Results matching “first”

Will Bradley Chelsea Manning be entitled to sex reassignment treatment at taxpayer expense?

Last year, a federal district court in Massachusetts held that the Eighth Amendment required that state to provide not only hormone treatment but also surgery.  See   Kosilek v. Spencer, 889 F.Supp.2d 190.  The appeal was argued in the First Circuit on April 2 and is presently pending, No. 12-2194.

Stay tuned.

Update:  David Dishneau has this story for AP.

Jury Deliberations in Ft. Hood Murder Trial set to Begin: Army Maj. Nidal Hasan, the man accused of murdering 13 people on a Texas Army base in 2009, will only send one piece of evidence into the jury room when deliberations begin later today; an evaluation from a former boss describing him as a good soldier.  The Associated Press reports that Hasan, who is acting as his own attorney in his defense, rested his side of the case yesterday without calling upon any witnesses or testifying in his own defense.  In order for Hasan to be sentenced to death, the jury must unanimously agree upon a guilty verdict and death penalty decision.  

Murder Charges Dropped Against Elderly Woman: The murder charges against an elderly New Jersey woman were dropped after multiple doctors and experts determined she was not fit to stand trial due to her dementia.  Laura Ly of CNN reports that 78-year-old Fredricka Rosa was charged with first-degree murder after allegedly shooting her husband in July of last year.  An additional charge of unlawful possession of a weapon was also dismissed. 

Florida man Found Guilty of Brutal Murder: A Florida man faces a possible death sentence after being convicted on Tuesday in a vicious murder of a 15-year-old boy.  Barbara Liston of Reuters reports that 21-year-old Michael was convicted of first-degree murder along with four co-defendants after being found guilty of shooting and dismembering their victim after luring him to home via text message.  The four co-defendants previously accepted plea deals and were given life sentences for their roles in the murder.  

Bradley Manning Sentenced to 35 Years in Federal Prison: Former Army soldier and WikiLeaks informant, Bradley Manning, was sentenced to 35 years in prison and dishonorably discharged from the Army after being convicted of leaking more than 700,000 government files.  Charlie Savage of the New York Times reports that Manning's 35 year sentence is the longest sentence ever to be handed down in a case involving government secrets being leaked.  Manning will be eligible for parole after he serves roughly eight years of his sentence.  John Malcolm and Hans von Spakovsky at Heritage Foundation call the sentence disappointing.

California's 'Alphabet Killer' Convicted of Four Murders: Joseph Naso, a 79-year-old Northern California man, was convicted yesterday in the murders of four young women many years ago.  Paul Elias of the Associated Press reports that prosecutors referred to Naso as a serial killer, noting that he selected his victims based on the alliteration of their first and last names.  The jury that found him guilty will also decide his fate at a sentencing hearing next month.  Jurors will have the option of sentencing Naso to either death or life in prison. 

Hostage Shoots and Kills Escaped Inmate: Authorities say Rodney Long, a man who escaped from an Iowa prison on Sunday, was shot and killed by a homeowner after the man broke into his home and tried to take him and his wife hostage.  The Associated Press reports that Long broke into the home and cut the couple's phone line after shooting an Iowa state sheriff earlier that day.  Long was serving a prison sentence for a burglary and was expected to be released next year. 

Convicted Killer Murders Cellmate: A Minnesota man convicted of murdering a fellow inmate in 1997 has been accused of murdering his cellmate, this time at a state penitentiary in Oregon.  Evan Sernoffsky of KGW News reports that Craig Bjork was serving three consecutive life sentences in Minnesota for the 1982 murders of his children and girlfriend when he murdered a fellow inmate and threatened to kill several more.  Bjork was sent to the Oregon State Penitentiary in January of this year on an interstate transfer from Minnesota.

Stop-and-Frisk Decision "Poorly Reasoned":  Professor Eric Posner of U. Chi. Law critiques Judge Shira Scheindlin's opinion on the New York stop-and-frisk policies in this article at Slate.

