Around the blawgs

What did you miss in criminal defense blogging this week? Probably a lot. With that in mind, here’s a very limited (I only have so much time!) selection of the best the blawgosphere has to offer:

Not for the Monosyllabic is running out of pens to jam into her eyes because of too much madness at work, starting with her interesting caseload: “Fishing without a license, harm caused by dog, in a park after hours, first degree murder. Yep, that seems good.” But, hey, at least she didn’t get laid off! Bonus: she knows Elena Kagan is gay and now you do, too.

Grits for Breakfast is predicting prison closures in Texas because of huge budget cuts. GfB also reports on the shocking news that the drug war is a colossal failure, including this closing gem:

Drug policy arguably is the only issue in Washington on which there’s a near-complete bipartisan consensus: Everybody agrees current tactics aren’t working and also seems to agree to spend ever-more money on them.

Not Guilty gives us a peek into the wisdom of the fun people on her listserve commenting on the video (courtesey of Simple Justice) showing MO police officers executing a search warrant and shooting a dog in the course of firing seven shots inside the home where the warrant was three days stale and they did not appear to face any opposition. Wow.

Not Guilty also links to Something for Mother’s Day by Norm Pattis, a brilliant open letter that expresses what all criminal defense attorneys have probably wanted and needed to say to a client’s mother at one time or another. Not Guilty also shares the response from a mother.

While you’re checking out Pattis’s mother’s day post, don’t miss his sad tale of a client who was told by the judge that his plea would not require him to register as a sex offender, only to later be ordered to register — forever. As Pattis puts it, “Only the State can rape you and then send a bill for its services.” We see it every day, but not always this blatantly.

On a similar note, Indefensible explains how it really goes down when judges get criticized for being soft on crime:

1. A judge makes a perfectly reasonable (and legal) decision.
2. The post criticizes the judge for being soft on crime.
3. The Judge, bowing to political pressure, finds an excuse to seem like a bad-ass after all and sends a guy to jail for almost a year because he was a day late for court.

Sentencing Law and Policy discusses the latest opinion on Ohio’s ongoing project of tinkering with the machinery of death. Jeff Gamso is Overwhelmed by the News Cycle, but manages to provide more good info about Ohio’s attempts to kill Michael Beuke, as well as thoughts on Elena Kagan as Supreme Court nominee and Attorney General Eric Holder’s position that terrorist suspects don’t need to be informed of their rights. So what if they’re U.S. citizens… !?!? On this Gamso also helpfully links to Orin Kerr who points out that Miranda law is a constitutional principle that probably can’t be changed by legislation. Not that the Court won’t be willing to make this “terrorist” exception on its own, given the right case. Grrr.

SCOTUSblog fills us in on the Obama administration’s arguments that the SCOTUS doesn’t need to review that dirty little rendition program that started under Bush and which Obama apparently wants to keep as an option. Tom Goldstein also provides succinct insight on Kagan’s nomination to the Court.

Finally, it wasn’t this week but it is worth your attention:
Blonde Justice updated her “How to Prepare for Trial” series with a tip to stop procrastinating.