart for infringing on their
free speech rights, and costing them over </span><a href="http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2015/07/21/backpage-sues-cook-county-sheriff/30469147/"><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">nine million
dollars in revenue for their Adult Services ads</span></a><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">. That’s right,
Backpage is arguing that they should have the right to sell the bodies of
children, because of the First Amendment. Just as John Dickinson and Thomas Jefferson
intended.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Currently, Backpage enjoys a certain indifference to complicity
charges thanks to a loophole in the Communications Decency Act.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is a loophole that could have been
closed by the Stop Advertising Victims of Exploitation, or </span><a href="https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/113/s2536/text"><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">SAVE ACT</span></a><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">, introduced in
Congress last year, where it died an ignominious death in committee. It has </span><a href="http://reason.com/blog/2015/04/23/senators-sneak-through-save-act#.48ioxp:yq9U"><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">since been
reintroduced</span></a><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> in Congress, as an amendment to the </span><a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/114th-congress/senate-bill/178"><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Justice for
Victims of Trafficking Act</span></a><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">, a bill that provided additional penalties for
those involved in the trafficking of both adult and juvenile victims of
trafficking. It would also hold websites potentially civilly or criminally
responsible for any human trafficking, particularly trafficking of children
that they may have engaged in, or profited off of. At this point <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">any </i>sort of movement would be
encouraged, as Congress has not passed any laws regarding child trafficking or
even human trafficking as a whole in the last thirteen years. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Now, this is not to say that the bill is perfect. Indeed, </span><a href="http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/webhead/2009/05/the_craigslist_sex_panic.html"><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">many sex workers
are staunch proponents of Backpage, </span></a><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">preferring peddling their services from
the comfort of their homes and computers rather than going out to the corners.
They’re not wrong. And thus, it would make sense to establish a middle ground.
Let Backpage keep their erotic services section, if for no other reason than to
keep sex workers, who suffer from an </span><a href="http://www.rapeis.org/activism/prostitution/prostitutionfacts.html"><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">unconscionably
high rate of assault</span></a><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> in their jobs, safe and off the streets. Pass a law
requiring Backpage and its ilk to require proof of age for their models. This
doesn’t have to include addresses, social security numbers, and full birthdays.
Just some manner of ID that would show the year that the worker was born in. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">This would be but a small step in fighting the scourge of child
trafficking. The real victories come from allocating appropriate resources and
shelter to prostituted children, establishing rapport between communities and
law enforcement to crack down on the pimps and the traffickers who perpetuate
this trade. </span><a href="http://wclcriminallawbrief.blogspot.com/2014/11/jailing-lolita-juveniles-as-defendants.html"><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I’ve written
about this before</span></a><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> and I realize this is probably the last problem on Earth
that has a single silver bullet. But I’m pretty sure we can all come together
and say that there should be no reason people should be able to traffic
children, and cloak themselves within any shroud of legitimacy, whether they be
a guy on the corner, a john at the Super Bowl, or a multinational website. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div style="mso-element: footnote-list;">
<!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><br clear="all" />Travis Nemmer<div id="ftn1" style="mso-element: footnote;">
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<div style="mso-element: footnote-list;">
Senior Staffer</div>
Criminal Law Practitioner Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02441151995382969692noreply@blogger.com56tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4985022068047328469.post-82814778624414038062015-08-10T21:39:00.001-04:002015-08-10T21:39:29.594-04:00Broad-sweeping, Bulk Warrants in the Digital Age<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Times New Roman';">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-PriuvAPcX7k/VclRYZSfcqI/AAAAAAAAAcA/Z05I3emJ9yA/s1600/2000px-Facebook.svg.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="120" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-PriuvAPcX7k/VclRYZSfcqI/AAAAAAAAAcA/Z05I3emJ9yA/s320/2000px-Facebook.svg.png" width="320" /></a>Internet use among adults age 18 + has become the social norm. As of March 2014, 87% of the population <a href="http://www.internetworldstats.com/am/us.htm"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(4, 51, 255); color: #0433ff;">(277,436,130)</span></a> uses the internet. Many of these users access social media websites like Facebook. Facebook has quickly become the most widely used social media website in the <a href="http://www.pewinternet.org/2015/01/09/social-media-update-2014/"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(4, 51, 255); color: #0433ff;">United States</span></a>. As of the 2014, 71% of American internet-users (<a href="http://www.pewinternet.org/2015/01/09/social-media-update-2014/"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(4, 51, 255); color: #0433ff;">196,979,652</span></a>) say they utilize the social media website. Moreover, of the 71% of internet users in the United States, 70% report they use the website on a daily <a href="http://www.pewinternet.org/2015/01/09/social-media-update-2014/"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(4, 51, 255); color: #0433ff;">basis</span></a>. In total, a whopping 137,885,756 Americans check or post on Facebook <a href="http://www.pewinternet.org/2015/01/09/social-media-update-2014/"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(4, 51, 255); color: #0433ff;">daily</span></a>.</div>
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<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>On July 23, 2013 the Supreme Court of New York <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/06/26/technology/facebook-search-warrants-case-documents.html?_r=0"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(4, 51, 255); color: #0433ff;">ordered</span></a> the execution of 381 search warrants aimed at Facebook users, the largest request in the website’s history, authorizing the District Attorney and investigators to seize information stored on Facebook’s servers. A <a href="http://dictionary.law.com/default.aspx?selected=802"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(4, 51, 255); color: #0433ff;">gag order</span></a> preventing Facebook from notifying any of its customers was also issued. These 381 warrants were identical in scope and were supported by a sealed ninety-three page affidavit from the District Attorney’s Office detailing a <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/08/nyregion/retired-new-york-officers-and-firefighters-charged-in-social-security-scheme.html?_r=1"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(4, 51, 255); color: #0433ff;">scheme</span></a> by civil servants to defraud the Social Security System. The warrants <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/22/technology/facebook-loses-appeal-on-new-york-search-warrants.html?ref=topics&_r=0"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(4, 51, 255); color: #0433ff;">required</span></a> all information in twenty-four broad categories, basically covering every post or action the 381 users had taken on Facebook. In August of that same year, Facebook moved to quash the warrants on the grounds that they were a violation of the users’ <a href="http://www.documentcloud.org/documents/1209711-court-order-on-facebook-search-warrants.html#document/p1"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(4, 51, 255); color: #0433ff;">Fourth Amendment rights</span></a>. The court <a href="http://www.documentcloud.org/documents/1209711-court-order-on-facebook-search-warrants.html#document/p1"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(4, 51, 255); color: #0433ff;">denied this motion</span></a> stating that the website did not have proper standing due to its “Terms of User Agreement” delegating privacy decisions to the individual user. Facebook was compelled to comply with the warrants and gag order. It then appealed the decision. In June of 2014, the District Attorney <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/08/nyregion/retired-new-york-officers-and-firefighters-charged-in-social-security-scheme.html?_r=1"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(4, 51, 255); color: #0433ff;">indicted</span></a> 62 of the charged individuals, leaving 319 people whose accounts were riffled through uncharged. The gag order, however, was lifted and the court proceedings were made public. On July 21 of this year, the New York Supreme Court Appellate Division <a href="http://law.justia.com/cases/new-york/appellate-division-first-department/2015/30207-13-30178-14.html"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(4, 51, 255); color: #0433ff;">upheld</span></a> the lower court’s decision and denied Facebook’s motion to quash stating the social networking service had neither a constitutional nor statutory right to challenge the warrants’ legal sufficiency on behalf of its customers before the warrants were executed. </div>
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<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Specifically, the New York Supreme Court Appellate Division <a href="http://law.justia.com/cases/new-york/appellate-division-first-department/2015/30207-13-30178-14.html"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(4, 51, 255); color: #0433ff;">explained</span></a> that the Internet Service Provider (ISP) did not have statutory authority found in the <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/2703"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(4, 51, 255); color: #0433ff;">Stored Communications Act</span></a> (SCA) § 2703 to file pre-enforcement motions against warrants. The SCA allows for only subpoenas and court orders to be challenged prior to enforcement. This decision, while sound legal theory based on current statute, is cause for concern among privacy advocates for a couple of reasons. First, the broad, sweeping nature of the warrants enables irrelevant personal information to be seized. Second, the statutory ability of an ISP to contest subpoenas/court orders, but not search warrants.</div>
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<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>The first point of concern is the broad nature of the warrants themselves. Probable cause for the warrants of each of the 381 users was provided by one, ninety-three page affidavit. While this is not immediate cause for concern, it is disconcerting when viewed in the light of the actual number of users charged as a result of the account seizures. While a New York judge found there was sufficient probable cause, the number of charged defendants from the search warrants was a mere 62. Assumedly, this means there was not sufficient evidence found in the other 319 user accounts and, consequently, these users had their personal correspondence and pictures seized in vein. Yet, based upon <a href="http://caselaw.findlaw.com/ny-court-of-appeals/1444795.html"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(4, 51, 255); color: #0433ff;">current precedent</span></a>, this broad seizure of material is legal. As the Supreme Court of New York stated in the <a href="https://s3.amazonaws.com/s3.documentcloud.org/documents/1209711/court-order-on-facebook-search-warrants.pdf"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(4, 51, 255); color: #0433ff;">2013 case</span></a>, “the relevance or irrelevance of items seized within the scope of a search warrant may be unclear and require further investigatory steps.” This precedent would make sense in most contexts, but becomes dubious when the mass amount of data gathered is a user’s most personal information. Again, considering the small percentage of users charged via the warrants, a large amount of irrelevant personal information was undoubtedly seized. The court in 2015 even agreed that users “<a href="http://online.wsj.com/public/resources/documents/2015_0721_facebook_warrants.pdf"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(4, 51, 255); color: #0433ff;">share more intimate personal info through their accounts than may be revealed through rummaging one’s home</span></a>.” Moreover, according to <a href="https://www.facebook.com/notes/facebook-security/fighting-bulk-search-warrants-in-court/10152121987090766"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(4, 51, 255); color: #0433ff;">Chris Sonderby</span></a>, Facebook’s General Counsel, the warrants contained no date restrictions and allow the government to keep the seized data indefinitely.</div>
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<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>This sets a concerning precedent for future mass “data dragnets” by the DA’s office considering the number of people utilizing social media, as well as the amount of personal information found on these websites. In the 2015 opinion, the court recognized that “<a href="http://online.wsj.com/public/resources/documents/2015_0721_facebook_warrants.pdf"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(4, 51, 255); color: #0433ff;">Fourth Amendment protections are weaker in the digital context,</span></a>” but then, within the same document, admitted that “Facebook users share more intimate personal info through their accounts than may be revealed through rummaging one’s home.” Thus, should stricter scrutiny be utilized for these broad electronic search warrants? Another facet that causes one to ask this question is that this situation is indicative of a growing trend by United States law enforcement. The U.S. <a href="https://govtrequests.facebook.com/"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(4, 51, 255); color: #0433ff;">leads the world</span></a> in these types of Facebook seizures. Law enforcement in the United States utilizes Facebook seizures <span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(4, 51, 255); color: #0433ff; text-decoration: underline;">almost three times</span> as much as the next country on the list. In fact, law enforcement in this <a href="https://govtrequests.facebook.com/country/United%2520States/2014-H2/"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(4, 51, 255); color: #0433ff;">country</span></a> used 14,274 requests to seize 21,731 accounts from July 2014-December 2014 alone. This number is more than the <span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(4, 51, 255); color: #0433ff; text-decoration: underline;">four closest nations</span> (France, UK, India, and Germany) on the list combined. </div>
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<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>A second point of concern arises from the statutory construction of the SCA itself. Currently, it leaves wide latitude for District Attorney Offices when they have a warrant because of the inability of an ISP to challenge them until the accounts are seized. The SCA gives <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/2703"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(4, 51, 255); color: #0433ff;">three ways to obtain electronic information</span></a>: (1) An administrative, grand jury or trial subpoena (<i>see</i> <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/2703"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(4, 51, 255); color: #0433ff;">§2703(c) (2)</span></a>); (2) A court order issued pursuant to § <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/2703"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(4, 51, 255); color: #0433ff;">2703(d)</span></a>; or (3) A search warrant (<i>see </i>§ <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/2703"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(4, 51, 255); color: #0433ff;">2703(a)</span></a>). Subpoenas are used in this context to obtain subscriber information like names, addresses, and credit card information. Court orders are used to gather transactional data (when the account is accessed, services used, and length of time online. Finally, warrants are utilized for stored electronic communications like Facebook accounts. </div>
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<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>The court explained that an ISP can only challenge court orders or subpoenas prior to execution, not warrants. This is per se reasonable because probable cause is required for a warrant, while <a href="http://online.wsj.com/public/resources/documents/2015_0721_facebook_warrants.pdf"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(4, 51, 255); color: #0433ff;">“specific and articulable facts”</span></a> that there are “reasonable grounds to believe” the information desired will be “relevant and material” are the only requirements for court orders and subpoenas. Yet, the warrants in this case are pertaining to personal information on a social media website; a website where the court admits “<a href="http://online.wsj.com/public/resources/documents/2015_0721_facebook_warrants.pdf"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(4, 51, 255); color: #0433ff;">users share more intimate personal information through their Facebook accounts than may be revealed through rummaging about one’s home.</span></a>” The probable cause standard for these warrants is a relatively strong privacy safeguard, but should the SCA allow a pre-enforcement challenge when this quantity of personal information is being collected? This contention seems reasonable when such warrants involve 381 individuals and, in the end, sufficient evidence was only found for 62 of them. Without a pre-enforcement ability, an ISP is forced to let the government vitiate the privacy of its users and can only step in once the damage is done. These ISPs must either comply and lose the trust of consumers, or not comply and face contempt charges. </div>
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<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>The SCA, however, is not without its positive aspects. One benevolent characteristic of the SCA that the court points out is that without it, ISPs would be governed by the outdated <a href="http://www.americanbar.org/groups/public_services/law_national_security/patriot_debates2/the_book_online/ch4/ch4_ess2.html"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(4, 51, 255); color: #0433ff;">“Third Party Doctrine”</span></a> established by <a href="http://caselaw.findlaw.com/us-supreme-court/442/735.html"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(4, 51, 255); color: #0433ff;"><i>Smith v. Maryland</i></span></a> (holding limited information that people voluntarily share with third-party businesses can be accessed by law enforcement without a warrant, only subpoena and prior notice are needed)<sup>1</sup>. This 1979 decision <a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2013/12/what-you-need-to-know-about-the-third-party-doctrine/282721/"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(4, 51, 255); color: #0433ff;">paved the way</span></a> for the NSA’s telephone metadata collection program that Snowden exposed. Ostensibly, the SCA creates privacy protections analogous to Fourth Amendment protections for digital communications stored on the internet. Thus, the passage of the SCA is certainly a step towards cementing online privacy in a world where more personal information is found online than in one’s home; yet, in its current construction, it still has room for improvement. </div>
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<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Given the current social media status quo, this litigation should serve as a warning to those divulging personal information on social media. Even more important is the warning that District Attorney Offices may seize and access your accounts for an indefinite period of time. Even in the event the District Attorney Office <a href="https://www.facebook.com/notes/facebook-security/fighting-bulk-search-warrants-in-court/10152121987090766"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(4, 51, 255); color: #0433ff;">does not find sufficient evidence</span></a> to charge you with a crime, much like the 319 individuals who were not charged after their accounts were seized, there are few limitations on their access once the social media accounts are seized. </div>
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By Joseph Collins</div>
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<i>CLP </i>Senior Staffer</div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><sup>1</sup></span>(<i>see also</i> Orin S. Kerr, <span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><i>The Case for the Third-Party Doctrine</i></span>, 107 Michigan L Rev 561 [2009]).</div>
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Criminal Law Practitioner Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02441151995382969692noreply@blogger.com34tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4985022068047328469.post-82508650951962150972015-07-27T10:04:00.003-04:002015-07-27T10:04:40.000-04:00Suspected Killer Dylann Roof: Is Punishment for a “Hate Crime” Necessary?<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; text-indent: 36px;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-WoB55OhxnTQ/VbY5oi3Y_CI/AAAAAAAAAa8/DjqPJzEfjeY/s1600/Emanuel_African_Methodist_Episcopal_%2528AME%2529_Church.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-WoB55OhxnTQ/VbY5oi3Y_CI/AAAAAAAAAa8/DjqPJzEfjeY/s320/Emanuel_African_Methodist_Episcopal_%2528AME%2529_Church.jpg" width="214" /></a>On June 17th, 2015, a <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2015/06/17/white-gunman-sought-in-shooting-at-historic-charleston-african-ame-church/"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(4, 51, 255); color: #0433ff;">mass shooting</span></a> took place at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina. Nine people, all of whom were attending an evening prayer meeting at the time, were shot and killed while a tenth survived. Among those killed was the senior pastor of the church and state senator Reverend Clementa Pinckney. The morning after, police officials arrested 21-year old Dylann Roof as the primary suspect in this shooting. Dylann Roof attended the prayer meeting<a href="http://www.cnn.com/2015/06/19/us/charleston-church-shooting-suspect/"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(4, 51, 255); color: #0433ff;"> the night before</span></a> and opened fire after standing up and saying he was there to “<a href="http://www.cnn.com/2015/06/19/us/charleston-church-shooting-suspect/">shoot black people</a>”. He stated African-Americans had “<a href="http://www.cnn.com/2015/06/19/us/charleston-church-shooting-suspect/">raped [white] women and are taking over the country</a><span style="text-decoration: underline;">”</span>. In his confession at the police station, Roof stated he wanted to start a “<a href="http://www.newsweek.com/dylann-roof-confesses-church-shooting-says-he-wanted-start-race-war-344797"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(4, 51, 255); color: #0433ff;">race war</span></a>”.</div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(4, 51, 255); color: #0433ff; text-decoration: underline;"><a href="http://www.newsweek.com/dylann-roof-indicted-nine-murder-charges-charleston-shooting-350985">Today</a></span>, Roof faces nine murder charges and three attempted murder charges for the events of that night in June. If convicted, the <a href="http://www.scstatehouse.gov/code/t16c003.php">death penalty</a> is certainly on the table as South Carolina still offers it as punishment for murder. In addition, federal authorities are investigating the crime to determine whether the federal government will prosecute Roof for a <a href="http://www.newsweek.com/dylann-roof-indicted-nine-murder-charges-charleston-shooting-350985"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(4, 51, 255); color: #0433ff;">hate crime</span></a>. </div>
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The reasoning behind prosecuting Dylann Roof for a hate crime reaches far beyond this killing. Since the events of the Charleston Church Shooting, it has been <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2015/06/19/us/charleston-church-shooting-suspect/"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(4, 51, 255); color: #0433ff;">discovered</span></a> that this young man was indeed a racist and a white supremacist. <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2015/06/23/us/dylann-roof-photographs/"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(4, 51, 255); color: #0433ff;">Pictures</span></a> have surfaced on line of Roof wearing a jacket that had the apartheid South Africa flag embroidered on it, as well as others where he is seen burning the American flag and proudly waving the Confederate flag instead. Roof had a website that laid out why he decided to terrorize this church specifically and what fueled his anger toward the Black community. He had written a racist manifesto that explained his path toward hatred and even talked to his friends about doing “<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/19/us/on-facebook-dylann-roof-charleston-suspect-wears-symbols-of-white-supremacy.html?_r=0">something crazy</a>” after of six months of careful planning. None of the people around him had ever taken him seriously, until now.</div>
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<span style="text-decoration: underline;"><a href="http://definitions.uslegal.com/p/prosecutorial-discretion/">Prosecutors</a></span> have the discretion to charge whatever crimes fit the defendant at hand, given the evidence provided. This means the prosecutor is the one in most cases to wield the initial <a href="http://definitions.uslegal.com/p/prosecutorial-discretion/">power</a>. Prosecutorial discretion is more than just what it appears to be on its face; the types of crimes with which prosecutors charge defendants can potentially send a message to prosecutors in future cases. In this case, this means that if Dylann Roof is only charged with nine murders and three attempted murders, future prosecutors will see this as a typical murder case. However, if he is charged with a hate crime, a message would be sent that this specific type of murder stands out and should be treated differently. This could also potentially deter others from committing violent acts of racism and prejudice.</div>
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There are <a href="http://reason.com/blog/2015/06/25/whats-the-point-of-charging-dylann-roof"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(4, 51, 255); color: #0433ff;">some</span></a> who argue charging Dylann Roof federally for a hate crime is too excessive. <a href="http://www.americanbar.org/content/dam/aba/publishing/criminal_justice_section_newsletter/crimjust_cjmag_21_2_federalorstate.authcheckdam.pdf">Federal charges</a> are sentenced with more severity than state charges, and there are differing detention centers for those convicted. Unlike in other recent race-related cases, most of the evidence is in place; Roof has even confessed to the crime and will almost certainly be convicted for his state charges. However, since South Carolina does not have a specific law targeting hate crimes, that particular charge is not an option at the state level. Therefore, any hate crime charge would have to be brought at a federal level.</div>
