For any defendant facing federal charges, the pressure to plead guilty is very strong. There are two main reasons for this: 1) the extreme financial burden of going to trial with a private lawyer; and 2) the long sentence that waits those who lose at trial. So when...
Does a court have the legal authority to require people to wear face masks in the courthouse? In most states, there are Governor's orders recommending, but not requiring, the use of masks in public. In spite of those orders, most courthouses throughout the country...
The U.S. Supreme Court recently refused to reexamine the much criticized doctrine of qualified immunity, which shields police from lawsuits over their misconduct. The doctrine of qualified immunity was originally developed decades ago in order to protect police from...
For anyone accused of a crime, the right to a jury trial is one of the most fundamental principles in the American criminal justice system. But what does that right look like when a pandemic strikes? Courts across the country have managed to conduct a variety of legal...
Two New York City Lawyers were arrested and are now facing federal charges for allegedly throwing a Molotov cocktail in to a vacant police car, during the recent protests Colinford Mattis, an Ivy League educated corporate lawyer, is accused of driving Urooj Rahman, a...
There is no question that there are indefensible racial disparities in our criminal justice system. Beginning with disparate policing practices like "stop and frisk", and money bail; and continuing on with implicit bias in jury selection, and disparate sentences for...
Not since the 1960's, when the nation was racked by civil rights demonstrations, anti-war protests and urban riots, has the press been so embroiled in police violence. As protests raged in cities across America, more than a dozen journalists were injured or arrested,...
Across the country, cell phone videos from bystanders are helping to police the police and bring others to justice. In Minneapolis, the initial police account of the death of George Floyd, did NOT mention that an officer's knee on his neck, pinned him to the ground...
A paralegal in the U.S. Attorney's Office in San Antonio, has been fired and charged with conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine, after allegedly tipping off a Mexican drug cartel about a forthcoming raid. As part of her position, the paralegal was given access to...
Ohio has put in place a state health order requiring social distancing at bars and restaurants. This order also bans groups of 10 or more people from congregating.The order is now being enforced by Ohio Investigative Unit, which routinely handles policing liquor...
