With the shrinking budgets of most state and local governments, the prosecution and defense functions in the courtrooms are threatened. Across the country, most prosecutors are funded by the local counties, while public defenders are increasingly funded by the states. Both functions are jeopardized.
At first, it seems obvious we need to support the prosecution function. After all, …
I’m thrilled because my new book Reprisal will be published September 1 and available for purchase in early September.
It’s a thriller/mystery about an undiscovered crime–terrorists plan to use American children as weapons of mass destruction. Do you remember all the Somali young men who disappeared from the Twin Cities in the past two years? They were kidnapped …
I recently blogged about the sky-rocketing population in our nation’s prisons, reminding people that the United States imprisons more people that even Russia and Iran. Check out the article in The Economist at http://www.economist.com/node/16636027/print.
There are two reasons for this surge in prison population and the resulting surge in costs to the government for housing all these people.…
Should criminal defense lawyers seek justice in court?
I had the wonderful opportunity the other week to be invited to speak to our local chapter of Sisters in Crime, a national writing group composed of both women and men dedicated to supporting mystery writers.
They asked me to talk about my experiences as a criminal defense lawyer over …
Most Americans Can’t Name the Supreme Court Justices!
A recent poll by FineLaw.com, a part of the respected company, Thompson Reuters, found recently that two thirds of Americans can’t even name one person on the United States Supreme Court. All that fighting to pick Supreme Court justices, senate confirmation hearings, television coverage, liberals and conservatives both warning of …
Why focusing on mental health will decrease crime!
Have you noticed more street people lately? Wanderers, panhandlers, and even those bad musicians playing all over? (Careful there…I’m a musician and I always throw money into those open instrument cases, no matter how bad the musician!) How about the guy I saw yesterday sitting on a busy street wearing …
Have the Supremes given the police more power??
In the recent Thompkins case, the Supreme Court ruled that unless a citizen who’s under arrest as a criminal suspect actually says, “I don’t want to talk or I won’t talk without a lawyer,” police can continue questioning him for a long time..until they get a confession.
Suspect, Van Chester …
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