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Supporters of a federal charge for a hate crime say that Roof’s actions call for something beyond a conviction for a series of murders. This crime was racially motivated, and the evidence of this is staggering. The purpose for having <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/249"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(4, 51, 255); color: #0433ff;">hate crimes on the books</span></a> is not just to punish criminals who may, for whatever reason, evade harsher punishment on the state level, but <a href="http://www.adl.org/assets/pdf/combating-hate/Introduction-to-Hate-Crime-Laws.pdf">to actively criminalize behavior that is rooted in hatred for another’s race, gender, religion, sexual orientation, or any other type of status.</a> The American criminal justice system does not <a href="https://verdict.justia.com/2012/05/02/how-the-government-may-and-may-not-punish-peoples-thoughts-and-words">punish</a> a person’s ideologies or political leanings. But, left unchecked, such ideologies coupled with heinous acts viewed through the lens of historical racial tension in this country, could be very dangerous and detrimental to general safety. Finding Dylann Roof guilty of a hate crime is not a futile endeavor; doing so could help to inform future prosecutorial discretion in charging these types of crimes. It would also send a message that Americans view crime against others on the basis of racial prejudice to be a capital offense.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-yhJtfcvqo0I/VbY6WqjmESI/AAAAAAAAAbM/7ygcIt8xsu0/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2015-07-27%2Bat%2B10.02.23%2BAM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-yhJtfcvqo0I/VbY6WqjmESI/AAAAAAAAAbM/7ygcIt8xsu0/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2015-07-27%2Bat%2B10.02.23%2BAM.png" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">By Calvin Walker<br /><i>CLP </i>Senior Staffer</td></tr>
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Criminal Law Practitioner Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02441151995382969692noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4985022068047328469.post-27254908992626687202015-07-15T15:24:00.000-04:002015-07-15T15:28:44.235-04:00High Times, Fiscal Lows: Washington D.C.’s Marijuana Possession Decriminalization Amendment Act Does Not Apply Retroactively<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;">
<b style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"><b style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: 'Times New Roman';"> </b><b> </b>Introduction</b><br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-sjzRt25cf28/Vaa0V6i2aUI/AAAAAAAAAaM/TAlan39uoc8/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2015-07-15%2Bat%2B3.26.54%2BPM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-sjzRt25cf28/Vaa0V6i2aUI/AAAAAAAAAaM/TAlan39uoc8/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2015-07-15%2Bat%2B3.26.54%2BPM.png" /></a><a href="webkit-fake-url://d59924a6-b096-4f37-bfde-970cd55f2c35/image.tiff" imageanchor="1" style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); clear: left; float: left; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="webkit-fake-url://d59924a6-b096-4f37-bfde-970cd55f2c35/image.tiff" /></a><a href="webkit-fake-url://d59924a6-b096-4f37-bfde-970cd55f2c35/image.tiff" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="webkit-fake-url://d59924a6-b096-4f37-bfde-970cd55f2c35/image.tiff" /></a>On February 26, 2015, District of Columbia passed the Legalization of Possession of Minimal Amounts of Marijuana for Personal Use Initiative of 2014 (hereinafter “possession law”). The possession law made the possession of two ounces or less of marijuana legal for adults 21 years or older. Nonetheless, any federal law enforcement officer in the District can arrest an individual for possession or use of any amount of <a href="http://mpdc.dc.gov/marijuana"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(4, 51, 255); color: #0433ff;">marijuana</span></a><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(4, 51, 255); color: #0433ff;"> </span>because marijuana is still illegal under federal law.<sup></sup> The main point of this new law was to allow individuals to grow a few plants in their home (up to six), use marijuana within their own residence or on private property, and stop making criminals out of those who transfer (not <i>sell</i>) small amounts (one ounce or less) of marijuana to others. However, the Marijuana Possession Decriminalization Amendment Act (MDA) made the “the possession or transfer without remuneration of marijuana weighing one ounce or less”<span style="font-size: xx-small;">*</span> a civil violation with a fine of $25. This amendment strictly prohibits the use of marijuana in public spaces, and it flows in tandem with the possession law which <i>decriminalizes</i> the possession of two ounces or less and the paraphernalia associated with such possession. Yet recently, the legislature has added a new subsection to the MDA to make clear that the new possession law does not limit any part of the MDA.<span style="font-size: xx-small;">**</span><sup></sup> The Emergency Amendment of the MDA further clarifies that “any public place to which the public is invited” includes private clubs<span style="font-size: xx-small;">**</span><sup></sup>, or simply that clubs <i>cannot</i> provide marijuana to their <a href="http://mayor.dc.gov/release/bowser-administration-outlines-changes-district-marijuana-laws"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(4, 51, 255); color: #0433ff;">patrons</span></a>.<sup></sup><br />
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<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>The purpose of both the MDA and the new possession law is to reduce the number of marijuana possession arrests and convictions since the District had the <a href="https://www.aclu.org/files/assets/aclu-thewaronmarijuana-rel2.pdf"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(4, 51, 255); color: #0433ff;">highest percentage</span></a> of such arrests per capita in the nation.<sup></sup> In ACLU’s June 2013 report, it further noted that 90.9 percent of people arrested in the District for marijuana possession were black, which elucidates the profound racial bias in the application of <a href="https://www.aclu.org/files/assets/aclu-thewaronmarijuana-rel2.pdf">the District’s marijuana laws</a>.<sup></sup> Therefore, ostensibly, the point is to eliminate or reduce the racial bias, criminalization, and derailment of minority lives and careers with petty possession offenses. Even though the MDA is meant to prevent future petty offenses, it should also apply retroactively. The District of Columbia Court of Appeals has recently spoken on the MDA in <a href="http://caselaw.findlaw.com/dc-court-of-appeals/1696250.html"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(4, 51, 255); color: #0433ff;"><i>Washington v. United States</i></span></a>, making it clear that the Act does not apply retroactively.<sup></sup> Thus, individuals who were arrested, charged, or convicted before July 17, 2014—when the MDA took effect—will still suffer some collateral consequences of their offenses despite the ability to seal their records under the Record Sealing Amendment. <br />
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<b>Background</b><br />
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<b><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></b>In <a href="http://caselaw.findlaw.com/dc-court-of-appeals/1696250.html"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(4, 51, 255); color: #0433ff;"><i>Washington v. United States</i></span></a>, the appellant was charged on July 5, 2013, with “one count of unlawful possession of marijuana and one count of unlawful possession of drug paraphernalia.”<sup></sup> He was tried and convicted on both counts and sentenced to two concurrent terms of time served.<sup></sup> The main issue here was that “<a href="http://caselaw.findlaw.com/dc-court-of-appeals/1696250.html">[i]f the police had found [the] appellant’s marijuana one year and thirteen days later, he would have been subject to a $25 fine</a>.”<sup></sup> Instead, he has two convictions on his record. <br />
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<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>The court found that the MDA does not apply retroactively because the DC Council did not expressly provide for <a href="http://pdsdc.blogspot.com/2015/03/sorry-marijuana-decriminalization-is.html"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(4, 51, 255); color: #0433ff;">retroactive</span></a> application in the act, and the legislative history did not explicitly mention pending prosecutions.<sup></sup> However, the court highlights the Record Sealing for Decriminalized and Legalized Offenses Amendment Act of 2014 (hereinafter “Records Sealing Amendment”), which the judiciary committee designed to “<a href="http://caselaw.findlaw.com/dc-court-of-appeals/1696250.html">address[] the collateral consequences of marijuana possession arrests and convictions for individuals who were arrested, charged, or convicted before July 17, 2014.</a>”<sup></sup> The court concludes that this separate bill supports the inference that the legislature did not intend to apply the MDA retroactively.<sup></sup> Yet the opposite conclusion could be drawn as well. <br />
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<b>Analysis</b><br />
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Scholars and practitioners could read both the MDA and the new possession law as intentionally preventing collateral consequences of petty convictions because those convictions would no longer impact the future of individuals. Yet the D.C. Court of Appeals decided that the Records Sealing Amendment serves that purpose, and the MDA will not apply retroactively. In the Records Sealing Amendment, the legislature realized that “<a href="http://caselaw.findlaw.com/dc-court-of-appeals/1696250.html">the decision to use marijuana should not render someone a criminal for life,</a>”<sup></sup> but under this bill an eligible offender must still seek legal counsel and file a motion to seal his or her record of arrest, charge, or conviction.<sup></sup> So in the end, the legislature is accomplishing little for those still suffering the collateral consequences from offenses now decriminalized because many past offenders cannot afford the assistance of legal counsel or do not even know that such a records sealing bill exists.<br />
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The fiscal impact of past marijuana possession offenses will still be felt within a great majority of affected low-income minority communities in the District. And the true legislative intent of both acts will not be served without some form of retroactive application. The key take-away here is that practitioners, including the prosecutor’s office, and other agencies, like the Court Services and Offender Supervision Agency (CSOSA), need to help past offenders seal their criminal marijuana possession records to limit the collateral consequences they still suffer.</div>
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Written by Miranda Dore</div>
Staffer, <i>Criminal Law Practitioner</i><br />
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><i>*</i><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">Marijuana Decriminalization Act § 101(a), 61 D.C. Reg. 3482 (2014)</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">** </span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"> </span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Marijuana Possession Decriminalization Clarification Emergency Amendment Act of 2015, 2015 District of Columbia Laws Act 21-19, approved March 26, 2015; D.C. Code § 48-911.01</span></span><br />
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Criminal Law Practitioner Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02441151995382969692noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4985022068047328469.post-21683953207416624112015-07-06T16:48:00.000-04:002015-07-07T12:12:40.657-04:00Asset Forfeiture and the Sixth Amendment Right to Counsel of Choice: Should Crime Pay?<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; text-indent: 36px;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xUnC9875pgw/VZro_eDcwcI/AAAAAAAAAZc/s3b7FxB80KU/s1600/7252487518_72c5150579_q-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xUnC9875pgw/VZro_eDcwcI/AAAAAAAAAZc/s3b7FxB80KU/s1600/7252487518_72c5150579_q-2.jpg" /></a>On June 8, 2015, the United States Supreme Court agreed to hear <a href="http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/does_freezing_defendant_untainted_assets_violate_right_to_counsel_of_choice"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(4, 51, 255); color: #0433ff;">the issue</span></a> of whether a criminal defendant’s rights to due process and counsel of choice under the Fifth and Sixth Amendments are violated if the court orders a pretrial freeze of the defendant’s assets; assets which may be necessary for the defendant to hire private.<br />
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In <a href="http://www.scotusblog.com/case-files/cases/luis-v-united-states/"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(4, 51, 255); color: #0433ff;"><i>Luis v. United States</i></span></a>, the defendant, Sila Luis, was charged with Medicare fraud in the <a href="http://media.ca11.uscourts.gov/opinions/unpub/files/201313719.pdf"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(4, 51, 255); color: #0433ff;">Southern District of Florida</span></a>. Luis was <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/06/08/supreme-court-asset-forfeiture_n_7534946.html"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(4, 51, 255); color: #0433ff;">indicted in 2012</span></a> on fraud charges involving around $45 million in illegal Medicare payments. The <a href="https://www.fbi.gov/miami/press-releases/2012/thirty-three-south-florida-residents-charged-as-part-of-nationwide-coordinated-takedown-by-medicare-fraud-strike-force-operations"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(4, 51, 255); color: #0433ff;">FBI said</span></a> Luis, president of a healthcare provider, paid kickbacks and bribes to Medicare patient recruiters and submitted false claims for work done on behalf of its beneficiaries. Once indicted, federal prosecutors froze Luis’s assets the <a href="http://www.cnbc.com/id/102741208"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(4, 51, 255); color: #0433ff;">same day</span></a>, but Luis argued that the frozen assets were in no way connected to the alleged crimes and that prosecutors violated her Sixth Amendment rights since she needed the money to hire an attorney to mount a defense. In a <a href="http://www.forfeiturereform.com/tags/luis_v_united_states"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(4, 51, 255); color: #0433ff;">motion responding</span></a> to the prosecutor’s temporary restraining order, Luis argued, “the Fifth and Sixth Amendments, individually and in combination, require that the court exempt from restraint and forfeiture those assets needed for (and ultimately expended on) [] legal defense to the charges pending before [the court].” Further, she argued that by freezing her untainted assets before trial, the government not only “cripple[d] [her] ability to retain [private] counsel,” but it also deprived her of money she would have invested “for the best and most industrious investigators, experts, paralegals, and law clerks, to at least attempt to match the litigation support available to the United States Attorney’s Office<i>.</i>”<br />
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However, the <a href="http://www.cnbc.com/id/102741208"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(4, 51, 255); color: #0433ff;">lower court</span></a> ruled against Luis after federal prosecutors <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/06/08/supreme-court-asset-forfeiture_n_7534946.html"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(4, 51, 255); color: #0433ff;">argued</span></a> that freezing the assets was necessary because she had already spent the tainted money on travel and luxury goods, and freezing the remaining funds were necessary to recover the full value of alleged fraud if convicted. The court, in conclusion, <a href="http://www.forfeiturereform.com/tags/luis_v_united_states"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(4, 51, 255); color: #0433ff;">stated</span></a> that there is “no Sixth Amendment right to use untainted, substitute assets to hire counsel.” The court also quoted an <a href="http://www.forfeiturereform.com/tags/luis_v_united_states"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(4, 51, 255); color: #0433ff;">analogy</span></a> from the Fourth Circuit’s decision in <a href="http://openjurist.org/837/f2d/637/forfeiture-hearing-as-to-caplin-drysdale-chartered-united-states-v-caplin-and-drysdale-chartered-f-i"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(4, 51, 255); color: #0433ff;"><i>In re Forfeiture Hearing As to Caplin & Drysdale, Chartered</i></span></a>, which illustrated a bank robbery involving $100,000, after which, the defendant is arrested in possession of the $100,000. The defendant, without proof, argues his innocence and claims the money to be a gift from a friend. The Fourth Circuit <a href="http://openjurist.org/837/f2d/637/forfeiture-hearing-as-to-caplin-drysdale-chartered-united-states-v-caplin-and-drysdale-chartered-f-i"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(4, 51, 255); color: #0433ff;">provided</span></a> that no reasonable person would “contend that the $100,000 must be made available to pay for the defendant’s lawyer, and not be kept available for return to the bank in the event the defendant is found guilty.” In reliance on the analogy, the Fourth Circuit <a href="http://openjurist.org/837/f2d/637/forfeiture-hearing-as-to-caplin-drysdale-chartered-united-states-v-caplin-and-drysdale-chartered-f-i"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(4, 51, 255); color: #0433ff;">held</span></a> that prosecutors may take steps to freeze a defendant’s assets. <br />
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The <i>Luis</i> case differs from the case that was before the Fourth Circuit. In <i>Luis</i>, the defendant’s frozen assets were not traceable to the fraud scheme. The <a href="http://openjurist.org/837/f2d/637/forfeiture-hearing-as-to-caplin-drysdale-chartered-united-states-v-caplin-and-drysdale-chartered-f-i"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(4, 51, 255); color: #0433ff;">lower court</span></a> again relied on the Fourth Circuit’s analogy, adding that the bank robber spent the $100,000 shorty after stealing it, but it just so happens he has an extra $100,000 obtained legitimately sitting in a bank account. The court <a href="http://openjurist.org/837/f2d/637/forfeiture-hearing-as-to-caplin-drysdale-chartered-united-states-v-caplin-and-drysdale-chartered-f-i"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(4, 51, 255); color: #0433ff;">provided</span></a> that Congress authorized restraint of those substitute assets in <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/1345"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(4, 51, 255); color: #0433ff;">18 U.S.C. § 1345</span></a> and therefore, the bank has the right to have those substitute, untainted assets kept available for return.</div>
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The Eleventh Circuit also rejected Luis’s arguments without any further explanation. The Supreme Court granted certiorari to <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/06/08/supreme-court-asset-forfeiture_n_7534946.html"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(4, 51, 255); color: #0433ff;">decide</span></a> whether Luis’s Sixth Amendment right to hire counsel of choice should outweigh prosecutorial efforts to recover the full value of alleged fraud against the government.<br />
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The <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/fifth_amendment"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(4, 51, 255); color: #0433ff;">Fifth Amendment</span></a> provides that “No person shall be … deprived of … property, without due process of law.” Further, the <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/sixth_amendment"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(4, 51, 255); color: #0433ff;">Sixth Amendment</span></a> provides that criminal defendants “enjoy the right … to have the assistance of Counsel for his defense.” The Supreme Court has subsequently found in <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/supremecourt/text/287/45"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(4, 51, 255); color: #0433ff;"><i>Powell v. Alabama</i></span></a> that “a defendant should be afforded a fair opportunity to secure counsel of his own choice.” <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS';"> </span>This right to counsel of choice has been upheld even recently in the 2006 <a href="http://caselaw.findlaw.com/us-supreme-court/548/140.html"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(4, 51, 255); color: #0433ff;"><i>United States v. Gonzalez-Lopez</i></span></a> decision, when the Supreme Court found that a defendant’s right to counsel is violated “whenever the defendant’s choice is wrongfully denied,” and such an error “pervades the entire trial.”<br />
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However, last term, the Supreme Court in <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/supremecourt/text/12-464"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(4, 51, 255); color: #0433ff;"><i>Kaley v. United States</i></span></a> reaffirmed the government’s ability to freeze property and/or money if there is a chance it could be tied to illegal activity. The Court first approved of the government’s ability to freeze a defendant’s assets in the 1989 <a href="https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=12698487108950611900&q=sila+luis+elsa+ruiz&hl=en&as_sdt=6,50&scilh=0"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(4, 51, 255); color: #0433ff;"><i>United States v. Monsanto</i></span></a> decision, where the Court approved the constitutionality of such an order as long as it is “based on a finding of probable cause to believe that the property will ultimately be proved forfeitable.” The <i>Kaley</i> Court <a href="https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?q=sila+luis+elsa+ruiz&hl=en&as_sdt=6,50&case=15206205261580857097&scilh=0#r%5B3%5D"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(4, 51, 255); color: #0433ff;">held</span></a> that standard to apply even when the defendant seeks to use the disputed assets to pay for counsel. Since <i>Monsanto</i>, lower courts have provided hearings to defendants seeking to remove an asset restraint to pay for counsel. In these hearings, defendants have been allowed to litigate the issue of whether the assets in question are connected to the crime; however, the <a href="https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?q=sila+luis+elsa+ruiz&hl=en&as_sdt=6,50&case=15206205261580857097&scilh=0#r%5B3%5D"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(4, 51, 255); color: #0433ff;"><i>Kaley</i> Court</span></a> “[did] not opine on” whether pretrial restraint of untainted assets could pose constitutional problems. Lower courts since then have differed. <a href="http://www.wisconsinappeals.net/on-point-by-the-wisconsin-state-public-defender/sila-luis-v-united-states-ussc-no-14-419-cert-granted-6815/"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(4, 51, 255); color: #0433ff;">For example</span></a>, the Fourth Circuit has held that defendants are still guaranteed the right to counsel of choice and are allowed to use untainted assets to hire counsel, but the Court of Appeals in <i>Luis</i> found that <i>Monsanto</i>,<i> Kaley</i>, and <i>Caplin & Drysdale</i> “foreclose[d]” constitutional challenges to pretrial restraint of untainted assets needed to hire counsel of choice.<br />
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<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>The <i>Luis</i> decision will be worth following because the government has increasingly used asset forfeiture as a “potent weapon” to ensure “<a href="http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Justice/2015/0514/If-a-defendant-must-forfeit-all-assets-is-her-right-to-counsel-violated"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(4, 51, 255); color: #0433ff;">crime doesn’t pay</span></a>,” as put by Warren Richey of The Christian Science Monitor. Many fraud cases are a result of government claims on property or stolen proceeds that are directly traceable to criminal activity; however, prosecutors have sought to freeze and preserve assets and/or proceeds that may or may not be linked to criminal activity as a form of insurance that the government will be able to collect if the defendant is convicted. The problem with this strategy is that pretrial freezing of the defendant’s money may leave the defendant short of funds—funds necessary to hire a lawyer.<br />
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<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>It is difficult to predict how the Supreme Court will decide in this case. The case raises issues of the defendant’s presumption of innocence, right to counsel of choice, fairness, and property rights, all of which are rooted in the Constitution. Chief Justice Roberts touched on the issue last year in a <a href="https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?q=sila+luis+elsa+ruiz&hl=en&as_sdt=6,50&case=15206205261580857097&scilh=0#r%5B3%5D"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(4, 51, 255); color: #0433ff;">dissenting opinion</span></a>, in which <a href="http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Justice/2015/0514/If-a-defendant-must-forfeit-all-assets-is-her-right-to-counsel-violated"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(4, 51, 255); color: #0433ff;">he said</span></a>, “[f]ew things could do more to undermine the criminal justice system’s integrity than to allow the government to initiate a prosecution and then, at its option, disarm its presumptively innocent opponent by depriving him of his counsel of choice … [such a move would be] fundamentally at odds with our constitutional tradition and basic notions of fair play.” </div>
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<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Although the <i>Luis</i> decision will most likely affects federal practitioners, state-level practitioners should follow this case. Some states have various statutes providing for the forfeiture of property and/or money that was either used in criminal activity, or traceable to criminal activity. For example, <a href="http://www.wisconsinappeals.net/on-point-by-the-wisconsin-state-public-defender/sila-luis-v-united-states-ussc-no-14-419-cert-granted-6815/"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(4, 51, 255); color: #0433ff;">Wisconsin’s</span></a> statute does not explicitly provide for or prohibit pretrial seizures of assets and there have been no cases to address the issue. Practitioners in similarly situated states should be wary of this decision because any <a href="http://www.wisconsinappeals.net/on-point-by-the-wisconsin-state-public-defender/sila-luis-v-united-states-ussc-no-14-419-cert-granted-6815/"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(4, 51, 255); color: #0433ff;">limitations</span></a> the Supreme Court places under the Fifth and Sixth Amendments would apply to the states.</div>
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By Mahira Khan</div>
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CLP Staffer</div>