...would he look like Chris Lane?

Let me just give you three paragraphs of today's story.  It doesn't require a lot of explanation:

James Francis Edwards Jr., 15, and Chancey Allen Luna, 16, were charged with murder. A third teenager, Michael Dewayne Jones, 17, was charged with being an accessory to murder after the fact and with firing a weapon. All were charged as adults, according to the Stephens County District Attorney's Office.

The charges were unveiled at a hearing in Duncan, Okla. The ballplayer, Christopher Lane, was visiting the town, where his girlfriend lives, the police chief told The Associated Press. He passed a home where the teens were staying and was gunned down at random, the chief said....

They saw Christopher go by, and one of them said: 'There's our target,'" the chief, Danny Ford, told the AP. "The boy who has talked to us said, 'We were bored and didn't have anything to do, so we decided to kill somebody.'"

California Inmates Participating in Hunger Strike May Be Force-Fed: As a statewide prison hunger strike enters its seventh week, a federal judge has approved a request from California officials to force-feed inmates if necessary.  Don Thompson of the Associated Press reports that 130 of the original 30,000 hunger strikers are still refusing meals in 6 of the 33 state's prisons.  The ruling, which allows prison officials to feed inmates, who are deemed to be in failing health, goes against a previous prison policy that would allow inmates to starve to death if they had signed a do-not-resuscitate request.

Realignment Increases Workload for LAPD Officers: California's prison Realignment bill, aimed at reducing prison overcrowding, has forced dozens of Los Angeles police officers to leave their regular patrol duties in order to monitor newly paroled ex-cons.  Joel Ruben of the LA Times reports that, since the implementation of Realignment, the LAPD has had as many as 170 officers assigned to units responsible for monitoring felons after their release from state prison--a shift that has cost the city an additional $18 million in payroll.  The LAPD has arrested roughly 3,100 of the 5,400 ex-cons brought to the Los Angeles area through Realignment.

Detroit Looks Into Utilizing Stop-And-Frisk Policy: With violent crimes on the rise in Detroit, police are looking to implement a policy generating a lot of controversy in New York:  stop-and-frisk searches.  Maurielle Lue of Fox 2 reports that the policy allows for officers to stop and search citizens behaving in a suspicious manner without requiring probable cause.  Last week, a federal judge ruled that New York's stop-and-frisk policy was unconstitutional based on her belief that the stops were the result of racial profiling.

Oklahoma College Student Murdered for the "fun of it": A 22-year-old Australian exchange-student studying at an Oklahoma university on a baseball scholarship was gunned down by a group of three teenagers who allegedly shot the man because they were "bored" and "decided to kill somebody".  Fox News reports that the three boys in custody, ages 15, 16, and 17, will appear in court later today where they will most likely face first-degree murder charges.  The teens can be tried as adults, and if convicted, face a maximum sentence of life in prison.

Huh?  How can those two things be related?

Georgetown Law Professor Nicholas Rosenkranz has this op-ed in the WSJ contrasting President Obama's suspension of the Obamacare's employer mandate with President Lincoln's suspension of the writ of habeas corpus in the Civil War.

Article I, section 9, second clause of the Constitution says, "The Privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in Cases of Rebellion or Invasion the public Safety may require it."

This is a prohibition, not an authorization.  Who does have the power to suspend the writ when the substantive requirement is met (as it surely was in 1861)?  There was a great constitutional controversy during the first two years of the Civil War as to whether the President could suspend the writ by executive order or whether it required an act of Congress.  Congress finally got around to it in 1863 and mooted that controversy.

There was a constitutional showdown over this between President Lincoln and his old nemesis, Chief Justice Roger Taney, author of the Dred Scott decision.  A Confederate sympathizer named Merryman was charged with treason and held by the military in Fort McHenry, the defense of which had moved lawyer Francis Scott Key to poetry a half century earlier.

