prisoners – Overlawyered

From prison, Tiger King star seeks $94 million

Walter Olson — Mon, 30 Mar 2020 04:05:50 +0000

The former owner of a roadside exotic-animal zoo, currently serving a 22 year prison sentence after being found guilty of a murder-for-hire plot targeting an animal rights activist as well as other violations of law, is now suing the federal Interior Department and Wildlife Service as well as other persons involved in the case. The details of his claims are, well, exotic [Zoe Shenton, Cosmopolitan]

Tags: prisoners

From prison, Tiger King star seeks $94 million is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Discrimination law roundup

Walter Olson — Fri, 06 Mar 2020 11:02:43 +0000

More boxes get banned: Connecticut measure will ban asking age on job applications [Daniel Schwartz]
In closely divided en banc ruling, Ninth Circuit rules it cruel and unusual punishment for prison authorities to deny inmate sex-reassignment surgery [en banc opinion and panel decision; Josh Blackman on a dissent authored by Judge Patrick Bumatay; I was quoted last year in public radio coverage of the Adree Edmo case]
“Fear And Loathing At The Department Of Labor: Has The OFCCP Become A Law Unto Itself?” [Cory Andrews, WLF, more]
“Look for the Union Label, not the Gender Role” [Sarah Skwire]
Freedom means freedom for everyone: joined by Prof. Eugene Volokh, Cato files First Amendment amicus brief on behalf of Colorado graphic/web designer who objects to working on same-sex weddings [Ilya Shapiro and James Knight on 303 Creative LLC v. Elenis, Tenth Circuit]
CBS News misrepresents the state of pregnancy-accommodation law in the workplace [Jon Hyman]

Tags: age discrimination, government contract compliance, labor unions, pregnancy discrimination, prisoners, sex discrimination, transgender

Discrimination law roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Points for creativity dept.: back from the dead

Walter Olson — Sat, 16 Nov 2019 17:04:35 +0000

“A man convicted of murder was rushed from the Iowa State Penitentiary to the hospital in 2015 where his heart was restarted five times. Now he claims his life sentence was fulfilled in his short-lived death, and that he has over-stayed his prison time.” [Anna Spoerre, Des Moines Register]

Tags: blue-ribbon excuses, prisoners

Points for creativity dept.: back from the dead is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Five myths about prisons

Walter Olson — Thu, 23 May 2019 04:05:04 +0000

5 widely circulated myths about prisons:

* U.S. prisons are full of nonviolent drug offenders;

* private prisons drive mass incarceration;

* long sentences are causing our prison population to age;

* recidivists and career criminals are pretty much the same group;

* not sending someone to prison saves $35,000 a year.

Fordham’s John Pfaff explains what’s wrong with each assertion. [Charleston Post and Courier via Washington Post]

Tags: crime and punishment, prisoners

Five myths about prisons is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

May 15 roundup

Walter Olson — Wed, 15 May 2019 09:58:16 +0000

“Banana Costume Copyright Assailed at Third Circuit” [Emilee Larkin, Courthouse News, earlier]
In a new piece for The Bulwark, I sort through some comments by presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg critical of identity politics;
Supreme Court’s decision in Apple v. Pepper, with Justice Brett Kavanaugh joining four liberals, takes a little nick out of Illinois Brick doctrine limiting antitrust suits [my new Cato post]
Ninth Circuit will soon hear case in which judge ordered Idaho prison system to provide inmate with transgender surgery; I’m quoted saying lower court decision amounted to battle of the experts [Amanda Peacher, NPR/KBSX, plus followup piece (“medical necessity” not a fixed standard, definitions of cruel and unusual punishment hitched in some ways to public opinion) and NPR “Morning Edition”; audio clip]
“The Moral Panic Behind Internet Regulation” [Matthew Lesh, Quillette] “A Single Global Standard for Internet Content Regulation Is a Recipe for Censorship” [Jacob Mchangama, Quillette] And Jonah Goldberg on right-wing rage at social media platform moderation;
Some politicos in Britain engage in “‘karaoke Thatcherism’, preaching low-tax, low-regulation mantras divorced from new challenges or detail,” then falling for truly bad ideas like laws to assure real estate tenants indefinite tenure against owners’ wishes [Ryan Bourne]

Tags: antitrust, copyright, Idaho, landlord tenant law, online speech, prisoners, sexual orientation, social media, transgender, United Kingdom, WO writings

May 15 roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Crime and punishment roundup