Criminal Law Practitioner Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02441151995382969692noreply@blogger.com136tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4985022068047328469.post-32868063712484039452015-06-22T21:14:00.000-04:002015-06-23T16:43:06.237-04:00Planting the Seeds of a Security Threat: Seed Theft and Economic Espionage<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; margin-bottom: 8px;">
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In December 2013, Nicholas Klinefeldt, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Iowa, indicted seven Chinese citizens for the theft of trade secrets regarding corn seeds. Of those seven, only two— siblings, Mo Hailong and Mo Yun— are currently being <a href="http://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/crime-and-courts/2015/03/29/seed-corn-theft-plot-national-security-fbi/70643462/"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(4, 99, 193); color: #0463c1;">prosecuted</span></a>; even though all worked for Beijing Dabeinong Technology Group, a Chinese company specializing in agricultural science and technology. Both brother and sister were intimately involved in the upper echelon of DBN Group; Mo Hailong served as the director of international business, while his sister Mo Yun is the wife of Dr. Shao Genhuo, the CEO of <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2014-07-02/ex-beijing-dabeinong-employee-charged-in-seed-theft-conspiracy"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(4, 99, 193); color: #0463c1;">DBN</span></a> Group. The other five, who have purportedly fled the U.S., all worked for <a href="http://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/crime-and-courts/2015/03/29/seed-corn-theft-plot-national-security-fbi/70643462/"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(4, 99, 193); color: #0463c1;">Kings Nower Seed</span></a>, a subsidiary of DBN Group. The case was recently re-entered the media’s attention when it became known that the FBI, under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), has been using anti-terrorism surveillance tactics to investigate the siblings. </div>
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The corn seeds that the group intended to appropriate from Monsanto and DuPont, both huge players in the agribusiness field, were specially <a href="http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/12/19/6-chinese-nationals-indicted-in-seed-theft-case/4135527/"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(4, 99, 193); color: #0463c1;">inbred</span></a> seeds used to breed hybrids that farmers could buy. Inbred seeds are highly valuable because companies spend millions of dollars each year to produce new hybrids that are resistant to drought and insects, or able to grow with more success and virility. Use of such seeds would have allowed China to attempt to catch the U.S. production rates of corn. </div>
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DuPont became suspicious when <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/05/us/chinese-implicated-in-agricultural-espionage-efforts.html?_r=0"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(4, 99, 193); color: #0463c1;">Mo Hailong</span></a> was spotted in 2011 digging in one of their cornfields; when approached by a security guard, Mo Hailong claimed that he was an employee at University of Iowa, jumped in his car, and drove away. A year later, three of the indicted individuals attempted to smuggle seeds out of the U.S. hidden in Orville Redenbacher <a href="http://money.cnn.com/2014/07/03/news/china-corn-espionage/"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(4, 99, 193); color: #0463c1;">popcorn boxes</span></a> and napkins. Mo Yun became implicated in the plot through text messages from 2007 and 2008 discussing the theft of corn seeds for her husband’s company. Defense counsel’s main contention has involved the testing of the seeds; <a href="http://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/crime-and-courts/2015/04/22/chinese-suspects-seed-theft-evidence-delay/26202479/"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(4, 99, 193); color: #0463c1;">testing</span></a> requires genetic analysis and the actual planting of the seeds, a rather lengthy process. The defense claims that the government took a long time to begin the process leaving no time for the defense to conduct similar tests. However, the most controversial issue is the government’s use of <a href="http://america.aljazeera.com/watch/shows/america-tonight/articles/2014/10/6/unraveling-the-greatchinesecornseedspyring.html"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(4, 99, 193); color: #0463c1;">surveillance tactics</span></a> normally reserved for “terrorist threats” to build their case against the Mo siblings.</div>
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The members of the group were monitored with the same technology and surveillance tactics used to monitor threats to national security, including the placement of tracking devices on cars and the tapping of cellphones. With the approval of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (<a href="https://www.epic.org/privacy/terrorism/fisa/"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(4, 99, 193); color: #0463c1;">FISC</span></a>)—a “secret” court comprised of eleven federal judges—the FBI moved forward and investigated the seven members over the course of two years before filing the indictment. The government’s two-year investigation yielded roughly 500,000 documents, as well as <a href="http://www.commondreams.org/news/2015/03/30/gmo-seed-theft-equals-national-security-threat-argues-government"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(4, 99, 193); color: #0463c1;">audio tapes</span></a> and surveillance footage. After FISA passed in 1978, the FISC was tasked with creating guidelines for the manner in which agents working for a <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/50/1801"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(4, 99, 193); color: #0463c1;">“foreign power”</span></a> may be monitored. </div>
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The use of such measures raises a number of concerns. For example, whether such surveillance is an invasion of these individuals’ privacy, or should the FBI be using these sorts of resources for the theft of trade secrets? Although it is true that agricultural byproducts like these seeds would fall under the umbrella of trade secret, the seeds are valuable and important to the furthering of the U.S.’s competitiveness in the biotechnical global field. Because individuals were purportedly attempting to steal something from the United States, some would argue that this is a direct attack on national security. However, several factors separate this case from other surveillance and intellectual property cases. The economic value of the trade secret in question should not have any bearing on what charge to impose. Alternatively, FISA was designed to protect against spying on the U.S. by foreign governments; the government pointed to DBN’s alleged close ties with the Chinese government as sufficient reasoning for the extensive surveillance measures. Although the Chinese government only owns 1.08 % of DBN Group, there does seem to be evidence indicating that the company has ties to the <a href="http://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/crime-and-courts/2015/03/29/seed-corn-theft-plot-national-security-fbi/70643462/"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(4, 99, 193); color: #0463c1;">Communist Party</span></a> of China, something that could make it more difficult for defense counsel to suppress the surveillance evidence as unnecessary intrusion into their client’s lives. </div>
An additional important factor in the debate over the appropriateness of such surveillance measures is the fact that the government could have presumably chosen to charge the Mo Hailong and Mo Yun with economic espionage rather than the theft of trade secrets. Under the <a href="http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/investigate/counterintelligence/economic-espionage"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(4, 99, 193); color: #0463c1;">Economic Espionage Act of 1996</span></a>, <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/1831"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(4, 99, 193); color: #0463c1;">economic espionage</span></a> is the “acquisition of trade secrets” for the benefit of “any foreign government, […] instrumentality, […] or agent.” Although the theft of trade secrets, or <a href="http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/investigate/counterintelligence/economic-espionage"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(4, 99, 193); color: #0463c1;">industrial espionage</span></a>, criminalizes similar activity, it is different from economic espionage because the theft merely needs to benefit someone other than the owner. Since the siblings were charged with the latter, the question is raised as to whether there really is any connection between the theft and the Chinese government. It could be argued that the U.S. government chose to indict the pair on the broader charge rather than fail to establish a viable connection to the Chinese government. Regardless, as this case moves forward, it will be important to see how the court responds; the decision could mark an important precedent in a rather unsowed field. Allowing this form of surveillance for non-militant foreign government agents could arguably lead to the allowance in the future for similar surveillance in a number of situations.<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">By Jacqueline Morley<br />CLP Articles Editor </span>Criminal Law Practitioner Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02441151995382969692noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4985022068047328469.post-69932885704484326492015-05-01T06:00:00.000-04:002015-05-01T06:00:04.379-04:00You Snooze, You Lose: The Sleepwalking Defense<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Everyday when the sun goes down, hundreds
of millions people in the United States go to sleep. For most of those people,
the act of sleeping occurs normally and they awaken the next morning to
continue living productive lives. However, nearly </span><a href="http://www.ahsleepcenters.com/articles/sleep-disorders"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">seventy-five percent of adult Americans</span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"> experience some form of a sleep disorder
at least a few nights per week. Sleepwalking is one such disorder. The
prevalence of </span><a href="http://sleepfoundation.org/sleep-disorders-problems/abnormal-sleep-behaviors/sleepwalking"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">sleepwalking</span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"> in the general adult population is
between one and fifteen percent.</span></div>
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<a href="http://lawdigitalcommons.bc.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2294&context=bclr"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Sleepwalking</span></a><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">, which is also known as somnambulism, is
a sleep disorder where sleepers make their way out of their beds and perform
various actions while still asleep. In adults, sleepwalking is thought be
correlated to an </span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/%2522straight%2520exam%25204%2520without%2520access%2520to%2520anything%2520else%2522"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">underlying psychological disorder,</span></a><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';"> but this has yet to be confirmed. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Sleepwalkers committing </span><a href="http://lawdigitalcommons.bc.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2294&context=bclr"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">crimes</span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"> is not unheard of. For instance, in </span><a href="http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-case-of-the-sleepwalking-killer-77584095/?no-ist"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Massachusetts v. Tirell</span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">, Albert Tirell stood accused of killing
a prostitute and setting fire to the brothel and raised sleepwalking as a
defense. In </span><a href="http://health.usnews.com/health-news/family-health/sleep/articles/2009/05/08/7-criminal-cases-that-invoked-the-sleepwalking-defense"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Fain v. Commonwealth</span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">, the defendant was asleep in a lobby and
shot a porter who attempted to awaken him. In the 1987 case of </span><a href="http://health.usnews.com/health-news/family-health/sleep/articles/2009/05/08/7-criminal-cases-that-invoked-the-sleepwalking-defense"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Regina v. Parks</span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">, a man with a strong family history of
parasomnia went to sleep, arose from bed, drove to his in-laws’ home, and
attacked them. An example of a more recent sleepwalking crime was observed in </span><a href="http://www.loweringthebar.net/2011/06/judge-buys-sleepwalking-defense-to-assault-charges.html"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">2011</span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">, where a judge recently accepted the defendant’s
sleepwalking disorder defense and found him not guilty of assault.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Crimes committed during episodes of
sleepwalking intersect with the criminal justice system because of criminal law
philosophies on culpability. A criminal conviction requires both criminal
action and criminal mental intent. “</span><a href="http://lawdigitalcommons.bc.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2294&context=bclr"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Generally</span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">, for a criminal defendant to be held
culpable, the prosecution must prove that the defendant committed the act
voluntarily. The basic premise of sleepwalking </span><a href="http://lawdigitalcommons.bc.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2294&context=bclr"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">defenses</span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"> is that sleepwalkers are not aware of
their actions, and thus, should not be held culpable for actions beyond their
control.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Although rarely raised in American court,
the sleepwalking defense has been brought forth in </span><a href="http://lawdigitalcommons.bc.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2294&context=bclr"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">three forms</span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">: automatism, unconsciousness, and
insanity. </span><a href="http://lawdigitalcommons.bc.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2294&context=bclr"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Automatism</span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"> assumes that a sleepwalker’s bodily
motions are beyond the sleepwalker’s waking control. The </span><a href="http://lawdigitalcommons.bc.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2294&context=bclr"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">unconsciousness</span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"> defense assumes that sleepwalkers are
not capable of criminal intent because their minds are asleep and therefore
lack the mental capacity to commit a crime.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>An </span><a href="http://lawdigitalcommons.bc.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2294&context=bclr"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">insanity</span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"> defense to crimes committed during a
sleepwalking episode argues that the defendant has a mental disease that prevents
him from being cognitively aware of his actions and control those actions
during the time of the offense. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Various jurisdictions across the United
States will accept the sleepwalking defense under one of the aforementioned
forms. Additionally, courts also must determine which party must bear </span><a href="http://www.inquisitr.com/1541736/jesus-christ-appears-to-english-man-on-a-piece-of-toast/"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">the burden</span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"> of proving that a sleepwalking episode
occurred. Some courts such as the Kentucky Court of Appeals and the Supreme
Court of Georgia require that a sleepwalking defense be used as an </span><a href="http://www.inquisitr.com/1541736/jesus-christ-appears-to-english-man-on-a-piece-of-toast/"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">affirmative defense</span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">. Some jurisdictions, such as the Supreme
Court of Wyoming and the Court of Appeals of North Carolina, place the burden
of disproving a defendant’s claim of sleepwalking on the </span><a href="http://www.inquisitr.com/1541736/jesus-christ-appears-to-english-man-on-a-piece-of-toast/"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">prosecution</span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">As a practitioner, regardless of whether
you are prosecuting or defending a case with a sleepwalking component, one
should first research whether this defense is recognized in their particular
jurisdiction and which party assumes the burden. Sleepwalking as a defense is
not a carte blanche defense. There are hurdles to pass in order to both
successfully present and disprove a sleeping disorder as a defense. These
hurdles lie in the medical science and additional factors surrounding
sleepwalking. Defense attorneys need to make use of a defendant’s medical
history related to sleepwalking episodes. This includes showing sleepwalking
patterns, a family history of sleepwalking, environmental stressors, drug and
alcohol use, and other medical conditions that are associated with
sleepwalking. Prosecutors may attempt to point out that current medical
information does support the grouping of sleepwalking into an </span><a href="http://www.inquisitr.com/1541736/jesus-christ-appears-to-english-man-on-a-piece-of-toast/"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">automatism and unconsciousness defense.</span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"> These prosecutors may argue that since
sleepwalking episodes may be reduced through lifestyle changes, sleepwalking is
not completely beyond the sleepwalker’s control. Most of all, practitioners on
both sides must keep an eye on this issue. The practitioner that snoozes will
lose because the progress made in this area through medical science and
research will directly impact the criminal justice system. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Photo by Herzi Pinki via <a href="mailto:http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Sleepwalking%3Fuselang=de%3Flevel=1%23/media/File:Statue_of_sleepwalker.jpg">Wikimedia
Commons</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
Criminal Law Practitioner Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02441151995382969692noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4985022068047328469.post-18388403024780432242015-04-24T06:00:00.000-04:002015-04-24T06:00:10.024-04:00Retroactive Application of Miller v. Alabama to Eliminate Life Sentences Imposed on Juveniles<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GKaVDQDazw0/VTZpYrR9-6I/AAAAAAAAAW0/I7YrJ6Wnrag/s1600/3989418655_34943356e8_z.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GKaVDQDazw0/VTZpYrR9-6I/AAAAAAAAAW0/I7YrJ6Wnrag/s1600/3989418655_34943356e8_z.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
In
2012, the Supreme Court granted certiorari to hear <a href="https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/567/10-9646/">Miller v.
Alabama</a>, which involved two 14-year-old boys who were convicted of murder
during an attempted robbery. The state court allowed the juveniles to be tried
as adults. As a result, at 14-years-old, they were sentenced to life imprisonment
with no chance of parole due to mandatory sentencing guidelines, which did not
allow the judge to consider any factors related to the juvenile’s life. In
evaluating the state’s decision, the Supreme Court ruled that life without
parole for juveniles violated the Eighth Amendment, which prohibits cruel and
unusual punishment, when mitigating factors are not considered in the
sentencing. The judge writing for the majority stated:</div>
<a name='more'></a><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 31.5pt; margin-right: .5in; margin-top: 0in; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
“Mandatory
life without parole for a juvenile precludes consideration of his chronological
age and its hallmark features – among them, immaturity, impetuosity, and
failure to appreciate risks and consequences. It prevents taking into account
the family and home environment that surrounds him and from which he cannot
usually extricate himself no matter how brutal or dysfunctional.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
Jurisdictions
have split on whether the <u>Miller</u> rule is required to be applied to those
sentenced to life prior to the Supreme Court’s 2012 decision. As of mid-2014, <a href="https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/567/10-9646/">ten states</a> have
made changes to their criminal justice systems banning mandatory life sentences
for children under the age of 18 regardless of whether they were tried as
juveniles or adults based on the <u>Miller</u> rule. However, other states have
not applied the <u>Miller</u> rule retroactively as there are currently <a href="https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/567/10-9646/">2,000-2,500
children</a> that are serving life sentences. Some of those currently serving their
sentences were sentenced as <a href="https://www.aclu.org/issues/juvenile-justice/youth-incarceration/juvenile-life-without-parole">young
as 13</a>. Those states that have not implemented the Supreme Court ruling
retroactively have refused for a <a href="http://www.thecrimereport.org/news/crime-and-justice-news/2014-06-lwop-juveniles-update">number
of reasons</a> such as: (1) wanting to show the public that they are still taking
juvenile crimes seriously, (2) preventing repeat offenders from gaining access
to the public after committing violent crimes, and (3) showing the public that
they have the mindset that criminals cannot change.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
Although
the transition to abolish life sentences for juveniles has been slow and some
states have been resistant, the Supreme Court has shown that there is hope.
Earlier this year, the Supreme Court announced its intentions to hear <u>Montgomery
v. Louisiana</u>, which could clear up any questions surrounding <u>Miller</u>
and whether the <u>Miller</u> <a href="http://fairsentencingofyouth.org/2015/04/07/u-s-supreme-court-to-hear-miller-retroactivity-case-2/">rule
should be applied retroactively</a> to all jurisdictions. The juvenile that was
convicted in the <u>Montgomery</u> case is currently serving his life sentence.
He was convicted at <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/courts_law/supreme-court-will-hear-case-involving-life-sentences-without-parole-for-juveniles/2014/12/12/98165b36-8239-11e4-8882-03cf08410beb_story.html">age
17 in 1963</a> of murder and has been incarcerated in a state penitentiary for
more than 50 years. If the court determines that the Miller rule should be
applied retroactively in the <u>Montgomery</u> case, the approximately 2,000
juvenile offenders serving their current life sentences would be resentenced
based on these less rigid standards. If in 2012 the Court found that requiring
children to serve life sentences in prison was considered cruel and unusual
punishment, the constitutionality of the rule has not changed regardless of
whether the juvenile was sentenced prior to 2012 or after. </div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
It
is crucial that the Supreme Court resolve the questions associated with the <u>Miller</u>
decision and explicitly provide state courts the direction on whether to apply
the rule retroactively or not to those juveniles previously sentenced to life.
If the court decides to rule in favor of the applying the rule retroactively,
the criminal justice system will be affected significantly, particularly
administratively. Some states have begun the process of applying the Miller
rule retroactively by starting the re-sentencing hearings, and will be less
affected by the ruling. However, there are approximately 2,500 juveniles in the
remaining states that have not started the process. Practitioners, courts, and
judges in these particular states will have an influx of new sentencing
hearings on their calendars. In addition to the actual hearings, practitioners
representing and prosecuting these former juveniles sentenced to life will be
tasked with the burden of finding additional evidence for the re-sentencing
hearing. The re-sentencing hearing will consider the juvenile’s home life,
mental capacity at the time the murder was committed, among other things in determining
the mitigating factors present for a new sentence; all things that were not
previously considered by the courts in mandatory sentencing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Prosecutors and defense attorneys alike will
have to dig deep into the juvenile’s past to assist in their cases. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In addition, prosecutors will have the burden
of contacting victims’ families to receive their input on the new sentences. The
Supreme Court has not set a date for oral arguments, but it is likely they will
be heard later this year as thousands wait to see if they will be resentenced. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
By Emma McArthur</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
Staffer, <i>Criminal Law Practitioner</i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
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Criminal Law Practitioner Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02441151995382969692noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4985022068047328469.post-80514676780974135662015-04-21T06:00:00.000-04:002015-04-21T06:00:03.920-04:00Skype and the Right to Confrontation<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">On February 23, 2015, the petition for <a href="http://www.scotusblog.com/case-files/cases/new-mexico-v-schwartz/">certiorari
was denied</a> in the case of <i>New Mexico
v. Schwartz</i>. What the Court failed
to realize by denying this petition, is that defendants all over the nation
will not get the full protection the United States Constitution requires. As technological advances increase, our use of
technology in the courtroom increases as well. From computer monitors to email to video
testimony, technology has a significant impact on the way cases are handled in
the courtroom. The ease of technology,
as well as its accessibility, makes it an ever-growing issue when applied the
Constitution – issues the Framers never could have imagined.<a href="file:///C:/Users/Trevor/AppData/Local/Temp/CLP%20BLOG%20-TA%20Edits%202.docx#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">[1]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a> In <a href="https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/2657829/state-v-schwartz/">New
Mexico v. Schwartz</a>, the defendant argues that by allowing four witnesses to
testify via Skype, his 6<sup>th</sup> Amendment confrontation clause rights
were violated. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><a href="https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/2657829/state-v-schwartz/">In this
case,</a> Martha McEachin moved from Los Angeles to Albuquerque in March 2008.