Jennie Rodriguez-Moore has this story in the Stockton Record:

In a case that has drawn the attention of critics of AB109, California's prison realignment law, the son and daughter of an elderly Stockton woman who was allegedly raped and murdered by her grandson are suing the state and San Joaquin County, saying he should have not have been released from county jail.

According to the lawsuit filed Aug. 8, parole employees supervising Jerome Sidney DeAvila knew he was a danger and "were aware that on numerous occasions, he had stated his intent to harm, kill, and/or rape his grandmother," Racheal Renee Russell.

The body of the 76-year-old woman was discovered late February inside a wheelbarrow in the backyard of her South Golden Gate Avenue home.

DeAvila's case drew the attention of critics of AB109, which has parolees serve their revocation sentences at county jails instead of state prison.

Parole violators are routinely released and are usually the first to go early in San Joaquin County, because the jail has to meet a court-ordered population cap to avoid overcrowding.

And some overcrowded jails in the state are not booking them at all.

I doubt that a suit for damages has much chance.  However, the state's criminal justice system certainly did fail Mrs. Russell.  All the preening pseudosophisticates congratulating themselves on how "smart" they are on crime can go home to their safe, leafy neighborhoods, while the consequences fall on people like Rachael Russell.

When I read or listen to the anti-death-penalty crusaders, I often wonder how the victims enter into their mental schema.  Death penalty attorney Andrew Love has this candid article on the SF Chron's website (not sure if it was in the hard copy paper).  The first sentence is quoted in the title. The topic is the murder of Sandra Coke, an investigator for the federal public defender's office in Sacramento.

One of the most remarkable things about Eric Holder's speech to the ABA was his statement that the criminal justice system in this country is "ineffective and unsustainable." Many times before the speech, he and other liberals have claimed the system is "broken." That of course is a metaphorical word: What, specifically, does it mean to say the system is "broken," and more generally, how should we measure its success or failure?

...mostly applauds the Attorney General's decision to finesse mandatory minimum sentencing by executive fiat.  The USA Today editorial is here.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit today struck down Michigan's c.1929 statute against "begging" in Speet v. Schuette, No. 12-2213.  The Supreme Court has held that various forms of solicitation are protected speech.  It has also upheld various restrictions on solicitation.

CJLF did some work in this area 20 years ago.  We filed an amicus brief in International Society of Krishna Consciousness v. Lee (1992).  The Supreme Court allowed the New York airports to forbid solicitation by the Hare Krishnas, although in a parallel case the Court struck down a prohibition against handing out literature.  The latter didn't matter, of course, as it was all really about the money.

The opinion of the Court in that case was based on a conclusion that the airport was not a public forum.  Justice Kennedy thought it was, but he thought that in-person solicitation for the immediate payment of money was not protected speech.  That was also the position of our brief.  To date, however, there still is no Supreme Court precedent on point.

Some of our friends on the other side of the aisle think it is really important to let people confront others on the street and ask for money.  They also think it is awful when people don't want to go downtown and instead go to suburban shopping malls which, as private property, can kick the bums out.  They don't seem to see any connection.

The Oregon Supreme Court on July 25 rejected an attack on that State's rape victim shield law in State v. Macbale, No. S060079:

This is an original proceeding in mandamus. The issue presented is  whether the state or federal constitution requires that a hearing to determine the admissibility of a rape victim's past sexual conduct be open to the public, notwithstanding that a statute mandates that that hearing be held outside the presence of the public.

Relator is the defendant in a criminal action in which he has been charged with various sex crimes. Defendant claims that the alleged victim made false allegations against him so that she can later bring a civil action against him for money damages. He seeks to offer evidence at his criminal trial that the alleged victim falsely accused men of raping her on two previous occasions and that she did so for the purpose of financial or other gain....

For the reasons set forth below, we hold that the exclusion of the public from hearings under OEC 412(4) to determine the admissibility of evidence of a sex crime victim's past sexual behavior under OEC 412(2) does not violate Article I, section 10 or 11, of the Oregon Constitution or the First or Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution.