Walter Olson — Fri, 22 Mar 2019 09:59:38 +0000

Bloodstain analysis convinced a jury Julie Rea killed her 10-year-old son. It took four years for her to be acquitted on retrial, and another four to be exonerated. Has anything been learned? [Pamela Colloff, ProPublica] Forensics’ alternative-facts problem [Radley Balko] The chemists and the coverup: inside the Massachusetts drug lab scandal [Shawn Musgrave, Reason, earlier here, here, here, etc.]
“I would say, you know, as a parting gift, if you’d like to throw in some iPhones every year, we would be super jazzed about that…. So, you know, a hundred, 200 a year.” A window on the unusual business of prison-phone service [Ben Conarck, Florida Times-Union, state Department of Corrections]
Should juries be forbidden to hear any evidence or argument about their power of conscientious acquittal? [Jay Schweikert on Cato amicus in case of U.S. v. Manzano, Second Circuit; related, David Boaz on 1960s-era jury nullification of sodomy charges]
This hardly ever happens: prosecutor disbarred for misconduct [Matt Sledge, Baton Rouge Advocate; Louisiana high court revokes license of Sal Perricone following anonymous-commenting scandal]
“Cultural impact assessments”: Canadian courts weighing whether race should play role in sentencing minority offenders [Dakshana Bascaramurty, Globe and Mail]
“The Threat of Creeping Overcriminalization” [Cato Daily Podcast with Shon Hopwood and Caleb Brown] “Tammie Hedges and the Overcriminalization of America” [James Copland and Rafael Mangual, National Review]

Tags: Canada, crime and punishment, Florida, forensics, Louisiana, prisoners, prosecution, sanctions

Crime and punishment roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

First Step Act becomes law

Walter Olson — Sat, 22 Dec 2018 17:01:25 +0000

President Trump has signed into law, Congress having passed by wide margins, the First Step Act, which will make substantial changes to incarceration practices at the federal level and lesser but still significant changes to sentencing practices. Joe Luppino-Esposito of the Due Process Institute responds to five criticisms that some conservatives have leveled against the bill in its later stages. Jonathan Blanks has more. Families Against Mandatory Minimums has a FAQ. And Caleb Brown interviews Shon Hopwood about the law for the Cato Daily Podcast.

Tags: crime and punishment, prisoners

First Step Act becomes law is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Opioids roundup

Walter Olson — Fri, 25 May 2018 09:58:41 +0000

Prisoners die of drug overdoses at a high rate in their first week after release. That’s in part a prohibition-related problem [Jeffrey Miron, Cato]
“Drug testing kits can detect the presence of fentanyl and other contaminants — but in many places, including Illinois, they are classified as illegal drug paraphernalia.” [Steve Chapman]
“Hospitalized Patients Are Civilian Casualties in the Government’s War on Opioids” [Jeffrey A. Singer, Cato, more]
Texas: “Opioid lawyers pumped $110K into LaHood’s campaign after Bexar County DA hired them” [David Yates, Southeast Texas Record] “State senator working with Watts on home turf opioid lawsuit, lawyers billing Hidalgo County $3,800 an hour” [SE Texas Record]
“Cities Vs. States: A Looming Battle For Control Of High-Stakes Opioid Litigation” [Daniel Fisher on Tennessee AG’s intervention]
All 50 states have now adopted prescription drug monitoring programs, but do they work as intended? [Jeffrey Singer, Jacob Sullum]

Tags: hospitals, illegal drugs, opioids, prisoners, Tennessee, Texas

Opioids roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Alabama law enables sheriff to eat well

Walter Olson — Tue, 20 Mar 2018 04:15:02 +0000

Under an Alabama law passed before World War II, many county sheriffs can keep what are deemed extra sums allocated for inmate meals but not used for that purpose. Some large counties require the surplus to be turned over to general county funds. Can sheriffs of other counties convert the funds to personal use? In Etowah County (Gadsden), a local resident says he was paid to mow the sheriff’s lawn with checks from from the sheriff’s “Food Provision Account.” [Connor Sheets, Al.com] And in a followup, four days later local police arrested the resident who had told the reporter about being paid for lawn-mowing. The raid, said to have been based on an anonymous call reporting the odor of marijuana issuing from within an apartment, resulted in charges against him later bumped up to felony drug trafficking based on weight: “Once that marijuana was mixed with the butter then the whole butter becomes marijuana, and that’s what we weighed.” [Sheets, Al.com]

Tags: Alabama, crime and punishment, illegal drugs, prisoners

Alabama law enables sheriff to eat well is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Law enforcement for profit roundup

Walter Olson — Thu, 22 Feb 2018 11:03:38 +0000

“When you find yourself threatening to find more reasons to put even more citizens in jail in order to protect your revenue stream, it’s maybe time to take a step back and think about what you’re doing.” [Scott Shackford on Alabama forfeiture debate]
How IRS spent $20 million on debt collection program that generated $6.7 million in payments [Howard Gleckman, Tax Policy Center]
“Federal Judge Strikes Down New York City’s Dragnet That Seized Thousands Of Cars Without Warrants” [Nick Sibilla, IJ/Forbes]
Prison phone calls and other captive markets: “Stop squeezing prisoners’ families for cash” [Megan McArdle]
“The high price of being wrongly accused in Alabama’s ‘monetized’ criminal justice system” [Ashley Remkus, Al.com]
“Cop Who Called Asset Forfeiture ‘A Tax-Liberating Goldmine’ Sued for Illegal Traffic Stop and Seizure” [C.J. Ciaramella; Kane County, Ill.]

Tags: Alabama, forfeiture, Illinois, law enforcement for profit, NYC, prisoners, taxes

Law enforcement for profit roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system