She had only been living with the defendant for a month and a half when she
went missing. In May 2008, a decomposed
body was found wrapped in an air mattress with sheets in an alley about 500
feet from the Defendant’s apartment. A
two-year investigation <a href="https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/2657829/state-v-schwartz/">ensued
and the defendant was charged with McEachin’s murder</a>. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">At the trial, four of the State’s
witnesses testified using Skype. The
defendant argues that this use of video testimony violated his 6<sup>th</sup>
Amendment rights. The Confrontation Clause
states that in a criminal prosecution the defendant<a href="https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/2657829/state-v-schwartz/"> has the
right to be confronted with the witnesses against him.</a> The defendant argues that video testimony via <a href="https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/2657829/state-v-schwartz/">Skype
does not satisfy this right</a>. The
lower court explains that the right the Confrontation Clause gives is a
guaranteed face-to-face meeting with the witnesses who are appearing before the
jury. There may be exceptions to this
right; however, they must be <a href="https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/2657829/state-v-schwartz/">narrowly
tailored to include situations that are necessary to further an important
public policy</a>. Without a
particularized showing of necessity, the right of confrontation stands. The court goes on to explain that mere
inconvenience for a witness is not sufficient grounds to violate this
face-to-face right. The court believes
that the state did not show necessity for the use of video testimony, and
therefore reversed the defendant’s conviction.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">The outcome of this case, however, was not
ideal. If this case had made it to the
Supreme Court, the question of how to determine when video testimony via Skype
is appropriate would have been determined. Practitioners and judges are now left with an
open-ended question of when this type of testimony does or does not violate the
Confrontation Clause. While an argument
can be made for either side, concrete criteria to protect defendants should be
implemented. With the fast rate of
growing technological advances, this is not the last time the Supreme Court
will be presented with this particular issue. Right now the best a judge can do is balance
the interest of the State with the rights of the defendant. It seems this is a losing battle either way. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Kelsey Edenzon<br />
Staffer, <i>Criminal Law Practitioner</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<br />
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<a href="file:///C:/Users/Trevor/AppData/Local/Temp/CLP%20BLOG%20-TA%20Edits%202.docx#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[1]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a>
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Jamie Walker
and Laura Carlsen, “<i>Can I Testify via
Skype?” Using Videoconferencing Technology to Enhance Remote Witness Testimony,
</i>NWSidebar (June 11, 2014).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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Criminal Law Practitioner Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02441151995382969692noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4985022068047328469.post-23299644311430871682015-04-17T06:00:00.000-04:002015-04-17T06:00:08.663-04:00Judicial Override in Alabama<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-01jzibNRj9s/VSwZZ_14ZOI/AAAAAAAAAWQ/B_baR2B3Ows/s1600/387561128_d2460c4a4a_z.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-01jzibNRj9s/VSwZZ_14ZOI/AAAAAAAAAWQ/B_baR2B3Ows/s1600/387561128_d2460c4a4a_z.jpg" height="214" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="BodyA" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">Judicial override
is a concept that has been in place since the late 1970s. It</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">’</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">s a permissive
doctrine that gives state trial judges the option to override a jury</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">’</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">s sentencing
determination and institute a sentence the judge believes is more suitable. In
Alabama, judicial override has been used frequently to override jury verdicts
of life without parole for the death penalty. The Supreme Court will soon
decide whether to grant certiorari on the question of whether Alabama</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">’</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">s use of the
judicial override option violates a defendant</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">’</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">s Sixth Amendment right to a jury as
well as the Eighth Amendment</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">’</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">s prohibitions on
arbitrary and capricious death sentences and cruel and unusual punishment.</span></div>
<a name='more'></a> <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<div class="BodyA" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt;">The petitions
entitled </span><i><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";"><a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/volokh-conspiracy/wp-content/uploads/sites/14/2015/03/lockhartpetition.pdf">Lockhart
v. Alabama</a></span></i><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt;">
and </span><i><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";"><a href="http://sblog.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Christie-Scott-USSC-Cert-Petition-01-26-15.pdf">Scott
v. Alabama</a></span></i><i><sup><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></sup></i><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt;">allege that
judicial override in Alabama is more a political tool that flies in the face of
a defendant</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt;">’</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt;">s constitutional
rights. In <i>Lockhart</i>, the defendant was convicted of murdering a woman
during the course of an armed robbery and received a unanimous jury verdict of
life without parole</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt;">—</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt;">implicitly
rejecting the death penalty as an appropriate sentence. In <i>Scott</i>, while
the jury was not unanimous, a majority still found the death penalty an
inappropriate sentence and handed down a life sentence. However, both trial
judges overrode those verdicts and sentenced both Mr. Lockhart and Ms. Scott to
death.</span></div>
<div class="BodyA" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="BodyA" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">Trial judges in
Alabama are elected. A study conducted by the Equal Justice Initiative (EJI)</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">—</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">who is representing
both Mr. Lockhart and Ms. Scott</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">—</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">found that judicial
overrides in favor of the death penalty occur far more often during election
years than non-election ones. </span><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";"><a href="http://www.eji.org/deathpenalty/override">In 2008</a></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">, 30 percent of all
those sitting on death row were there by way of judicial override whereas only
7 percent of death row inmates in 1997 (a non-election year) were placed there
due to override.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="BodyA" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="BodyA" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">EJI is asking the
court to decide whether the use of judicial override in Alabama is done in an
arbitrary manner in violation of the Eighth Amendment. This is not the first
time a death row inmate has asked the Supreme Court to hear on the issue of
judicial overrides. In a 1988 dissent to a denial of writ of certiorari, </span><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";"><a href="https://law.resource.org/pub/us/case/reporter/US/488/488.US.876.87-7098.html">Justice
Thurgood Marshall wrote</a></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">, </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">“</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">[i]t approaches the
most literal sense of the word </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">‘</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">arbitrary</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">’</span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">to put one to death
in the face of a contrary jury determination where it is accepted that the jury
had indeed responsibly carried out its task.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">”</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="BodyA" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="BodyA" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">Judicial override
in Alabama may serve as an end to run around the Supreme Court</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">’</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">s mandate issued in
</span><i><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";"><a href="https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=13989927396342823081&hl=en&as_sdt=6&as_vis=1&oi=scholarr">Ring
v. Arizona</a></span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">,
entitling capital defendants to a jury when determining facts considered for a
possible increase in the maximum punishment. A trial judge need only sit and
wait through the sentencing phase with a sitting jury before imposing his own
sentence via judicial override in order to avoid possible claims of denial of
substantive due process, thereby reducing a capital defendant</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">’</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">s right to a jury
at sentencing to a mere formality. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="BodyA" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="BodyA" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">In Alabama, 20
percent of all persons sitting on death row are there by judicial override. All
underwent a sentencing phase where a jury ultimately found the defendant should
receive life without parole</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">—</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">sparing his or her
life. Only two other states have judicial override options available to judges:
</span><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";"><a href="http://www.eji.org/deathpenalty/override">Delaware and Florida</a></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">. Delaware state
judges are not elected and have never used the judicial override option to put
someone on death row. Even though trial judges in Florida are elected, judicial
override has not been used to sentence a defendant to death in over 12 years,
highlighting its rare purpose. Alabama judges, however, have exercised their
override option in 107 cases since 1976</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">—</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">98
of which were used to issue the death penalty.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="BodyA" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="BodyA" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">Alabama currently
has no standard in place dictating when a judge may usurp a jury</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">’</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">s verdict of life
without parole and sentence a defendant to death. Alabama law requires a judge
exercising judicial override to provide a written explanation why; however, it
does not outline which reasons may be appropriate for limiting appellate review
to a plain error standard. Consequently, Alabama judges, who are elected,
retain unbridled discretion so long as they give any reason for their findings.
For example, in the case of Mr. Lockhart, the jury overrode the unanimous jury</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">’</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">s life sentence in
favor of the death penalty</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">—</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">citing to the Judge</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">’</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">s own belief that
the jury was </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">“</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">emotionally and
mentally worn out.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">”</span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">The Judge in that
case further believed the jury was swayed by the victim</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">’</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">s family</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">’</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">s request for
leniency. Even where the victim</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">’</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">s family
discouraged a death sentence, the judge still imposed capital punishment.
Conversely, in the case of Ms. Scott, who was convicted of killing her
6-year-old son by setting fire to her home, the judge overrode a jury</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">’</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">s life sentence for
the death penalty explaining that the victim</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">’</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">s
request for the death penalty factored into the decision to override the life
sentence. Such contrary applications of the judicial override option are
central to EJI</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">’</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">s Eighth Amendment
claim against arbitrary application of the death penalty.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="BodyA" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="BodyA" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">Whether the Supreme
Court will accept certiorari in either Ms. Scott</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">’</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">s or Mr. Lockhart</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">’</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">s case is
uncertain. At least two justices, Sonia Sotomayor and Stephen Breyer have
expressed their disapproval of the option when they issued rare dissents to
another denial of certiorari in 2013. </span><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";"><a href="http://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/13pdf/13-5380_08l1.pdf">Justice
Sotomayor wrote</a></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">
in her dissent that the time was ripe for determining whether it is appropriate
for </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">“</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">a single trial
judge</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">’</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">s view to displace
that of a jury representing a cross section of the community.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">”</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="BodyA" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="BodyA" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">While the death
penalty has seen a steady decline in support, it has become a prevalent
headline in current events. The </span><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";"><a href="http://www.scotusblog.com/case-files/cases/glossip-v-gross/">Supreme
Court is set to hear</a></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">
a case concerning Oklahoma</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">’</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">s use of
unconventional drugs for lethal injection, as well as Florida</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">’</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">s own application
of the death penalty. Further, as the Boston Marathon Bomber trial moves into
the penalty phase, the question of whether to execute Dzhokhar Tsarnaev will be
on the public conscious for the next several months. This increased spotlight
on capital punishment</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">—</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">especially
concerning how and when the courts administer it</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">—</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">could pressure the Supreme Court into
hearing this issue next term.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="BodyA" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="BodyA">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">By
Robert Maes<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="BodyA">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">Senior
Staffer, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Criminal Law Practitioner<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="BodyA">
<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">Photo
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Criminal Law Practitioner Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02441151995382969692noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4985022068047328469.post-16974044532252465142015-04-14T06:00:00.000-04:002015-04-14T06:00:00.434-04:00SCOTUS Watch: Glossip v. Gross<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">SCOTUS Watch<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><u><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Glossip v. Gross</span></u></b><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">, </span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Docket No. 14-7955, <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">on Appeal from the
Tenth Circuit<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<u><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Introduction<o:p></o:p></span></u></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">“From this day
forward, I shall no longer tinker with the machinery of death. For more than twenty years I have
endeavored—indeed. I have
struggled—along with a majority of this Court, to develop procedural and
substantive rules that would lend more than the mere appearance of fairness to
the death penalty endeavor. Rather than
continue to coddle the Court’s delusion that the desired level of fairness has
been achieved and the need for regulation is eviscerated, I feel morally and
intellectually obligated simply to concede that the death penalty experiment
has failed.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">-<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/93-7054.ZA1.html">Justice Harry
Blackmun</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">In the current term of the United States
Supreme Court, the Justices are set to decide a case which almost literally
questions the “machinery of death” and the “death penalty experiment.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"></span></div>
<a name='more'></a><br />
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<u><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Issue<o:p></o:p></span></u></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">The question the Court is presented in <u>Glossip</u>
involves whether, (1) under the Eighth Amendment, state can continue to carry
out lethal injections using a drug formula that they know does not sufficiently
numb an inmate’s pain, <a href="http://www.scotusblog.com/case-files/cases/glossip-v-gross/">after
evidence of this failure has been manifested in prior executions</a>; and (2)
whether an inmate invoking the Eighth Amendment <a href="http://www.scotusblog.com/case-files/cases/glossip-v-gross/">must
identify an alternative method of execution in order to avoid an execution
method</a>. These issues should be of
particular relevance to practitioners, especially those involved in capital
defense, capital prosecution, habeas corpus, post-conviction representation,
and criminal appellate practice. <u>Glossip</u>
provides the Court an opportunity to fundamentally change the operation of the
death penalty in all of the United States, especially in states that are
struggling to deal with drug shortage. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<u><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Facts<o:p></o:p></span></u></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">The case of <u>Glossip v. Gross</u> primarily
arises out of a <a href="http://www.newsweek.com/2014/05/16/states-go-great-lengths-find-lethal-injection-drugs-249154.html">major
shortage of drugs used in lethal injection</a> “cocktails.” European pharmaceutical companies have
cancelled further sales to American states because they do not want their
products used in executions, <a href="http://www.newsweek.com/2014/05/16/states-go-great-lengths-find-lethal-injection-drugs-249154.html">leaving
states to try new manners of mixing lethal injection drugs or seek creative
ways of finding the drug</a>, such as underground markets. <u>Glossip</u><b> </b>reached the Court <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/24/us/justices-to-hear-case-on-execution-drugs.html?_r=0">after
Oklahoma executed Clayton Lockett using a new drug formula experiment</a>. The formula failed, as Lockett’s execution
last for forty-three minutes and was characterized with loud moans and visible
struggling. <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/24/us/justices-to-hear-case-on-execution-drugs.html?_r=0">Lockett
had previously applied for a stay of execution</a>, invoking the Eighth
Amendment prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment. Prior to Lockett’s execution, <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/24/us/justices-to-hear-case-on-execution-drugs.html?_r=0">the
Court had denied a challenge by another Oklahoma inmate</a>, Charles Warner,
who ultimately also experienced a long and visibly painful execution. The Court declined to stay the execution on
the grounds that <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/24/us/justices-to-hear-case-on-execution-drugs.html?_r=0">they
did not see any feasible alternatives to the lethal injection formula</a>. However, the Justices decided to hear the
case of Glossip and three other inmates on Oklahoma’s death row inmates <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/24/us/justices-to-hear-case-on-execution-drugs.html?_r=0">who
sued after Lockett’s botched execution</a>.
The inmates sue on the basis that Oklahoma is in violation of the Eighth
Amendment because they are prepared to carry out the executions <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/24/us/justices-to-hear-case-on-execution-drugs.html?_r=0">despite
the previous failure</a> of their cocktail to painlessly execute Lockett.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<u><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Arguments<o:p></o:p></span></u></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">There is not a particular wealth of
Supreme Court case precedent to address the shortage of death penalty
drugs. The last case that the Court
addressed on the subject was the 2008 case of <u><a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/07-5439.ZS.html">Baze v. Rees</a></u>,
in which a plurality Court rejected a prisoner’s Eighth Amendment claim
regarding newer drug cocktails. However,
the Court left open the possibility that <a href="http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?court=us&vol=000&invol=07-5439">should
a death penalty procedure be sure to incite pain and suffering or threaten pain
and suffering</a>, it could fail the “cruel and unusual punishment standard.” The Court held that if an inmate can show <a href="http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?court=us&vol=000&invol=07-5439">severe
likelihood of imminent pain</a>, the Eighth Amendment can block the execution.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">The second issue in the case involves <a href="http://www.scotusblog.com/case-files/cases/glossip-v-gross/">whether an
inmate must identify a different method of execution</a> in order to succeed in
an Eighth Amendment claim. <u>Baze</u>
does not offer much guidance on this particular matter, as it was not addressed
by the Court. Further <u>Baze</u> held
that <a href="http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?court=us&vol=000&invol=07-5439">showing
an alternative execution method was not sufficient basis for inmates to show an
Eighth Amendment challenge</a>. The
Court heard a similar question in their denial of a stay to Warner, <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/24/us/justices-to-hear-case-on-execution-drugs.html?_r=0">the
case immediately preceding Glossip</a>.
The Court held that an inmate must identify a feasible alternative. </span><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">The Court seems
poised to reassess that issue in the <u>Glossip</u> case, particularly given
the fact that there is evidence of physical pain that may fit the <u>Baze</u>
standard.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<u><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Petitioner’s Argument<o:p></o:p></span></u></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Glossip and the other petitioners are
hoping that the prior executions, <a href="http://www.scotusblog.com/case-files/cases/glossip-v-gross/">in which
there was visible pain and suffering by the inmate</a>, will satisfy the <u>Baze</u>
standard and stay their executions.
Glossip’s case also hinges on whether the Court will view lower courts’
holdings favorably. In <u>Cooey v.
Kasich</u>,<a href="file:///C:/Users/Trevor/Downloads/SCOTUS%20Watch%20Glossip-2.docx#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">[1]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a>the
federal district court held that Ohio’s new drug experimentation violated the
Eighth Amendment, as evidence showed the drug combination would likely cause
severe pain. Similarly, in <u><a href="http://caselaw.findlaw.com/us-11th-circuit/1654129.html">Arthur v. Thomas</a></u>,
the Eleventh Circuit reversed a lower court’s decision to proceed with an
execution under a new drug formula primarily on the grounds that using new
formulas subjected inmates to a severe risk of pain thus could not be valid
under the Eighth Amendment. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">On the second issue, </span><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Glossip will particularly argue that the Warner case was wrongly decided in
the light of the new factual record. They
will primarily assert that an inmate’s rights under the Eighth Amendment should
not be subject to their ability to identify other methods of execution. There
is little precedential basis to determine how the Court will further
proceed. <u>Cooey</u> may also provide
Glossip further basis, as the court held that a state cannot use a cruel and
unusual drug cocktail in lethal injections for the sake of convenience or
efficiency.<a href="file:///C:/Users/Trevor/Downloads/SCOTUS%20Watch%20Glossip-2.docx#_ftn2" name="_ftnref2" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">[2]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a> Glossip can also find some support for this
argument among some of the justices, as </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Justice Sotomayor wrote a harsh dissent in
the Warner case, stating </span><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">“It would be odd if
the constitutionality of being burned alive, for example, turned on a
challenger’s ability to point to an available guillotine.”<a href="file:///C:/Users/Trevor/Downloads/SCOTUS%20Watch%20Glossip-2.docx#_ftn3" name="_ftnref3" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">[3]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<u><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Respondents’ Argument<o:p></o:p></span></u></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Oklahoma’s
arguments in the case will be more centered on precedents that have upheld the
death penalty as constitutionally valid under the Eighth Amendment. The Court affirmed as much is <u><a href="http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?court=us&vol=000&invol=07-5439">Baze</a></u>,
while also holding that states <a href="http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?court=us&vol=000&invol=07-5439">are
allowed to experiment and seek new methods of drugs</a>. The Court also held that it is permissible
for an execution to involve pain to an inmate, so long as the pain is such that
is inevitable from an execution. The
states can also assert that the evidence that the inmates’ execution is not
pervasive enough to constitute an “<a href="http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?court=us&vol=000&invol=07-5439">objectively
intolerable risk of harm</a>” that qualifies as cruel and unusual. Further, the respondent will rely on the 5-4
majority decision in the Warner case that inmates challenging an execution
method must indicate an alternative method.
The petitioners have not identified an alternative method in their
filings. Oklahoma is hoping that the
previous 5-4 majority will still hold in the <u>Glossip</u> case. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<u><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Practitioners<o:p></o:p></span></u></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">The Court’s decision in <u>Glossip v. Gross</u>
has the potential to alter the current “machinery of death” and the future of
capital punishment. The outcome is also
fairly difficult to predict, as the Justices have a different factual
distinction between <u>Baze</u> and the preceding cases. However, based on the <u>Baze</u> opinions,
it would be reasonable to expect Ginsburg, Breyer, Sotomayor, and Kagan to side
with Glossip. Roberts wrote the
plurality opinion of <u>Baze</u>, in which Alito and Kennedy joined. Alito wrote a separate opinion asserting that
claims similar to <u>Baze</u> would be fact-specific and case-by-case, in which
Kennedy, Scalia, and Thomas joined.
