Fresh angles are hard to come by in the blogging era. Just when I thought there weren’t any new ways to comment on the legalization debate, this video came out.
Everything does sounds better auto tuned. Wait for the second segment in this video, after gay marriage, before Angry Gorilla.
Brilliant. H/T to The Agitator.
Here is a shocking video from MPP. The field drug tests used by police around the country are wildly inaccurate leading to false arrests. I can’t say I was shocked by these results.
An open records request I filed last year found over 500 cases over a two year period in Dallas county in which a suspected was arrested for drug possession and lab tests proved the substance was not drugs. Undoubtedly, these cheap field tests were used in some of these cases.
Here is an idea. How about a presumption that a substance is not drugs until proven in a quality controlled run by real scientists (not cops) using real equipment? Or maybe a presumption that a suspect is innocent? Nah, those measures would “send the wrong message” to kids. Onward Prohibition!
Dallas law enforcement is concerned about border/Phoenix levels of drug cartel violence coming to the Metroplex. I’m usually one to knock law enforcement fear mongering, especially when it comes to drugs. However, the rash of kidnappings in Phoenix shows that Mexican drug cartels will fight for turf in the US.
From DMN-
So far, the only thing that has kept the Gulf cartel from using its brazen tactics in Texas is a fear of attracting too much attention, said James Capra, special agent in charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration office in Dallas.
Two great stories from DMN. First, the number of executions in Texas decreased from 27 in 2007 to 18 in 2008. What’s the cause of the 30% reduction in government killing? DMN attributes the enormous cost of death cases, a zealous defense bar, new sentencing options, and the decreasing number of murders.
From DMN-
Executions nationwide and in Texas were down in 2008. So were death sentences. The numbers don’t lie – but not everyone agrees on what they say. Defense attorneys think the statistics indicate a waning enthusiasm in the Lone Star State, the death penalty capital of the country, for the ultimate sanction. Also Online Link: Texas Department of Criminal Justice schedule of executions “It has taken a little longer for the transformation to be felt here,” said Rob Owen, co-director of the Capital Punishment Clinic at the University of Texas at Austin. “I think we are seeing the leading edge of that national transformation.” “> Executions nationwide and in Texas were down in 2008. So were death sentences.
Via the Agitator via nevergetbusted.com.
Regardless of how you view the drug war, we should all applaud efforts to rid the criminal justice system of corrupt law enforcement. That’s what makes this story so significant. Until now the libertarian/anti drug war movement has been reactionary; waiting for news to happen and responding. Now those who value freedom have the tools to set up traps for the police. This should make great reality television.
From nevergetbusted.com-
DCDLA Christmas Party
The Dallas Criminal Defense Lawyers Association Xmas party was tonight at Pappadeux on Oak Lawn. My only complaint was that there were only two food options; fried and dessert. I pitched my open records project to more people than probably wanted to hear about it. One more time- If you are a defense lawyer with a collection of useful open records let me know. I’m working on a database of open records for TCDLA.
Happy Prohibition Day!
The police pull you over and find a suspicious white powder in your car. You swear this powder is for your athlete’s foot. The police believe this powder is cocaine.
You are booked into jail. Bail is set at $25,000. The powder is sent to the DPS lab for further testing. You spend two weeks in jail but the DPS lab report comes back negative. Vindicated, you leave jail, short two weeks of life you will never get back.
Think that never happens? You must not practice criminal defense in Texas.
Texas’ Drug Free Zone (DFZ) law is a testament to the failure of Prohibition. If our drug war worked special laws to keep drugs out of certain areas wouldn’t be necessary. But I digress.
So what is a Drug Free Zone?
Basically in, on, or within 1,000 feet of premises owned, rented, or leased by an institution of higher learning, the premises of a public or private youth center, or a playground; or in, on, or within 300 feet of the premises of a public swimming pool or video arcade facility or on a school bus.
Cindy McCain is speaking tonite at the Republican Convention. Her husband John is the GOP presidential nominee. John is anadvocate for federal prosecution of medical marijuana patients.
Cindy is an ex addict who allegedly stole prescription drugs from a charity she worked at. Fortunately for Cindy she had an excellent defense to federal prosecution; her husband is John McCain.
Unfortunately thousands of other addicts who are not John McCain’s wife are arrested and incarcerated every year.
I just got back from Mexico. It was a wonderful week in beautiful Quintana Roo. I spent two days wandering Playa Del Carmen, a small port city near Cozumel. Commerce is a contact sport is most Mexican markets, Playa is no different. Most shopkeepers sit in front of their store inviting you in with various pitches. For some reason I felt obligated to acknowledge each offer to visit a certain store.
Inevitably, visitors to the market are offered contraband for sale. This wasn’t my first trip to a market in Mexico and I wasn’t surprised at the advertisement. This behavior is not limited to Mexico. I experienced similar salesman working in New Orleans on Bourbon Street.
If you had to decide what laws in a society were important and which were foolish political fabrications one must only look at which laws are enforced against tourists. Shopkeepers were not offering murder or arson for sale. Laws that mattered were still enforced. Tourist dollars are a powerful force, capable of repealing malum prohibitum laws.
Dallas Criminal Defense Lawyer Blog