“The Justices strike a blow against policing for profit”
This term’s win in the Excessive Fines Clause case of Timbs v. Indiana comes as the latest in a series of legal actions waged against governments’ revenue-driven pursuit of law enforcement forfeitures,...
View ArticleElizabeth Warren on white-collar prosecution — and what to do instead
My new piece at Cato, citing Carissa Byrne Hessick and Benjamin Levin at Slate, discusses Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s proposal to lower the standard for criminal culpability in many white-collar...
View ArticleJudge: holding “Cops Ahead” sign to warn motorists may be protected speech
“The cop actually hauling him to the station [for warning motorists that there were cops ahead] was more to the point, telling the man he was arresting him for ‘interfering with our livelihood,'”...
View Article“The secretive nonprofit that made millions suing companies over cancer...
Beth Mole at ArsTechnica takes a look at “a little-known nonprofit called the Council for Education and Research on Toxics (CERT),” which sued over the lack of California cancer warnings on coffee and...
View ArticleAfter a mechanic took it on an unauthorized ride, Chicago impounded her car....
Her car was in the shop for work when a mechanic drove it on an expired license. What the city of Chicago did to her then shouldn’t happen to anyone [Elliott Ramos, WBEZ/ProPublica, Institute for...
View ArticleFifth Circuit: basing judges’ fund on fines and fees violates due process
Orleans Parish, Louisiana (= county, in this case coterminous with the City of New Orleans) funnels the revenue from many criminal fines and fees into a judicial services fund which, while it does not...
View ArticleLaw enforcement for profit roundup
“Addicted to fines: Small towns in much of the country are dangerously dependent on punitive fines and fees” [Mike Maciag, Governing, a publication that will be much missed] “How diversion programs...
View ArticleProsecution roundup
Let justice be done: conviction integrity units “operate within prosecutors’ offices to investigate old cases for errors or misconduct that may have led to a wrongful conviction.” [C.J. Ciaramella]...
View ArticleNot unconstitutional for county to jump off probation-for-profit carousel
“Craighead County, Arkansas officials use private company to run probation for people convicted of misdemeanors. The company charges probationers monthly fees, other fees on pain of arrest, which...
View ArticleLaw enforcement for profit roundup
“A Louisiana DA will let you out of your community service obligation — if you donate to his nonprofit” [Radley Balko; Calcasieu Parish, La.] New study of law enforcement fines and fees finds they...
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