Therefore, it is unclear how the Court will decide, but it is likely
that the Court will avoid a broad ruling staying executions on a broad level
similar to the Court’s landmark decision of <u><a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/supremecourt/text/408/238">Furman v. Georgia</a></u>,
particularly since the conservative block of the justices do have a preference
to defer to states on matters of the death penalty. Regardless, the Court’s decision will have
various and substantial impacts on states’ implementation of the death penalty
that will be relevant as long as the drug shortage continues to be
pervasive. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Braxton Marcela,</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Staffer, <i>Criminal Law Practitioner</i></span></div>
<br />
<div>
<!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><br clear="all" />
<hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" />
<!--[endif]-->
<div id="ftn1">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="file:///C:/Users/Trevor/Downloads/SCOTUS%20Watch%20Glossip-2.docx#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[1]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a>
801 F. Supp.2d 623 (S.D. Ohio 2012). <o:p></o:p></div>
</div>
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<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="file:///C:/Users/Trevor/Downloads/SCOTUS%20Watch%20Glossip-2.docx#_ftnref2" name="_ftn2" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[2]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a>
801 F. Supp.2d 623 (S.D. Ohio 2012).<o:p></o:p></div>
</div>
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<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="file:///C:/Users/Trevor/Downloads/SCOTUS%20Watch%20Glossip-2.docx#_ftnref3" name="_ftn3" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[3]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a> <u>Id.<o:p></o:p></u></div>
</div>
</div>
Criminal Law Practitioner Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02441151995382969692noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4985022068047328469.post-50252781973578984922015-04-10T06:00:00.001-04:002015-04-10T06:00:01.009-04:00The Death Penalty: Academia v. Public Opinion<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-nHGC_FBEppU/VScNjklVATI/AAAAAAAAAV4/ERCU6rSvbJc/s1600/4323801490_09aa23fab1_z.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-nHGC_FBEppU/VScNjklVATI/AAAAAAAAAV4/ERCU6rSvbJc/s1600/4323801490_09aa23fab1_z.jpg" height="216" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="text-align: justify;">In
the past decade or so, the subject of capital punishment has spurred many
academics to heated opinions arguing for and against the death penalty.</span><span style="text-align: justify;"> </span><span style="text-align: justify;">Some opponents of capital punishment have
highlighted the world trend of abolishing the death penalty, noting that China,
Iran, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and the United States carry out most of the known
executions around the world, and that “</span><a href="http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/documents/GallupPoll1009.pdf" style="text-align: justify;">the number
of countries that still allow the death penalty has been dwindling.</a><span style="text-align: justify;">”</span><span style="text-align: justify;"> </span></div>
<a name='more'></a><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><o:p> </o:p></b>Numerous
Supreme Court justices have spoken out against the death penalty. At the World
Affairs Council of Philadelphia in 2011, Justice Breyer urged the President and
Congress to abolish the death penalty in America citing the example of French
President Mitterand in saying, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/justice-breyer-riffs-on-the-death-penalty-citizens-united-bush-v-gore-2011-10">“Europe
is against the death penalty now . . . In 1980, 2/3 of the French Electorate
supported the death penalty. Still Mitterand, in a television interview, came
out against the death penalty. He immediately went up in the polls because he
took a position of conscience. The same thing could happen [in America].”</a>
However, he doubts that abolition of the death penalty will come any time soon,
because <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/justice-breyer-riffs-on-the-death-penalty-citizens-united-bush-v-gore-2011-10">“Politicians
were in the popular club in high school. They hold their finger up to the wind
to measure popularity.”</a> In a 2014
interview, Justice Ginsburg said, <a href="http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/statements-death-penalty-supreme-court-justices#ginsburg">“if
I were in the legislature, there’d be no death penalty. But the death penalty
for now is the law…”</a> Concurrently, <a href="http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/statements-death-penalty-supreme-court-justices#scalia">Justices
Kennedy, O’Connor, Scalia, and Stevens have all generally posited that it is
the legislative’s duty to abolish the death penalty should they wish to do so,
but the current state of the law clearly permits the death penalty where
appropriate.</a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
However,
it appears that the American public does not seem to share the academic
opposition to the death penalty. In fact, over the past seven decades, there
has been a significant showing of support in favor of the death penalty,
according <a href="http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/documents/GallupPoll1009.pdf">to
Gallup Poll results</a>.<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 16.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
The
2009 Gallup Poll asserts, <a href="http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/documents/GallupPoll1009.pdf">“For many
Americans, agreement with assertion that innocent people have been put to death
does not preclude simultaneous endorsement of the death penalty.”</a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><a href="http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/documents/GallupPoll1009.pdf"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Further, 49% of respondents said the death
penalty is not imposed often enough, 24% said it is imposed “about the right
amount,” and only 20% said it is imposed too often.</a> <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
The
discrepancy between academic opposition and American citizens’ support of the
death penalty may suggest that Justice Breyer was correct in asserting the
legislature will be slow to abolish the death penalty, if it should ever do
so.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If the legislature accurately
reflects the public will on this issue, the death penalty is still a widely
favored justice mechanism.<span style="font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-family: Times;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
For
prosecutors and defense attorneys, this dichotomy presents a challenge as to
how to argue capital punishment cases.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Under
federal statutes, the death penalty can appear in cases of murder (18 U.S.C.
1111), espionage (18 U.S.C. 794), Treason (18 U.S.C. 2381), Trafficking in
large quantities of drugs (18 U.S.C. 3591(b)), and attempting, authorizing or
advising the killing of any officer, juror, or witness in cases involving a
Continuing Criminal Enterprise, regardless of whether such killing actually
occurs (18 U.S.C. 3591 (b)(2)). As of 2009, there are no individuals on death
row for any charge other than murder.<span style="font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-family: Times;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
For
prosecutors, there are no significant barriers to requesting the death penalty
in appropriate cases; however, prosecutorial discretion allows for life without
parole as a viable alternative.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Because
capital punishment has been so carefully applied, case law on the matter is
often readily available to crimes where the death penalty may be justified.
Thus, where capital punishment is sought, it is often strongly supported.<span style="font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-family: Times;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
For defense
attorneys, challenging the death penalty sentence poses a significant
challenge, given how strongly a prosecutor can usually support a death penalty
request.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, notable academic
opposition provides some fodder for the idea that defense attorneys can argue
for life without parole as an alternative, and argue to both the judge’s and
jury’s sensibilities on the value of life to avoid the death penalty.<span style="font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-family: Times;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
But where
does that leave the state of capital punishment? When the views of those in the
legal profession do not accurately reflect the view of people in society at
large, is it merely the judge and jury’s sensibilities that determine the
appropriateness of sentencing someone to death?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>To what extent is the prosecution building a traditional, adversarial case
thwarted by public opinion on the issue?<span style="font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-family: Times;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
Ultimately,
it appears that on either side of the argument, the determination of whether
capital punishment is appropriate is entirely a matter of discretion—prosecutorial
and judicial—to be determined on a case-by-case basis, despite the long history
of attempting to define when capital punishment is warranted.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For criminal attorneys, there remains no
predictable outcome, and one can only hope that their zealous advocacy prevails
in the eyes of the law. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
Kyle Kemper<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
Staffer, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Criminal
Law Practitioner</i><o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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Photo by Patrick Feller via <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/nakrnsm/4323801490/in/photolist-4tMXY4-affQKQ-7A5Bxy-4McWq3-aq2tL4-6k5b6U-7Un9CY-6k59QJ-6k5eKE-6k16R2-6jZUwt-6k5fPS-6k12AH-6k14ji-6k162R-6k5izC-6k57XJ-6k5cAA-6k58HL-6jZVov-7U5Ayp-ao9Q1J-8FWq7D-cPg13j-cPg2mW-cPg1fy-cPg1nq-cPg1Q9-cPg2c7-cPg1JS-cPg1B9-cPg1uU-afcJND-affyKA-aff7Wy-afcGQk-affaUo-ao71St-8Rd22F-cPg23G-cPg1WA-8Rd26K-dKM8v8-748cCP-7Un9sb-7UiUhP-afcMgp-affbsA-affzsw-afcLor/">Flickr</a><span style="font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-family: Times;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
Criminal Law Practitioner Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02441151995382969692noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4985022068047328469.post-40039060917722360552015-04-10T06:00:00.000-04:002015-04-10T06:00:00.114-04:00Teen Courts: A Call for Accountability<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-yowrSyuiRuQ/VSVM9MXM0bI/AAAAAAAAAVU/WQA5Z_WvR1g/s1600/Roosevelt_High_School%2C_Oakland%2C_California._High_School_Youth._The_student_body_president_-_NARA_-_532219.tif.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-yowrSyuiRuQ/VSVM9MXM0bI/AAAAAAAAAVU/WQA5Z_WvR1g/s1600/Roosevelt_High_School%2C_Oakland%2C_California._High_School_Youth._The_student_body_president_-_NARA_-_532219.tif.jpg" height="320" width="320" /></a></div>
<a href="http://www.urban.org/url.cfm?ID=1000262&renderforprint=1&CFID=123173974&CFTOKEN=83348869&jsessionid=f030da30b36a49b6c313453566773f275b59"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="color: blue;">Teen courts</span></span></a><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">, also known as youth
courts or peer courts, are not new phenomena. Since the 1970s, over 800
teen courts have popped up around the nation; the majority were created in
response to the United States <span style="background: white;">Justice
Department's Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention’s (OJJDP)</span>
push for alternative juvenile programs in the 1990s. While the court
itself varies between four models, discussed below, jurisdictions across the
country use teen courts to address the same types of offenders and crimes: </span><a href="file:///C:/Development%20Services%20Group,%20Inc.,%20Teen%20Youth%20Court,%20accessed%20online%20http/::www.ojjdp.gov:%20mpg:litreviews:Teen_Youth_Court.pdf"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="color: blue;">first-time offenders, aged 11-17,
who have been accused of misdemeanors</span></span></a><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"> such as theft, vandalism, underage drinking, disorderly conduct,
assault, possession of marijuana, tobacco violations, and curfew violations.
Because the teen court is offered as an alternative to going through the
juvenile justice system, the accused typically have to admit guilt prior to
admittance to the program. </span><a name='more'></a><o:p></o:p><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Once an individual’s
case has been assigned to the teen court, the individual is tried in one of
four ways, dependent on the jurisdiction: <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="-ms-text-justify: inter-ideograph; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">-<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Adult judge</b>: used by over half the
courts, this model utilizes an adult judge while the roles of defense attorney,
prosecuting attorney, and jurors are filled by youths<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="-ms-text-justify: inter-ideograph; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">-<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Youth judge</b>: this model is similar to
the adult judge model, except that the judge is a youth instead of an adult</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="-ms-text-justify: inter-ideograph; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">-<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Youth tribunal</b>: this model does not
have any youth jurors; instead, youth attorneys present the case in front of a
youth judge or judges</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="-ms-text-justify: inter-ideograph; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">-<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Peer jury</b>: this model does not have any
youth attorneys or judges; instead, the facts of the case are presented by a
single presenter to a panel of youths who interrogate the defendant directly<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="-ms-text-justify: inter-ideograph; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Regardless of the
model, teen courts assign a variety of sentences to youth, including: fines,
community service, payments of restitution, mandatory attendance of workshops,
and formal apologies to the victims of the crime. Failure to comply usually
leads to the case being transferred to the traditional juvenile justice system.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="-ms-text-justify: inter-ideograph; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">While there has been </span><a href="http://johnjayresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/buttsortizjrnjan11.pdf"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="color: blue;">praise</span></span></a><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"> for the program,
there is a lack of scholarship available on teen courts. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>More studies are needed to determine how
effective teen courts are at lowering recidivism rates, as well as the
long-term dynamic between offenders and their peers who are placed in
authoritative positions in the teen court. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Relatively few studies have been conducted on
the effectiveness of these teen courts as an alternative to traditional
juvenile jurisdiction. Given that the programs have existed on a large scale
since the 1990s, it is surprising that there have not been more longitudinal
studies conducted on the teen courts’ effectiveness of lowering recidivism, or
any current studies conducted about the program. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Of the studies available on teen courts, the
majority fail to state the demographics of the participants in the program.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Currently, </span><a href="http://aspe.hhs.gov/hsp/08/boys/factsheets/jd/report.pdf"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="color: blue;">boys make up 70% of youth
arrested</span></span></a><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">, with Black males disproportionately represented. However, the
studies on teen courts rarely provide us with the demographics of who, in terms
of demographics, gets offered this alternative.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="-ms-text-justify: inter-ideograph; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The studies available
on teen courts also fail to identify who is making up the peers of the teen
court.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><a href="http://johnjayresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/buttsortizjrnjan11.pdf"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="color: blue;">Jeffrey Butts and Jennifer Ortiz</span></span></a><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"> state that “[t]een courts
are believed to reduce recidivism by tapping the power of positive peer
influence.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Adolescents crave peer acceptance
and peer approval. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The teen court
process takes advantage of this naturally powerful incentive.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Just as association with deviant or
delinquent peers is commonly associated with the onset of delinquent behavior, pressure
from pro-social peers may propel youth toward law-abiding behavior.” However,
what this theory of restorative justice fails to acknowledge is how the
demographic differences between an individual going through the court system and
his/her peers who are on the teen court could affect how the individual feels
that pressure.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A 2008 study conducted by
Stickle and colleagues found that the individuals subjected to the teen court
system actually experienced a higher rate of delinquency behavior than those
who went through the traditional juvenile court system. The authors of the
studies suggest that youth who go through the teen court “may be embarrassed by
peers witnessing the experience” or that “the program may succeed </span><a href="http://www.ojjdp.gov/mpg/litreviews/Teen_Youth_Court.pdf"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="color: blue;">at shaming but not at
reintegrating youths</span></span></a><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="-ms-text-justify: inter-ideograph; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">While the Stickle
study is not necessarily representative of all teen courts (small and
non-diverse sample), more studies need to be similarly conducted on the effects
of teen court on the youths who navigate it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Because youth arrested for crimes are already at-risk, the real
possibility of public shaming from peers needs to be evaluated in order to
determine if teen court is actually a better alternative to the traditional juvenile
justice system. </span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="-ms-text-justify: inter-ideograph; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">In the meantime,
attorneys who deal with juveniles and the criminal justice system should be aware
of these courts and their unevaluated status.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Though these courts are offered as a positive alternative to the
traditional juvenile justice system, defense attorneys should really weigh the
potential negative consequences of going through the court before picking it as
the course of action.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As stated before,
in order for a juvenile to qualify for teen court, s/he must declare guilt for
the crime charged. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There is also the
potential damaging embarrassment the juvenile may face and the likelihood that
s/he will be sentenced to some kind of work, as opposed to the possibility of
the judge giving just a warning, which is sometimes the course of action in the
traditional juvenile system with regard to first time offenders. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Attorneys need to keep these thoughts in mind
when handling a first time offender. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="-ms-text-justify: inter-ideograph; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="-ms-text-justify: inter-ideograph; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Mary Soule</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="-ms-text-justify: inter-ideograph; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Senior Staffer, <em>Criminal Law Practitioner</em></span></div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><div class="MsoNormal" style="-ms-text-justify: inter-ideograph; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Picture by Rondal Partridge via <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3ARoosevelt_High_School%2C_Oakland%2C_California._High_School_Youth._The_student_body_president_-_NARA_-_532219.tif"><span style="color: blue;">Wikimedia
Commons</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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</div>
</span><div class="MsoNormal" style="-ms-text-justify: inter-ideograph; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
</div>
Criminal Law Practitioner Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02441151995382969692noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4985022068047328469.post-10537453713050384712015-04-07T07:00:00.000-04:002015-04-07T07:00:08.902-04:00Protect the Children or Protect the Defendant?<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-LHnd0MI-Gx4/VSNR0EZ7JuI/AAAAAAAAAUw/zQzXtgPXs04/s1600/13914969617_a408399717_z.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-LHnd0MI-Gx4/VSNR0EZ7JuI/AAAAAAAAAUw/zQzXtgPXs04/s1600/13914969617_a408399717_z.jpg" height="320" width="213" /></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">In October
2014, the Supreme Court agreed to hear an appeal of the Ohio Supreme Court’s
decision, in <a href="http://www.sconet.state.oh.us/rod/docs/pdf/0/2013/2013-ohio-4731.pdf"><i><span style="text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">State v. Clark</span></i></a>, to overturn a man’s
convictions for child abuse. The Court
will have to decide two issues in the case: whether a mandatory reporter of
child abuse acts as an agent of law enforcement for the purposes of the
confrontation clause, and whether admission at trial of a child’s hearsay
statements made to his teachers violates a defendant’s sixth amendment right to
confront the witnesses against him.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">The case
arose after a preschool teacher noticed whip-like marks and other injuries on
one of her three-year-old students at school. After asking the three-year old some questions
about the marks, she got the other teachers involved, and they came to suspect
that the child had been abused. Some of
the child’s answers to the teachers implicated his mother’s boyfriend, Mr.
Clark, as the abuser. One of the
teachers, <a href="http://www.sconet.state.oh.us/rod/docs/pdf/0/2013/2013-ohio-4731.pdf">in
accordance with her mandatory duty to report child abuse</a>, called the child
abuse hotline and child protective services investigated the matter. Mr. Clark was later arrested for child abuse
and at trial, the court found the three-year old incompetent to testify, but
permitted his teachers to testify to the child’s statements. Mr. Clark was convicted of four counts of
felonious assault, two counts of child endangering resulting in serious
physical harm, and two counts of domestic violence, and was sentenced to 28
years in prison.</span></div>
<a name='more'></a> <o:p></o:p><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">Mr. Clark
appealed his convictions, arguing that the admission of the child’s statements
at trial violated his <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/sixth_amendment"><span style="text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">6th Amendment right to
confront</span></a> the witnesses against him. The Ohio Court of Appeals <a href="http://www.sconet.state.oh.us/rod/docs/pdf/0/2013/2013-ohio-4731.pdf">agreed
with him and overturned his convictions</a>, stating that teachers serve dual
functions as both instructors and agents of law enforcement when acting in
accordance with a mandatory duty to report child abuse. The court also stressed that a child’s statements
to his teachers about child abuse are testimonial when the statements were not
made during an ongoing emergency and the primary purpose of the teachers’
questioning was to identify a suspect and gather information related to past
conduct. The Ohio Supreme Court <a href="http://www.sconet.state.oh.us/rod/docs/pdf/0/2013/2013-ohio-4731.pdf">agreed
with the appellate court’s decision and affirmed its ruling</a>. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">Case law
seems to go both ways on the issue of whether teachers act as agents of law
enforcement by virtue of their mandatory duties to report child abuse. On one hand, several courts have held that a
mere duty to report child abuse does not transform a non-law enforcement
professional into a law enforcement agent. For example, in <a href="http://law.justia.com/cases/minnesota/court-of-appeals/2006/opa042011-1003.html"><i><span style="text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">State v. Krasky</span></i></a>, the Minnesota Supreme
Court held that a nurse was not acting as an agent of law enforcement simply
because she was required to report child abuse. The court stressed that the purpose of the mandatory
reporting requirement was to protect children who may be suffering abuse, not
to aid in criminal prosecutions. In <a href="http://caselaw.findlaw.com/mt-supreme-court/1389555.html"><i><span style="text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">State v. Spencer</span></i></a> in Montana and in <a href="http://www.armfor.uscourts.gov/newcaaf/opinions/2012SepTerm/13-0061.pdf"><i><span style="text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">United States v. Squire</span></i></a>, a military
decision, the courts also agreed that mandatory reporters are not agents of law
enforcement, stating that there was no indication that the legislature intended
the mandatory duty to report to have that effect. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">However,
some courts have found that mandatory reporters do act as agents of law
enforcement when reporting child abuse. For
example, in <a href="http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CB8QFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.courts.mo.gov%2Ffile.jsp%3Fid%3D26485&ei=9_ghVarfD6rasATc_ICgAw&usg=AFQjCNF1qdwAdUvdwxh8_roNhVWOim5JsA&bvm=bv.89947451,d.cWc"><i><span style="text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">State v. Justus</span></i></a>,
the Missouri Supreme Court held that a social worker was acting as an agent of
law enforcement when questioning an abuse victim because the social worker’s
interview was done on behalf of law enforcement and family services had a duty
to turn their information over to police officers. Moreover, in <a href="http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?court=US&vol=000&invol=09-150"><i><span style="text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">Michigan v. Bryant</span></i></a>, the Supreme Court
discussed the dual functions of police officers as both responders to
emergencies and as criminal investigators. In <a href="http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?court=US&vol=000&invol=05-5224"><i><span style="text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">Davis v. Washington</span></i></a>, the Court seemed to
expand this notion of dual functionality to 911 operators, stating that 911
operators also may serve as both responders to emergency and as agents of law
enforcement when questioning 911 callers. Thus, it is possible that courts will place
mandatory reporters of child abuse under the category of law enforcement agents
as well. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">However,
not only will the Supreme Court have to consider whether the teachers were
acting as agents of law enforcement; the Court will also have to consider
whether Mr. Clark had a right to confront the child’s statements at all. In <a href="http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?court=US&vol=000&invol=02-9410"><i><span style="text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">Crawford v. Washington</span></i></a>, the Supreme Court
held that a defendant only has a right to confront statements that are
testimonial in nature. In <i><a href="http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?court=US&vol=000&invol=05-5224">Davis</a></i>,
the court attempted to distinguish testimonial statements from non-testimonial
statements by creating the primary purpose test. Under the primary purpose test, a statement is
non-testimonial if the primary purpose of the questioning is to meet an ongoing
emergency, and a statement is testimonial if the primary purpose of the
questioning is to prove past conduct or to gather evidence for a criminal
trial. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">If the Court
finds that in <i>State v. Clark</i>, the
teachers were responding to an ongoing emergency when reporting their
suspicions of the three year old’s abuse, then the child’s statements will
qualify as non-testimonial statements that Mr. Clark did not have a right to
confront either in or out of court. However,
case law appears to be somewhat stringent on what constitutes as an ongoing
emergency; reserving that title for circumstances in which it is clear that the
victim is under an imminent threat of future harm. In <i>Davis</i>,
the Supreme Court held that a woman’s statements to a 911 operator were made in
the context of an ongoing emergency, and thus, were non-testimonial, because
the woman had just been assaulted by her boyfriend and she was unsure of
whether he would return to assault her again. However, in <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/05-5224.ZO.html"><i><span style="text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">Hammon v. Indiana</span></i></a><i>,</i> the Court held that a domestic abuse victim’s statements to the
police were not made during an ongoing emergency, and thus were testimonial, because
at the time the victim made the statements, the police officers had separated
her away from her husband. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">Still, it
is important to note that the Court appears to be moving away from its strict
definition of what constitutes an ongoing emergency. In a 2011 decision in <i>Michigan v. Bryant</i>, the Court expanded its definition of what
constitutes as an ongoing emergency. In <i>Bryant</i>, police officers questioned a
victim who had been shot and was lying in a gas station parking lot. The victim died from his injuries and police
officers were permitted to testify to his statements at trial. The Court held
that the primary purpose of the police officers’ questioning was to respond to
an ongoing emergency. The Court stressed
that because the shooter was on the loose, there was a continued threat to the
public, and the officers asked the questions to assess danger to the victim and
to ensure their own safety. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">Consequently,
it is unclear how the Supreme Court will decide the issues posed in <i>State v. Clark</i>. It is apparent, however, that the ruling will
have ramifications for both children suffering abuse and for defendants accused
of child abuse. If the Court finds that
the preschool teachers’ mandatory reporting requirements made them agents of
law enforcement, the effect would be that all professionals listed under mandatory
reporter statutes would become law enforcement agents. In most states, mandatory reporting
requirements extend to a broad range of professionals, such as, physicians,
therapists, employees of child day-care centers, school teachers, nurses, etc. This would mean that these professionals would
not likely be allowed to testify to children’s statements of child abuse. For young children, who may be found
incompetent to testify at trial, this would increase the possibility that their
abusers would go free. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">On the
other hand, if the court finds that the child’s statements were made in the
context of an ongoing emergency, that categorization could lead to a slippery
slope. If child abuse in itself constitutes
as an ongoing emergency, why shouldn’t sexual assault or domestic abuse also
qualify as ongoing emergencies? If the Court
does qualify child abuse as an ongoing emergency, then defendants will not have
a right to confront a child’s hearsay statements of abuse in court. This would
increase the possibility of an innocent defendant being convicted of child
abuse, when the child may have been mistaken or simply was not telling the
truth about how he or she had been harmed. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">The
Supreme Court heard oral arguments for this case on March 2, 2015. If the Court decides to affirm the Ohio State
Supreme Court’s ruling, then in child abuse cases where the child is either unavailable
or has been found incompetent to testify, prosecutors will not be allowed to
admit evidence of the child’s hearsay statements into court. In that event,
prosecutors will have to find other means to prove a defendant committed child
abuse and to ensure that victims of child abuse remain safe. However, if the court reverses the decision to
overturn Mr. Clark’s convictions, then defense attorneys will have to fight
harder to avoid their clients’ convictions. Because child abuse cases tend to appeal to
jurors’ emotions and defense attorneys would not be able to cross examine the
child’s hearsay statements, presenting a defense for a client accused of child
abuse under those circumstances would become increasingly difficult. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">In this
case, the Court will have to balance the importance of protecting children from
child abuse against the importance of ensuring that a defendant receives his
Sixth Amendment right to confront the witnesses against him. In whichever way the Court decides the case,
it is apparent that the effect will be that either prosecutors or defense
attorneys will have a harder time proving their cases in court—at least where
child abuse is concerned. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">Makia
Weaver<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">Senior
Editor, <i>Criminal Law Practitioner</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">Photo by Patrik Nygren via <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/lattefarsan/13914969617/in/photolist-oSR2bU-ncBRFg-4HqS6S-bDFhcf-bn4QxB-qhS8Xz-ryevod-qMhAXh-rdwAG2-e8YQzh-65HNP9-65DXjV-rgh5wA-q8GJ3G-q3krEK-65Dwsa-pMu3n6-q9KMMf-qYP7WU-oP9ip4" target="_blank">Flickr</a>.</span></div>
Criminal Law Practitioner Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02441151995382969692noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4985022068047328469.post-64476699653067583702015-04-06T06:00:00.000-04:002015-04-06T17:35:21.004-04:00Privacy, Technology, and the Fourth Amendment: "The Fourth Amendment in the Digital Age" Master Post<div class="MsoNormal"><i>The following blog post contains all of the guest posts that the </i>Criminal Law Practitioner <i>published in anticipation of </i>"The Fourth Amendment in the Digital Age" <i>symposium</i>.<p><br />
<div class="getty embed image" style="background-color:#fff;display:inline-block;font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;color:#a7a7a7;font-size:11px;width:100%;max-width:478px;"><div style="overflow:hidden;position:relative;height:0;padding:75.104603% 0 0 0;width:100%;"><iframe src="//embed.gettyimages.com/embed/182184828?et=lHNS0osnSZl3WoOr1k2q8Q&sig=QfzXDUFZAEaQ4MdZ4A0DUWhE-f4K-UzASCvssAxvMtw=" width="478" height="359" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" style="display:inline-block;position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;"></iframe></div><p style="margin:0;"></p><div style="padding:0;margin:0 0 0 10px;text-align:left;"><a href="http://www.gettyimages.com/detail/182184828" target="_blank" style="color:#a7a7a7;text-decoration:none;font-weight:normal !important;border:none;display:inline-block;">View image</a> | <a href="http://www.gettyimages.com" target="_blank" style="color:#a7a7a7;text-decoration:none;font-weight:normal !important;border:none;display:inline-block;">gettyimages.com</a></div></div><p><br />
<b><br />
</b> <b><span style="font-size: large;">Surveillance, Grown Up: Broader and Deeper than Eavesdropping of Yore</span></b><br />
<br />
The revelations of mass global surveillance in recent years by the United States and its global partners have exposed a dramatic shift in how law enforcement and intelligence agencies conduct and justify surveillance activities. Modern surveillance has gone from passive capture of signals to active interference with devices, systems, networks, and communications; from targeted scrutiny of individuals to surveillance of millions in bulk; from examining basic communications content and metadata to fundamentally intrusive analytical techniques. All of these changes are occurring over a backdrop of rapid changes in communications technologies and services that have rendered legal distinctions between foreign and domestic communications artificial and unworkable.<br />
<a name='more'></a><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Wiretapping and other forms of eavesdropping have traditionally been the standard for law enforcement and intelligence agencies that need to gain access to the communications of alleged criminals to prevent crime and enforce the law. While much of this activity involved passive capture of communications – essentially the equivalent of listening in on a conversation – increasingly we see evidence of <i>active</i> attacks – that is, actively interfering and modifying the communications en route to accomplish a surveillance goal. For example, this can involve performing what is technically referred to as an active “man in the middle” (MITM) attack against encrypted communications, where an eavesdropper pretends to be another party in a communication, but modifies the relevant credentials attached to the communication, and then passes the underlying communication on to the intended recipient. This is called “active” by the technical community because the MITM must send erroneous credentials to the sender so that the sender unknowingly encrypts their communications to the MITM instead of the intended recipient. The MITM then decrypts the communication, re-encrypts with a different set of spoofed credentials and passes the communication on to the recipient. Further, systems like those revealed as part of the NSA’s <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/15/us/nsa-effort-pries-open-computers-not-connected-to-internet.html">QUANTUM</a> program go even further to mount attacks: QUANTUM represents what is essentially an automated attack infrastructure embedded in the internet, where not only can it perform active surveillance – like the active MITM attack described above – but also it can inject malicious software into the communication stream intended to compromise a user’s device and establish a presence for other forms of surveillance.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">The <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/jun/06/nsa-phone-records-verizon-court-order">first revelation</a> from Edward Snowden in June of 2013 showed that the NSA was compelling US domestic telecommunications providers to produce each day, comprehensive databases of many millions of call details, including all phone numbers people call and the time and length of each call. This evidence provided the first hint that surveillance and national security activities were not narrowly targeted to potential wrongdoers or those that law enforcement had probable cause of committing a crime. Increasingly, surveillance is performed in bulk, capturing and storing information and communications of many millions of individuals, most of which are decidedly innocent. In a particularly audacious program, <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/nsa-infiltrates-links-to-yahoo-google-data-centers-worldwide-snowden-documents-say/2013/10/30/e51d661e-4166-11e3-8b74-d89d714ca4dd_story.html">MUSCULAR</a>, the NSA and the UK’s Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) captured all the data shared on internal networks of Yahoo! and Google, hoovering up emails, phone calls, files, chat sessions, and video conferencing sessions. The NSA and its global surveillance partners appear to be one of the earlier converts in the 2000s to what we today call “big data” – collecting as much data as possible about a population and employing sophisticated algorithmic techniques to infer relationships and predict behaviors.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Whereas historically only narrow classes of communications – telephone, fax, postal mail, etc. – could be captured and analyzed by surveillance authorities, the increasing use of computerized networked technologies by society and the increasing sophistication of analytical techniques – including powerful <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Machine_learning">machine learning</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_network_analysis">social network analysis</a> techniques coupled with technical subversion of hardware and software – result in modern surveillance being comparatively much more intrusive. For example, the NSA regularly captures account login credentials through its <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/jul/31/nsa-top-secret-program-online-data">XKEYSCORE</a> program, which indexes metadata (email addresses, phone numbers, usernames, passwords, etc.) globally for intelligence and law enforcement use.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Finally, the characteristics of historical telecommunications technologies and services tended to ensure a well-bounded geographic extent of their operations while modern networking and internet-based analogs have very little grounding in geographic and political boundaries. That is to say, the shortest “distance” between two computing devices over a network like the internet may often have very little correspondence with geographic distance between the two points, and instead internet traffic favors network routes that result in the quickest transmission of the data from sender to receiver, even if two neighbors result in sending information around the world to reach one another. Given the extent to which national law enforcement and surveillance authorities distinguish between foreign and domestic communications – typically requiring much greater protection of domestic persons – modern technologies render those distinctions increasingly unworkable and artificial. It can be very difficult to determine the geographic location of someone engaged in an internet communication, especially since technologies like Virtual Private Networks (VPN) – used by many business customers to secure their connections to corporate servers – may result in the communication appearing to come from a very different geographic location than where the person is actually located.</div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">These factors – passive to increasingly active, targeted to increasingly bulk, narrow to increasingly intrusive, and unworkability of classifying communications as foreign or domestic – together combine to make the surveillance climate of today much broader and deeper than the surveillance activities of the past.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><a href="https://cdt.org/staff/joseph-lorenzo-hall/)">Joseph Lorenzo Hall</a></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Chief Technologist, Center for Democracy & Technology </span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br />
</span> <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br />
</span> <b><span style="font-size: large;">Of Drones, Phones and Privacy Zones</span></b><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Back when I started in the privacy advocacy community -- about 20 years ago, at the ACLU -- we used to talk about the incredible shrinking Fourth Amendment. It was a riff on the Lilly Tomlin movie – <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Incredible_Shrinking_Woman"><i>The Incredible Shrinking Woman</i></a><i>. </i>In the movie, Tomlin’s character shrank because she was exposed to an experimental perfume. The question we face today is whether the zone of privacy protected by the Fourth Amendment will shrink on account of our use of technology.</div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">On so many fronts, the scope of Fourth Amendment protection is becoming smaller and the exceptions to the warrant requirement that it imposes are becoming bigger. For example, the administrative search doctrine – the doctrine pursuant to which passengers can be made to undergo a warrantless search in the airport before they board an airplane – extends to more and more contexts. The automobile – what many people think of as their very own moving room – is not protected by the Fourth Amendment nearly as much as is a room in a home. Even the scope of the exclusionary rule – the means by which the Fourth Amendment is enforced, has shrunk: The police get a pass when they violate the Constitutional prohibition on searching and seizing so long as they violate the Constitution in good faith. <b> </b><a href="https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/468/897/case.html"><i>U.S. v. Leon</i></a> (1984). The privacy zones the Fourth Amendment protects have been shrinking, and the bite of the exclusionary rule is loosening.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">As the digital age unfolds, civil libertarians are rightly concerned that this trend will continue, if not accelerate, for a variety of reasons: </div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in;"></div><ul><li><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Data – ranging from email logs to tax returns – are stored increasingly by third parties, and under the business records doctrine, may not be subject to Fourth Amendment protection. </span></li>
<li><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">More and more of the digital footprints people leave behind as they go through life is available to the government, and it is getting better at analyzing these bits of personal information to draw inferences, and the 4</span><sup style="text-indent: -0.25in;">th</sup><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> Amendment has little to say about it.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Symbol; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;"> </span></span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Law enforcement agencies can fly drones to look for criminals and evidence of crime, and in public spaces, the Fourth Amendment will </span><a href="http://fas.org/sgp/crs/natsec/R42701.pdf" style="text-indent: -0.25in;">likely be interpreted to permit such warrantless surveillance</a><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">. </span></li>
<li><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Perhaps the primary means of communication in the digital age – the smart phone – is also a little tracking device revealing its user’s location from moment to moment.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Symbol; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;"> </span></span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">The airport searches that used to be conducted by means of a slightly intrusive search for metal objects by a magnetometer have grown into full blown electronic strip searches that reveal objects underneath a passenger’s clothing, with no warrant required.</span></li>
</ul><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Will the advance of technology inevitably shrink the zone privacy that the Fourth Amendment protects with the warrant requirement? Is it destined to become just a speck of an island in a vast sea, with the ocean level constantly rising?<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">I think not, and for two reasons: First, the Supreme Court has shown that it understands how technology impacts privacy and that it cannot simply apply rules born in the analog world to the digital world. Second, the business interest in Fourth Amendment protections is rising. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">The Supreme Court showed its growing understanding of technology last year in <a href="https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/573/13-132/"><i>Riley v. California</i></a><i>,</i> the case in which the Court used sweeping language in its unanimous decision that the police may not, without a warrant, search a cell phone incident to an arrest. The Court recognized that modern technologies create new risks to privacy and embraced its constitutional role as guardian of Fourth Amendment rights. It signaled its discomfort with the Justice Department’s argument that a search of data on a cell phone of a person under arrest is materially indistinguishable from the search of contents of an item found on an arrestee’s person: “That is like saying a ride on horseback is materially indistinguishable from a flight to the moon. Both are ways of getting from Point A to Point B, but little else justifies lumping them together.” In other words, the Court found that when it comes to the scope of a search, size matters. <i><o:p></o:p></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i>Riley</i> isn’t an outlier. In 2012 in <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/supremecourt/text/10-1259"><i>U.S. v. Jones</i></a> the Court ruled that warrantless GPS tracking by means of affixing a device to a vehicle moving on open roads violated the Fourth Amendment. And, in the 2001 case <a href="http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?court=US&vol=000&invol=99-8508"><i>Kyllo v. U.S</i></a><i>., </i>the Court found that use of thermal imaging technology to explore activity in a private home that would be otherwise unknowable without a physical intrusion violates the Fourth Amendment.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">As in <i>Riley</i>, the Court in both cases rejected the government’s arguments that searches of new technology or facilitated by new technology were permissible based on analogies drawn to other searches that did involve such technologies. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Support for Fourth Amendment protections by major companies is also growing, and they are a powerful constituency in policy development and constitutional litigation. In the context of email privacy, a growing number of tech and telecom companies are insisting that law enforcement obtain a warrant in order to access email content, citing not a Supreme Court case, but a circuit court case, <a href="http://www.ca6.uscourts.gov/opinions.pdf/10a0377p-06.pdf">U.S. v. Warshak</a>. And, they have joined a <a href="http://www.digitaldueprocess.org/">broad-based effort</a> to change the law to require such warrants. One tech company, Yahoo!, <a href="http://yahoopolicy.tumblr.com/post/97238899258/shedding-light-on-the-foreign-intelligence">brought a constitutional challenge</a> to surveillance conducted in the U.S. of non-US persons abroad, though threatened with a fine of $250,000/day if it did not comply with Government demands it believed unconstitutional. In the wake of the Snowden revelations, many tech companies, after pledging that they would not voluntarily turn over user information in bulk to the National Security Agency, joined in efforts to <a href="https://www.reformgovernmentsurveillance.com/">reform government surveillance</a>. Two of those companies, Google and Apple, are defying <a href="http://www.fbi.gov/news/speeches/going-dark-are-technology-privacy-and-public-safety-on-a-collision-course">government demands</a> that they build in backdoors to their products and services to make them more wiretap ready. As it turns out, privacy is good for business.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">These two trends – growing industry support for privacy as against government intrusion and the Supreme Court’s concerns about the impact that technology can have on privacy – give rise to hope that the zone of privacy enjoying meaningful Fourth Amendment protection will not vanish and might even increase in the coming years.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br />
</div></div><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://cdt.org/staff/greg-nojeim/" target="_blank">Greg Nojeim</a></div><div class="MsoNormal">Senior Counsel and Director</div><div class="MsoNormal">Freedom, Security, & Technology Project</div><div class="MsoNormal">Center for Democracy & Technology</div><br />
<br />
<b><span style="font-size: large;">Six Months’ Probation for a Crime Carrying a 4-year Minimum Sentence</span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
</span> <span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="text-align: justify;">That’s the unusual plea deal that </span><a href="http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime/secrecy-around-police-surveillance-equipment-proves-a-case%E2%80%99s-undoing/ar-BBhRjHZ" style="text-align: justify;">Tadrae McKenzie</a><span style="text-align: justify;"> struck earlier this year in a case involving a “stingray” – a controversial device being used by </span><a href="https://www.aclu.org/maps/stingray-tracking-devices-whos-got-them" style="text-align: justify;">law enforcement around the country</a><span style="text-align: justify;"> to track individuals’ movements and phone calls.</span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><i>For more information on how these devices operate, click </i></b><a href="http://resources.infosecinstitute.com/stingray-technology-government-tracks-cellular-devices/"><b><i>here</i></b></a><b><i>.<o:p></o:p></i></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 12pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">During the course of his trial, McKenzie’s defense attorneys sought information on how exactly the police had tracked his location. When the judge took the unprecedented step of requiring state prosecutors to demonstrate exactly how a stingray (also called “cell site simulators,” “dirtboxes,” and “IMSI catchers”) worked, they offered McKenzie a deal he couldn’t refuse to avoid disclosing information about the device.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 12pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">And the McKenzie trial isn’t the only example of the extraordinary lengths the government will go to in order to hide information about these devices from the courts. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The Department of Justice has requested that local law enforcement misleadingly refer to information collected by these devices in court filings as information from a “<a href="https://www.aclu.org/sites/default/files/assets/aclu_florida_stingray_police_emails.pdf">confidential source</a><span class="MsoHyperlink">,</span>” forced local agencies to sign <a href="https://www.aclunc.org/sites/default/files/stingrays/sacramento_email_response_to_pra_2014.pd">non-disclosure agreements</a> prohibiting them from sharing information, offered attractive <a href="http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/crime/blog/bs-md-ci-stingray-plea-deal-20150107-story.html">plea deals</a> in cases where defendants have challenged the use of these devices, and instructed prosecutors to dismiss cases in lieu of <a href="http://www.nyclu.org/files/releases/ErieCoStingrayWin_3.17.15.pdf">disclosing</a> information.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The DOJ’s secrecy prevents judges from deciding whether these devices are being used in a way that violates the law, impedes defense attorneys’ access to information, and hinders public scrutiny.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">It also helps to mask the failure of the DOJ – which has been charged with coordinating the use of these devices by law enforcement – to adopt commonsense policies to mitigate their harms. But the DOJ can and should take steps to minimize the likelihood that these devices will threaten the privacy of the public or run awry of the Constitution. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><o:p></o:p>First and foremost, the DOJ should require states and localities who receive federal assistance to purchase these devices to comply with minimum privacy standards. The government doesn’t let people drive without a license. By the same token, they shouldn’t provide powerful new technologies to local law enforcement without ensuring that there are policies in place to prevent them from being used without appropriate cause or from impacting third parties.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Second, the DOJ should explicitly require a probable cause warrant prior to using a stingray or similar device. Stingrays are extremely invasive. They allow the police to gather information about an individual’s location and who they called. Some versions of the device can even sweep up the contents of their communication. Disturbingly, in some cases, it appears as if law enforcement agencies either <a href="http://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/news-releases/leahy-grassley-press-administration-use-cell-phone-tracking-program">aren’t using a warrant</a> or are erroneously submitting <a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/1371716-29-1-prtt-applic-and-order.html">pen trap and trace applications</a>.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Third, the DOJ should put in place protections for non-targets who have their information collected. Stingrays collect the phone number and device information of everyone within range – not just law enforcement targets. The DOJ should require that all information of non-targets be immediately purged, and it should prohibit the use of non-target data in any circumstance.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Finally, DOJ should stop requesting that prosecutors and law enforcement officials mislead judges, defense attorneys, and the public about how and when these devices are used. Challenging the admission of evidence in court is a cornerstone of our criminal justice system, but right now the DOJ’s secrecy policies threaten this cornerstone.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Defendants and judges should be informed when evidence being submitted has been obtained or derived from information obtained from a stingray. And judges presented with warrant applications should be provided sufficient information about how these devices operate and the impact they will have.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Stingrays and other similar surveillance technologies were originally designed for military use, in critical circumstances. But, unfortunately, they have been put into the hands of our local police and onto the streets of our neighborhoods – with the help of the federal government.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Now information gathered from these devices is filtering its way into our courtrooms. And unless the federal government requires enhanced transparency and greater protections, we may never even know about it.</span></div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span> <br />
<div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt;"><a href="https://www.aclu.org/blog/author/neema-singh-guliani" target="_blank">Neema Singh Guilani</a><br />
Legislative Counsel<br />
American Civil Liberties Union</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br />
</span> <span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br />
</span> <span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: large;"><b>Uncovering Secret Surveillance</b></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal"><br />
It’s hard to read the newspaper these days without coming across an article describing yet another powerful government surveillance tool, often one that has been used for years without being disclosed to the public. The most striking recent example is the use of <a href="http://www.thenewstribune.com/2014/08/26/3347665_documents-tacoma-police-using.html?rh=1">stingray</a> surveillance devices by local law enforcement around the country. The secrecy has been so thick in part because the FBI requires law enforcement agencies to sign non-disclosure <a href="https://www.aclu.org/blog/national-security-technology-and-liberty/documents-aclu-case-reveal-more-detail-fbi-attempt">agreements</a> before acquiring stingrays. In this sort of environment, what’s a diligent criminal defense attorney to do?</div><o:p></o:p><br />
<div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">This is not an easy question to answer. The first step is simply to be aware of the broad range of surveillance technologies available today. We’ve known for years that law enforcement agencies can obtain <a href="https://www.aclu.org/protecting-civil-liberties-digital-age/cell-phone-location-tracking-public-records-request">cell phone</a> usage information from cell phone companies. Now we are getting a better understanding of <a href="http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424053111904194604576583112723197574">stingrays</a>, which force cell phones to register their location with the device. A police officer can use a stingray to drive around a neighborhood to pick out the location of one phone whose identifying information is known, or she could use it to identify all phones at a particular location. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Another commonly used surveillance tool is the <a href="https://www.aclu.org/alpr">automatic license plate reader</a>. These cameras are mounted on patrol cars or on fixed objects such as highway overpasses and snap photos of every passing car. They convert cars’ plate numbers into machine-readable text and check those numbers against lists of cars that are wanted for various reasons. But more than that, all of this data—the cars’ locations, the photo, the plate number—increasingly get dumped into large databases that can then be searched historically.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">And although their practical use may be a bit further off, there is an array of powerful aerial surveillance tools in development and in limited use. Although small drones flown by individuals and police departments have garnered the most attention, more interesting is the idea of <a href="http://cironline.org/reports/hollywood-style-surveillance-technology-inches-closer-reality-6228">wide area surveillance</a> that monitors an entire city in real time (as well as generating footage that can be reviewed later).<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Some of these technologies are more likely than others to be used in relatively routine law enforcement investigations. That’s the case for obtaining cell phone records from phone companies and using license plate readers and stingrays. Of course, that doesn’t mean that district attorneys will be forthright about their use of these technologies—far from it. It’s been well documented by now that prosecutors have made a <a href="http://www.thenewstribune.com/2014/11/15/3488642/tacoma-police-change-how-they.html">deliberate strategy decision</a> to conceal as much as possible about their use of stingrays—and in some cases, they’d <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/secrecy-around-police-surveillance-equipment-proves-a-cases-undoing/2015/02/22/ce72308a-b7ac-11e4-aa05-1ce812b3fdd2_story.html">rather settle</a> than reveal more.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">This secrecy has a number of negative consequences. For individual criminal defendants, it makes it difficult even to formulate a suppression argument. And for the criminal justice system more broadly, it means that Fourth Amendment case law addressing the use of these technologies is slow to develop.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">There are some resources out there to help, although more could definitely be done in this area. On the stingray issue, the ACLU of Northern California put together a terrific <a href="https://www.aclunc.org/publications/stingrays-most-common-surveillance-tool-government-wont-tell-you-about">paper</a> on the topic, designed to describe stingrays, help criminal defense attorneys figure out if one was likely to have been used in their cases, and outlines potential arguments for a motion to suppress. (You could also check out this <a href="https://www.aclu.org/sites/default/files/assets/us_v_harrison_aclu_amicus_brief.pdf">brief</a>.) On obtaining cell phone location records from phone companies, check out this Sixth Circuit <a href="https://www.aclu.org/technology-and-liberty/united-states-v-carpenter-amicus-brief">brief</a> the ACLU and others filed on historical cell site location data. For a recent brief on real-time tracking, here’s one <a href="http://www.acluofnorthcarolina.org/files/Lawsuits/Amici_Curia_Brief_Perry_2015.pdf">brief</a> recently filed before the North Carolina Court of Appeal.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://www.law.berkeley.edu/php-programs/faculty/facultyProfile.php?facID=19193" target="_blank">Catherine Crump</a><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal">Assistant Clinical Professor<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS Mincho"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Berkeley Law School</span></div></div></div>Criminal Law Practitioner Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02441151995382969692noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4985022068047328469.post-1487915313850435262015-04-03T06:00:00.000-04:002015-04-03T06:00:06.692-04:00The Fourth Amendment in the Digital Age<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />Criminal Law Practitioner Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02441151995382969692noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4985022068047328469.post-78853935403115275812015-04-02T11:33:00.002-04:002015-04-02T11:33:17.296-04:00The Fourth Amendment in the Digital Age<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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It’s hard to read the newspaper these days without coming across an article describing yet another powerful government surveillance tool, often one that has been used for years without being disclosed to the public. The most striking recent example is the use of <a href="http://www.thenewstribune.com/2014/08/26/3347665_documents-tacoma-police-using.html?rh=1">stingray</a> surveillance devices by local law enforcement around the country. The secrecy has been so thick in part because the FBI requires law enforcement agencies to sign non-disclosure <a href="https://www.aclu.org/blog/national-security-technology-and-liberty/documents-aclu-case-reveal-more-detail-fbi-attempt">agreements</a> before acquiring stingrays. In this sort of environment, what’s a diligent criminal defense attorney to do?</div>
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This is not an easy question to answer. The first step is simply to be aware of the broad range of surveillance technologies available today. We’ve known for years that law enforcement agencies can obtain <a href="https://www.aclu.org/protecting-civil-liberties-digital-age/cell-phone-location-tracking-public-records-request">cell phone</a> usage information from cell phone companies. Now we are getting a better understanding of <a href="http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424053111904194604576583112723197574">stingrays</a>, which force cell phones to register their location with the device. A police officer can use a stingray to drive around a neighborhood to pick out the location of one phone whose identifying information is known, or she could use it to identify all phones at a particular location. </div>
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Another commonly used surveillance tool is the <a href="https://www.aclu.org/alpr">automatic license plate reader</a>. These cameras are mounted on patrol cars or on fixed objects such as highway overpasses and snap photos of every passing car. They convert cars’ plate numbers into machine-readable text and check those numbers against lists of cars that are wanted for various reasons. But more than that, all of this data—the cars’ locations, the photo, the plate number—increasingly get dumped into large databases that can then be searched historically. <o:p></o:p></div>
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And although their practical use may be a bit further off, there is an array of powerful aerial surveillance tools in development and in limited use. Although small drones flown by individuals and police departments have garnered the most attention, more interesting is the idea of <a href="http://cironline.org/reports/hollywood-style-surveillance-technology-inches-closer-reality-6228">wide area surveillance</a> that monitors an entire city in real time (as well as generating footage that can be reviewed later).<o:p></o:p></div>
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Some of these technologies are more likely than others to be used in relatively routine law enforcement investigations. That’s the case for obtaining cell phone records from phone companies and using license plate readers and stingrays. Of course, that doesn’t mean that district attorneys will be forthright about their use of these technologies—far from it. It’s been well documented by now that prosecutors have made a <a href="http://www.thenewstribune.com/2014/11/15/3488642/tacoma-police-change-how-they.html">deliberate strategy decision</a> to conceal as much as possible about their use of stingrays—and in some cases, they’d <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/secrecy-around-police-surveillance-equipment-proves-a-cases-undoing/2015/02/22/ce72308a-b7ac-11e4-aa05-1ce812b3fdd2_story.html">rather settle</a> than reveal more.<o:p></o:p></div>
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This secrecy has a number of negative consequences. For individual criminal defendants, it makes it difficult even to formulate a suppression argument. And for the criminal justice system more broadly, it means that Fourth Amendment case law addressing the use of these technologies is slow to develop. <o:p></o:p></div>
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There are some resources out there to help, although more could definitely be done in this area. On the stingray issue, the ACLU of Northern California put together a terrific <a href="https://www.aclunc.org/publications/stingrays-most-common-surveillance-tool-government-wont-tell-you-about">paper</a> on the topic, designed to describe stingrays, help criminal defense attorneys figure out if one was likely to have been used in their cases, and outlines potential arguments for a motion to suppress. (You could also check out this <a href="https://www.aclu.org/sites/default/files/assets/us_v_harrison_aclu_amicus_brief.pdf">brief</a>.) On obtaining cell phone location records from phone companies, check out this Sixth Circuit <a href="https://www.aclu.org/technology-and-liberty/united-states-v-carpenter-amicus-brief">brief</a> the ACLU and others filed on historical cell site location data. For a recent brief on real-time tracking, here’s one <a href="http://www.acluofnorthcarolina.org/files/Lawsuits/Amici_Curia_Brief_Perry_2015.pdf">brief</a> recently filed before the North Carolina Court of Appeal.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Catherine Crump<o:p></o:p></div>
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Criminal Law Practitioner Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02441151995382969692noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4985022068047328469.post-47093688679105929092015-03-31T06:00:00.000-04:002015-03-31T06:00:05.568-04:00Six Months’ Probation for a Crime Carrying a 4-year Minimum Sentence <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">That’s the unusual plea deal that </span><a href="http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime/secrecy-around-police-surveillance-equipment-proves-a-case%E2%80%99s-undoing/ar-BBhRjHZ"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Tadrae McKenzie</span></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> struck earlier this year in a case involving a “stingray” – a controversial device being used by </span><a href="https://www.aclu.org/maps/stingray-tracking-devices-whos-got-them"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">law enforcement around the country</span></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> to track individuals’ movements and phone calls.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><i><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">For more information on how these devices operate, click </span></i></b><a href="http://resources.infosecinstitute.com/stingray-technology-government-tracks-cellular-devices/"><b><i><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">here</span></i></b></a><b><i><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">.<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">During the course of his trial, McKenzie’s defense attorneys sought information on how exactly the police had tracked his location. When the judge took the unprecedented step of requiring state prosecutors to demonstrate exactly how a stingray (also called “cell site simulators,” “dirtboxes,” and “IMSI catchers”) worked, they offered McKenzie a deal he couldn’t refuse to avoid disclosing information about the device.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">And the McKenzie trial isn’t the only example of the extraordinary lengths the government will go to in order to hide information about these devices from the courts. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">The Department of Justice has requested that local law enforcement misleadingly refer to information collected by these devices in court filings as information from a “</span><a href="https://www.aclu.org/sites/default/files/assets/aclu_florida_stingray_police_emails.pdf"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">confidential source</span></a><span class="MsoHyperlink"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">,</span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">” forced local agencies to sign </span><a href="https://www.aclunc.org/sites/default/files/stingrays/sacramento_email_response_to_pra_2014.pd"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">non-disclosure agreements</span></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> prohibiting them from sharing information, offered attractive </span><a href="http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/crime/blog/bs-md-ci-stingray-plea-deal-20150107-story.html"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">plea deals</span></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> in cases where defendants have challenged the use of these devices, and instructed prosecutors to dismiss cases in lieu of </span><a href="http://www.nyclu.org/files/releases/ErieCoStingrayWin_3.17.15.pdf"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">disclosing</span></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> information.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">The DOJ’s secrecy prevents judges from deciding whether these devices are being used in a way that violates the law, impedes defense attorneys’ access to information, and hinders public scrutiny.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">It also helps to mask the failure of the DOJ – which has been charged with coordinating the use of these devices by law enforcement – to adopt commonsense policies to mitigate their harms. But the DOJ can and should take steps to minimize the likelihood that these devices will threaten the privacy of the public or run awry of the Constitution. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">First and foremost, the DOJ should require states and localities who receive federal assistance to purchase these devices to comply with minimum privacy standards. The government doesn’t let people drive without a license. By the same token, they shouldn’t provide powerful new technologies to local law enforcement without ensuring that there are policies in place to prevent them from being used without appropriate cause or from impacting third parties.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Second, the DOJ should explicitly require a probable cause warrant prior to using a stingray or similar device. Stingrays are extremely invasive. They allow the police to gather information about an individual’s location and who they called. Some versions of the device can even sweep up the contents of their communication. Disturbingly, in some cases, it appears as if law enforcement agencies either </span><a href="http://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/news-releases/leahy-grassley-press-administration-use-cell-phone-tracking-program"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">aren’t using a warrant</span></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> or are erroneously submitting </span><a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/1371716-29-1-prtt-applic-and-order.html"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">pen trap and trace applications</span></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Third, the DOJ should put in place protections for non-targets who have their information collected. Stingrays collect the phone number and device information of everyone within range – not just law enforcement targets. The DOJ should require that all information of non-targets be immediately purged, and it should prohibit the use of non-target data in any circumstance.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Finally, DOJ should stop requesting that prosecutors and law enforcement officials mislead judges, defense attorneys, and the public about how and when these devices are used. Challenging the admission of evidence in court is a cornerstone of our criminal justice system, but right now the DOJ’s secrecy policies threaten this cornerstone.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Defendants and judges should be informed when evidence being submitted has been obtained or derived from information obtained from a stingray. And judges presented with warrant applications should be provided sufficient information about how these devices operate and the impact they will have.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Stingrays and other similar surveillance technologies were originally designed for military use, in critical circumstances. But, unfortunately, they have been put into the hands of our local police and onto the streets of our neighborhoods – with the help of the federal government.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Now information gathered from these devices is filtering its way into our courtrooms. And unless the federal government requires enhanced transparency and greater protections, we may never even know about it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Neema Singh Guilani<br />Legislative Counsel<br />American Civil Liberties Union</span></div>
Criminal Law Practitioner Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02441151995382969692noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4985022068047328469.post-14505787194409172862015-03-30T06:00:00.000-04:002015-03-30T06:00:03.110-04:00Of Drones, Phones and Privacy Zones<div class="getty embed image" style="background-color: white; color: #a7a7a7; display: inline-block; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 11px; max-width: 478px; width: 100%;">
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Back when I started in the privacy advocacy community -- about 20 years ago, at the ACLU -- we used to talk about the incredible shrinking Fourth Amendment. It was a riff on the Lilly Tomlin movie – <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Incredible_Shrinking_Woman"><i>The Incredible Shrinking Woman</i></a><i>. </i>In the movie, Tomlin’s character shrank because she was exposed to an experimental perfume. The question we face today is whether the zone of privacy protected by the Fourth Amendment will shrink on account of our use of technology.</div>
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On so many fronts, the scope of Fourth Amendment protection is becoming smaller and the exceptions to the warrant requirement that it imposes are becoming bigger. For example, the administrative search doctrine – the doctrine pursuant to which passengers can be made to undergo a warrantless search in the airport before they board an airplane – extends to more and more contexts. The automobile – what many people think of as their very own moving room – is not protected by the Fourth Amendment nearly as much as is a room in a home. Even the scope of the exclusionary rule – the means by which the Fourth Amendment is enforced, has shrunk: The police get a pass when they violate the Constitutional prohibition on searching and seizing so long as they violate the Constitution in good faith. <b> </b><a href="https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/468/897/case.html"><i>U.S. v. Leon</i></a> (1984). The privacy zones the Fourth Amendment protects have been shrinking, and the bite of the exclusionary rule is loosening.<o:p></o:p></div>
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As the digital age unfolds, civil libertarians are rightly concerned that this trend will continue, if not accelerate, for a variety of reasons: <o:p></o:p></div>
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<li><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Data – ranging from email logs to tax returns – are stored increasingly by third parties, and under the business records doctrine, may not be subject to Fourth Amendment protection. </span></li>
<li><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">More and more of the digital footprints people leave behind as they go through life is available to the government, and it is getting better at analyzing these bits of personal information to draw inferences, and the 4</span><sup style="text-indent: -0.25in;">th</sup><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> Amendment has little to say about it.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Symbol; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;"> </span></span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Law enforcement agencies can fly drones to look for criminals and evidence of crime, and in public spaces, the Fourth Amendment will </span><a href="http://fas.org/sgp/crs/natsec/R42701.pdf" style="text-indent: -0.25in;">likely be interpreted to permit such warrantless surveillance</a><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">. </span></li>
<li><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Perhaps the primary means of communication in the digital age – the smart phone – is also a little tracking device revealing its user’s location from moment to moment.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Symbol; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;"> </span></span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">The airport searches that used to be conducted by means of a slightly intrusive search for metal objects by a magnetometer have grown into full blown electronic strip searches that reveal objects underneath a passenger’s clothing, with no warrant required.</span></li>
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Will the advance of technology inevitably shrink the zone privacy that the Fourth Amendment protects with the warrant requirement? Is it destined to become just a speck of an island in a vast sea, with the ocean level constantly rising?<o:p></o:p></div>
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I think not, and for two reasons: First, the Supreme Court has shown that it understands how technology impacts privacy and that it cannot simply apply rules born in the analog world to the digital world. Second, the business interest in Fourth Amendment protections is rising. <o:p></o:p></div>
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The Supreme Court showed its growing understanding of technology last year in <a href="https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/573/13-132/"><i>Riley v. California</i></a><i>,</i> the case in which the Court used sweeping language in its unanimous decision that the police may not, without a warrant, search a cell phone incident to an arrest. The Court recognized that modern technologies create new risks to privacy and embraced its constitutional role as guardian of Fourth Amendment rights. It signaled its discomfort with the Justice Department’s argument that a search of data on a cell phone of a person under arrest is materially indistinguishable from the search of contents of an item found on an arrestee’s person: “That is like saying a ride on horseback is materially indistinguishable from a flight to the moon. Both are ways of getting from Point A to Point B, but little else justifies lumping them together.” In other words, the Court found that when it comes to the scope of a search, size matters. <i><o:p></o:p></i></div>
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<i>Riley</i> isn’t an outlier. In 2012 in <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/supremecourt/text/10-1259"><i>U.S. v. Jones</i></a> the Court ruled that warrantless GPS tracking by means of affixing a device to a vehicle moving on open roads violated the Fourth Amendment. And, in the 2001 case <a href="http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?court=US&vol=000&invol=99-8508"><i>Kyllo v. U.S</i></a><i>., </i>the Court found that use of thermal imaging technology to explore activity in a private home that would be otherwise unknowable without a physical intrusion violates the Fourth Amendment.<o:p></o:p></div>
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As in <i>Riley</i>, the Court in both cases rejected the government’s arguments that searches of new technology or facilitated by new technology were permissible based on analogies drawn to other searches that did involve such technologies. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Support for Fourth Amendment protections by major companies is also growing, and they are a powerful constituency in policy development and constitutional litigation. In the context of email privacy, a growing number of tech and telecom companies are insisting that law enforcement obtain a warrant in order to access email content, citing not a Supreme Court case, but a circuit court case, <a href="http://www.ca6.uscourts.gov/opinions.pdf/10a0377p-06.pdf">U.S. v. Warshak</a>. And, they have joined a <a href="http://www.digitaldueprocess.org/">broad-based effort</a> to change the law to require such warrants. One tech company, Yahoo!, <a href="http://yahoopolicy.tumblr.com/post/97238899258/shedding-light-on-the-foreign-intelligence">brought a constitutional challenge</a> to surveillance conducted in the U.S. of non-US persons abroad, though threatened with a fine of $250,000/day if it did not comply with Government demands it believed unconstitutional. In the wake of the Snowden revelations, many tech companies, after pledging that they would not voluntarily turn over user information in bulk to the National Security Agency, joined in efforts to <a href="https://www.reformgovernmentsurveillance.com/">reform government surveillance</a>. Two of those companies, Google and Apple, are defying <a href="http://www.fbi.gov/news/speeches/going-dark-are-technology-privacy-and-public-safety-on-a-collision-course">government demands</a> that they build in backdoors to their products and services to make them more wiretap ready. As it turns out, privacy is good for business.<o:p></o:p></div>
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These two trends – growing industry support for privacy as against government intrusion and the Supreme Court’s concerns about the impact that technology can have on privacy – give rise to hope that the zone of privacy enjoying meaningful Fourth Amendment protection will not vanish and might even increase in the coming years.<o:p></o:p><br />
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<a href="https://cdt.org/staff/greg-nojeim/" target="_blank">Greg Nojeim</a></div>
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Senior Counsel and Director</div>
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Freedom, Security, & Technology Project</div>
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Center for Democracy & Technology</div>
Criminal Law Practitioner Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02441151995382969692noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4985022068047328469.post-87330623956680589492015-03-29T06:00:00.000-04:002015-03-29T06:00:04.158-04:00Surveillance, Grown Up: Broader and Deeper than Eavesdropping of Yore<div class="getty embed image" style="background-color: white; color: #a7a7a7; display: inline-block; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 11px; max-width: 507px; width: 100%;">
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The revelations of mass global surveillance in recent years by the United States and its global partners have exposed a dramatic shift in how law enforcement and intelligence agencies conduct and justify surveillance activities. Modern surveillance has gone from passive capture of signals to active interference with devices, systems, networks, and communications; from targeted scrutiny of individuals to surveillance of millions in bulk; from examining basic communications content and metadata to fundamentally intrusive analytical techniques. All of these changes are occurring over a backdrop of rapid changes in communications technologies and services that have rendered legal distinctions between foreign and domestic communications artificial and unworkable.<br />
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Wiretapping and other forms of eavesdropping have traditionally been the standard for law enforcement and intelligence agencies that need to gain access to the communications of alleged criminals to prevent crime and enforce the law. While much of this activity involved passive capture of communications – essentially the equivalent of listening in on a conversation – increasingly we see evidence of <i>active</i> attacks – that is, actively interfering and modifying the communications en route to accomplish a surveillance goal. For example, this can involve performing what is technically referred to as an active “man in the middle” (MITM) attack against encrypted communications, where an eavesdropper pretends to be another party in a communication, but modifies the relevant credentials attached to the communication, and then passes the underlying communication on to the intended recipient. This is called “active” by the technical community because the MITM must send erroneous credentials to the sender so that the sender unknowingly encrypts their communications to the MITM instead of the intended recipient. The MITM then decrypts the communication, re-encrypts with a different set of spoofed credentials and passes the communication on to the recipient. Further, systems like those revealed as part of the NSA’s <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/15/us/nsa-effort-pries-open-computers-not-connected-to-internet.html">QUANTUM</a> program go even further to mount attacks: QUANTUM represents what is essentially an automated attack infrastructure embedded in the internet, where not only can it perform active surveillance – like the active MITM attack described above – but also it can inject malicious software into the communication stream intended to compromise a user’s device and establish a presence for other forms of surveillance.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/jun/06/nsa-phone-records-verizon-court-order">first revelation</a> from Edward Snowden in June of 2013 showed that the NSA was compelling US domestic telecommunications providers to produce each day, comprehensive databases of many millions of call details, including all phone numbers people call and the time and length of each call. This evidence provided the first hint that surveillance and national security activities were not narrowly targeted to potential wrongdoers or those that law enforcement had probable cause of committing a crime. Increasingly, surveillance is performed in bulk, capturing and storing information and communications of many millions of individuals, most of which are decidedly innocent. In a particularly audacious program, <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/nsa-infiltrates-links-to-yahoo-google-data-centers-worldwide-snowden-documents-say/2013/10/30/e51d661e-4166-11e3-8b74-d89d714ca4dd_story.html">MUSCULAR</a>, the NSA and the UK’s Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) captured all the data shared on internal networks of Yahoo! and Google, hoovering up emails, phone calls, files, chat sessions, and video conferencing sessions. The NSA and its global surveillance partners appear to be one of the earlier converts in the 2000s to what we today call “big data” – collecting as much data as possible about a population and employing sophisticated algorithmic techniques to infer relationships and predict behaviors.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Whereas historically only narrow classes of communications – telephone, fax, postal mail, etc. – could be captured and analyzed by surveillance authorities, the increasing use of computerized networked technologies by society and the increasing sophistication of analytical techniques – including powerful <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Machine_learning">machine learning</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_network_analysis">social network analysis</a> techniques coupled with technical subversion of hardware and software – result in modern surveillance being comparatively much more intrusive. For example, the NSA regularly captures account login credentials through its <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/jul/31/nsa-top-secret-program-online-data">XKEYSCORE</a> program, which indexes metadata (email addresses, phone numbers, usernames, passwords, etc.) globally for intelligence and law enforcement use.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Finally, the characteristics of historical telecommunications technologies and services tended to ensure a well-bounded geographic extent of their operations while modern networking and internet-based analogs have very little grounding in geographic and political boundaries. That is to say, the shortest “distance” between two computing devices over a network like the internet may often have very little correspondence with geographic distance between the two points, and instead internet traffic favors network routes that result in the quickest transmission of the data from sender to receiver, even if two neighbors result in sending information around the world to reach one another. Given the extent to which national law enforcement and surveillance authorities distinguish between foreign and domestic communications – typically requiring much greater protection of domestic persons – modern technologies render those distinctions increasingly unworkable and artificial. It can be very difficult to determine the geographic location of someone engaged in an internet communication, especially since technologies like Virtual Private Networks (VPN) – used by many business customers to secure their connections to corporate servers – may result in the communication appearing to come from a very different geographic location than where the person is actually located.<o:p></o:p></div>
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These factors – passive to increasingly active, targeted to increasingly bulk, narrow to increasingly intrusive, and unworkability of classifying communications as foreign or domestic – together combine to make the surveillance climate of today much broader and deeper than the surveillance activities of the past.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"><a href="https://cdt.org/staff/joseph-lorenzo-hall/)">Joseph Lorenzo Hall</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Chief Technologist, Center for Democracy & Technology </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></div>
Criminal Law Practitioner Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02441151995382969692noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4985022068047328469.post-75304458988591988362015-03-27T06:00:00.000-04:002015-03-27T06:00:01.099-04:00Who gets the burden: Should universities be allowed to handle sexual assault cases?<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-VOw1xu_a93Q/VRMEm_7mJ7I/AAAAAAAAASc/nOSLVhiDT-A/s1600/CLP%2Bpic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-VOw1xu_a93Q/VRMEm_7mJ7I/AAAAAAAAASc/nOSLVhiDT-A/s1600/CLP%2Bpic.jpg" height="227" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The
increase of <a href="http://knowyourix.org/title-ix/title-ix-in-detail/">Title
IX</a> violations and lawsuits against universities has led many to question
why sexually motivated crimes can be investigated, tried, and decided upon by
educational institutions instead of criminal proceedings through the justice
system. </span></div>
<a name='more'></a><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">In
addition to promoting gender equality in athletics and student organizations,
Title IX also protects individuals from many other forms of gender-based
discrimination. Additionally, it requires schools receiving federal funding to
actively combat sexual assault and gender based violence. Under the <a href="http://knowyourix.org/the-clery-act-in-detail/">Clery Act</a>, schools
are also required to inform students who have experienced any type of sexual
assault of all their options, including the option to report the incident to
the police and pursue criminal charges. </span>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The
current policies require educational institutions to have some disciplinary
process for complaints of sexual harassment and sexual violence. These
standards include investigating complaints in a prompt manner and ensuring a
non-hostile environment for students reporting an incident. Many large
universities currently have judicial boards or standards boards that hear the
cases, review the evidence, and decide on the appropriate action. One of the
main reasons a student might opt to pursue only a disciplinary hearing through
an educational institution instead of a criminal proceeding is because the
standard of evidence is ‘<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">preponderance of
the evidence</i>’ not the criminal standard of ‘<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">beyond a reasonable doubt,</i>’ since Title IX is a federal civil right.
This standard of evidence makes it more likely that a student will prevail in his
or her case and see some type of action taken in his or her favor. The main
issue is that many educational institutions, specifically colleges and
universities, seem to either be apathetic to the problem or are ill equipped to
handle these cases.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">In
recent Title IX lawsuits, many students who have faced sexual harassment or
assault claim that the campus security and administrators were unhelpful and
even discouraged them from reporting their incidents. In a recent case, the <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/19/nyregion/uconn-to-pay-1-3-million-to-end-suit-on-rape-cases.html?_r=0">University
of Connecticut paid a $1.3 million</a> dollar settlement to end a Title IX case
brought against them. One student involved in the case said that a female
university police officer said that “women have to just stop spreading their
legs like peanut butter,” or rape will “keep on happening till the cows come
home.” Another student decided to go forward with the Title IX case after the
school’s disciplinary actions were insufficient. The student went through a
disciplinary hearing and her attacker was expelled from the university.
However, ultimately he was able to return to campus without any notice given to
her. All the women involved in the University of Connecticut case claimed that
they were not adequately informed about their legal options. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The
University of Connecticut is just one of the 43 institutions of higher learning
that the <a href="http://www.ed.gov/news/press-releases/us-department-education-releases-list-higher-education-institutions-open-title-ix-sexual-violence-investigations">United
States Department of Education has identified as having an open Title IX</a>
investigation. Colleges and universities have an interest in keeping their
sexual assault numbers low and discouraging victims of assault from pursuing
action against their attackers. Under the Clery Act, schools have to make their
sexual assault statistics available to the public and the fewer incidents reported
the better. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Based
on the recurring issues, it seems like the appropriate action to take would be
not allowing institutions of learning to play judge and jury, but rather to allow
the justice system to intervene in these types of incidents in schools.
However, forcing students to file criminal proceedings instead of disciplinary
hearings may discourage students from reporting instances of sexual assault and
sexual violence. The purpose of allowing institutions such as colleges and
universities to have disciplinary hearings instead of filing for criminal
proceedings is seemingly a way to help victims of sex-related crimes to seek
justice without having to hire an attorney, deal with a criminal trial, and
face a higher standard of evidence; but when universities are constantly
failing to provide support for students who choose not to file criminal charges
there is no justice for the victim. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">If
institutions for higher education are no longer deemed fit to handle cases of
sexual assault and sexual violence, there will be an impact on practitioners in
the field of criminal law. There will be many victims who choose to take their
case to criminal court, which would impact the caseload of local courts as well
as local prosecutors and public defenders. An increase of cases with little to
no evidence can be a financial burden on the local court systems. There will
also be victims who prefer not to go through a criminal proceeding, and not
report these crimes at all. This course of action would be detrimental to the
field of criminal justice because it would allow perpetrators the ability to
commit sex-related crimes without fear of consequence. These issues present a
frustrating dilemma; which entity is best equipped to handle cases of campus
sexual assault, the justice system or the school? At this point, there does not
seem to be a clear answer.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Monisha
Rao</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Staffer,
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Criminal Law Practitioner</i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Photo by
lculig via <a href="http://www.shutterstock.com/pic.mhtml?id=216951910">ShutterStock</a></span></div>
Criminal Law Practitioner Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02441151995382969692noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4985022068047328469.post-13180961932673160402015-03-24T06:00:00.000-04:002015-03-24T06:00:06.702-04:00Criminal Trials and PowerPoint: The Importance of Juror Engagement<div class="getty embed image" style="background-color: white; color: #a7a7a7; display: inline-block; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 11px; max-width: 507px; width: 100%;">
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<br />
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<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="color: #222222; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">One huge hurdle that litigators encounter during trials is not
only meeting their burden of proof to prevail, but also keeping the jury
engaged. A jury trial, especially in
more serious or complex matters is not the three minute clip that you see on
television or in the movies. Trials can be long, </span><span style="color: blue; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="http://articles.latimes.com/1988-08-27/news/mn-888_1_mob-trial">often
extending over months</a></span><span style="color: #222222; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">, depending on the matter
at hand. Throughout that time, we have a
jury box of humans who are taking in all of this information and then tasked
with deliberating to render a verdict. I
specifically point to the jurors as humans, because as humans we have shifting attention
spans. This is why it is extremely
important to put on compelling and engaging presentations to the jury. In the criminal context, it can be very
powerful to display demonstrative evidence in a memorable manner.</span></div>
<a name='more'></a><br />
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
Research
has shown, in civil cases, that the spoken presentations coupled with the use
of PowerPoint can strengthen a parties’ case. From a <a href="http://keenetrial.com/blog/2013/05/13/maybe-you-really-should-use-powerpoint-in-court/"><span class="Hyperlink0">series of studies</span></a> performed at two different
universities researchers used mock jurors in civil cases to examine whether
PowerPoint slides may influence mock juror decisions. They found that when the
plaintiff used PowerPoint, mock jurors held the defendant company more
responsible for racial discrimination; and when the defense used PowerPoint
slides, mock jurors saw the defendant company was less responsible for the
alleged discrimination. This is not only
applicable to the civil sense. The
information is not more impactful if a party uses PowerPoint because they look
nice on a screen, but because more of a party’s case is retained. <span style="color: blue; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="http://foleybezek.com/articles/the-effective-use-of-trial-techonolgy-in-complex-business-litigation.html">Studies</a></span><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;"> show that when people merely hear information, </span><span style="color: blue; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="http://www.michbar.org/journal/article.cfm?articleID=151&volumeID=13"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">they retain only about ten percent of what they hear</span></a></span><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">, while people exposed to a combination of oral information
with visual aids retain approximately 85 percent of that information. </span>Overall
the use of PowerPoint helps jurors understand trial information better. But what about criminal trials? Does PowerPoint have a place in the criminal
realm? It most definitely does. The fact is simply that the jury can still
benefit from a visual presentation, and it helps both the defense and
prosecution in regard to presenting effective arguments. <a href="http://www.americanbar.org/content/dam/aba/administrative/litigation/materials/sac_2012/36-1_trial_technology.authcheckdam.pdf"><span class="Hyperlink0">Judge Herbert B. Dixon Jr.,</span></a> technology columnist
for <i>The Judge’s Journal, </i>tested this theory with eleven serious, complex
criminal jury trials using survey responses.
From 141 deliberating jurors and alternates, an overwhelming<span style="color: blue; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="http://www.americanbar.org/content/dam/aba/administrative/litigation/materials/sac_2012/36-1_trial_technology.authcheckdam.pdf">
97% agreed or strongly agreed</a></span> with the statement, “viewing
the judge’s instructions on the monitors improved my understanding of the laws
in the case and my responsibilities as a juror.” Visual aids present alongside a verbal
component work as a double agent to the proper facilitation of information.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<a href="http://trialtheater.com/courtroom-presentation-skills/adding-power-to-courtroom-presentations/"><span class="Hyperlink0">PowerPoint is a supplement</span></a> to your courtroom
presentation, not to be confused with an end all substitute that will speak for
you and your side’s theory. The visual
components coupled with an opening, direct, cross, and closing allows the
jurors to follow you as you verbally lay out your foundation. From lawyers that thrive in this sort of trial
preparation and execution, the <a href="http://trial-technology.blogspot.com/2009/07/top-ten-tips-for-creating-professional.html">advice</a>
for an effect PowerPoint presentation is to keep a clean and simple approach. While you want to be compelling and add
imagery to your verbal communication, you also want to be taken seriously and
not cross the line. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
This
is extremely important in the criminal context. Within the realm of criminal law your client’s
liberty and/or life may hang in the balance from a defense perspective, and the
administration of justice is at stake from a prosecutor’s perspective, so it is
highly imperative that the three pillars of our judicial system are executed
effectively. Take the opening statement
for example<span style="color: blue; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">, <a href="http://www.courtroomsciences.com/News/Articles/8d088ee1-7d7f-4fae-beb2-f8066a11bcfchttp:/www.courtroomsciences.com/News/Articles/8d088ee1-7d7f-4fae-beb2-f8066a11bcfc">u<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">nder the theory of</span></a></span><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;"> </span><a href="http://www.courtroomsciences.com/News/Articles/8d088ee1-7d7f-4fae-beb2-f8066a11bcfc"><span class="Hyperlink0">primacy,</span></a><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;"> the opening
statement is seen as</span><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: blue;"> </span><span style="color: blue; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="http://www.courtroomsciences.com/News/Articles/8d088ee1-7d7f-4fae-beb2-f8066a11bcfc"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">the most essential part of the litigators role</span></a></span><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;"> to influence the jury. </span>At trial, jurors
perceive information presented early in an opening statement as <span style="color: blue; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="http://www.courtroomsciences.com/News/Articles/8d088ee1-7d7f-4fae-beb2-f8066a11bcfchttp:/www.courtroomsciences.com/News/Articles/8d088ee1-7d7f-4fae-beb2-f8066a11bcfc">more
valuable and meaningful</a></span><i> </i>than information
presented in the middle or at the end. Therefore,
the opening statement acts as a lens that the jurors will see the case through,
and based on your presentation of information, the juror has made up their mind
in the beginning. The addition of a
PowerPoint to help humanize your defendant, present your theme, spell out your
theory, illustrate a burden, or depict the rule of law is <span style="color: blue; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="http://foleybezek.com/articles/the-effective-use-of-trial-techonolgy-in-complex-business-litigation.html">highly
effective to caption the juror’s attention</a></span>. Captivating their attention as you implant
images into their minds, helps shape the lens that the use to view your case. In an opening you only have a few minutes to
grab their attention, so a visual presentation serves an important purpose. Ensuring that they can not only comprehend and
retain the essential sections of your theory is crucial to be effective and
have an impact.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="Body" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="Body" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Lawyer</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">s
can use PowerPoint presentations and other technologically-advanced methods </span><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><a href="http://foleybezek.com/articles/the-effective-use-of-trial-techonolgy-in-complex-business-litigation.html">to
enhance the retention rates of jurors</a></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">. The
days of passing around a small photo in the jury box are gone. The Elmo is no longer the new wave. Now, lawyers have to appeal to the cognitive
of the jurors, and that </span><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><a href="http://foleybezek.com/articles/the-effective-use-of-trial-techonolgy-in-complex-business-litigation.html">can
be effectively done</a></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">
through well thought out PowerPoint presentations. While compelling, and
growingly essential, practitioners must also proceed with caution. There is a fine line between aiding in the
reception of information and prejudicial visuals. <a href="https://www.themarshallproject.org/2014/12/23/powerpoint-justice"><span class="Hyperlink1"><span lang="FR">Courts</span></span></a><a href="https://www.themarshallproject.org/2014/12/23/powerpoint-justice"> have <span style="color: blue;">overturned criminal murder convictions for</span></a> misuse
of visual aids.. <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/volokh-conspiracy/wp/2014/10/15/powerpoint-in-opening-statements-and-summations-to-juries/"><span class="Hyperlink1">The Nevada Supreme Court</span></a></span><span style="color: #111111; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">
held that a PowerPoint, “</span><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><a href="http://caselaw.findlaw.com/nv-supreme-court/1651237.html">as
an advocate’s tool, is not inherently good or bad</a></span><span style="color: #111111; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">” and
that “</span><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><a href="http://caselaw.findlaw.com/nv-supreme-court/1651237.html">its
propriety depends on content and application.</a></span><span style="color: #111111; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">” </span><span style="color: #111111; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Body" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="Body" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">In</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">
Washington, <a href="http://jonathanturley.org/2015/01/24/murder-conviction-reversed-after-prosecutor-shows-jury-100-prejudicial-power-point-slides-during-closing-arguments/"><span class="Hyperlink0">a murder trial</span></a> was overturned after a prosecutor
showed the jury a PowerPoint presentation having over one hundred of
approximately 250 slides with headings such as “</span><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><a href="http://jonathanturley.org/2015/01/24/murder-conviction-reversed-after-prosecutor-shows-jury-100-prejudicial-power-point-slides-during-closing-arguments/">DEFENDANT
WALKER GUILRY OF PREMEDITATED MURDER</a></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">” and a slide including the defendants
booking photograph with bold red letters across the photo reading “</span><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><a href="http://jonathanturley.org/2015/01/24/murder-conviction-reversed-after-prosecutor-shows-jury-100-prejudicial-power-point-slides-during-closing-arguments/">GUILTY
BEYOND A REASONABLE DOUBT.</a></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">” On appeal,
the court noted that while it is an acceptable method for attorneys to use </span><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><a href="http://jonathanturley.org/2015/01/24/murder-conviction-reversed-after-prosecutor-shows-jury-100-prejudicial-power-point-slides-during-closing-arguments/">multimedia
presentations</a> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">during
the trial the prosecutor has the duty to “subdue courtroom zeal,” and not add
to it, in order to ensure the defendant receives a fair trial. The court held that </span><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><a href="http://jonathanturley.org/2015/01/24/murder-conviction-reversed-after-prosecutor-shows-jury-100-prejudicial-power-point-slides-during-closing-arguments/">the
prosecutor’s conduct was improper</a></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"> and reasoned that </span><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><a href="http://jonathanturley.org/2015/01/24/murder-conviction-reversed-after-prosecutor-shows-jury-100-prejudicial-power-point-slides-during-closing-arguments/">it
is not permissible to alter admitted evidence</a></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"> in order to strengthen a sides
theory of the case. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">With this in mind, it seems that a trial lawyer who spends
most of his courtroom time simply talking about his case may be far less
effective than a lawyer who uses an effective combination of the aural and the
visual when presenting a case. Using
technology such as PowerPoint throughout trials is becoming increasingly more
common. One can speculate that it will
soon be the new normal. With the high
stakes in criminal cases, this tool will prove to be very effective on the
jurors. As high as the stakes are, so are the risks, so </span><span style="color: blue; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/volokh-conspiracy/wp/2014/10/15/powerpoint-in-opening-statements-and-summations-to-juries/"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">ensuring that information is factual and probative</span></a></span><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;"> while not prejudicial is also a very high safeguard </span><span style="color: blue; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/volokh-conspiracy/wp/2014/10/15/powerpoint-in-opening-statements-and-summations-to-juries/"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">that courts have imposed</span></a></span><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">. Criminal litigators
should proceed full force with advanced technology in the courtroom but with
caution, as these sorts of presentation will become increasingly necessary to
putting forth a strong case.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">Amber Cleaver</span></div>
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Senior Staffer, <i>Criminal Law
Practitioner</i></div>
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Criminal Law Practitioner Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02441151995382969692noreply@blogger.com0