Probably the most frequently made argument nowadays for releasing prisoners early is that we simply don't have the money for the amount of incarceration we undertake.  

The obsession of some people with posting absolutely everything about themselves online never ceases to amaze me.  Suzette Laboy and Kelli Kennedy report for AP on a post by Derek Medina of South Miami:

On Thursday, Medina's Web-based persona took a nefarious turn: First he apparently posted a message on his page in which he confessed to killing his 26-year-old wife, Jennifer Alfonso. Moments later, a gruesome photo appeared on the page: a woman wearing black leotards slumped over on the floor with blood on her face and arm, her knees bent and her legs bent back behind her.

Several hours later, Facebook officials had taken down the page and Medina had turned himself in to police. In a police video released late Friday, Medina is shown walking into the police station Thursday at 11:31 a.m. with another man. Medina, wearing jeans and tank top, walks up to the counter, then seconds later sits in a chair to wait.

Mental defenses in criminal trials are usually "the last refuge of the scoundrel" who has been nailed so clearly that he has nothing else to argue.  There are, to be sure, genuine cases of a psychotic split from reality, but they are the exception and not the rule.

The political equivalent for scandal-nailed politicians seeking refuge is the "I am sick and need therapy" dodge.  Tony Perry reports for the L.A. Times that San Diego Mayor Bob Filner has completed his therapy earlier than expected.  How wonderful.  Except there never was a need for therapy in the first place.  Being an overbearing, arrogant jerk who exploits his position of authority over women for sexual purposes is evil, not sick, and there is no "treatment."

The good news is that it doesn't seem to be working.  Filner's political allies are tossing him overboard.  The last two members of the City Council and Senator Barbara Boxer have joined the call for him to resign.

Will Filner be criminally prosecuted for his misdeeds?  The DA is in an awkward position, as she ran against Filner for the mayor's slot in an early round of the process.  If the DA recuses, it's up to the AG.

The current issue of the Federalist Society's ABA Watch has a Q & A with the incoming ABA President.  On the key question, he predictably gives the same inadequate stock answer the ABA has been giving for years.

Nothing sends our friends on the left side of the aisle into ecstasy quite like warming up relations with former enemy nations that remain communist.  Those of us who are old enough remember the China-mania that followed ping-pong diplomacy and the Nixon trip.  Later, there were the media rhapsodies over the soon-to-collapse Soviet Union that Rush Limbaugh called "Gorbasms."

So this story from AFP suggests a fruitful new basis of expanded trade with Vietnam that should make our friends delirious.

Vietnam executed its first prisoner by lethal injection on Tuesday, state media said, after a two-year hiatus in carrying out capital punishments due to problems procuring the chemicals.

The communist country stopped using firing squads in July 2011 in favour of "more humane" lethal injections but was unable to import the necessary drugs due to a European Union export ban.

In May this year, Vietnam amended the law to allow locally-produced chemicals to be used, a move which was widely expected to bring about a resumption of executions.

On Tuesday the first death row prisoner, convicted murderer Nguyen Anh Tuan, was administered three injections "for anaesthesia, paralysing the nervous and muscle system, and stopping the heart", according to an online report in the Thanh Nien newspaper.

We will probably have some FDA issues to clear out first.  But then let's start placing orders.

Virtually never.  I have my problems with both the ethos and the tactics of defense lawyering as currently practiced, but the majority of defense lawyers are good people trying to do what they view as the right thing.  We just disagree on what "the right thing" means.

I got an email from change.org in the name of the parents of Trayvon Martin. Regrettably, they have abandoned the high road and are now campaigning against "stand your ground" laws with some serious misrepresentations.

Last year, our son Trayvon Martin was stalked, chased down and killed by George Zimmerman, and Zimmerman received no punishment whatsoever. That's in large part because Florida is one of at least 21 states with some form of 'Stand Your Ground' law which enables people like George Zimmerman to claim self-defense.

That is simply not true.  As we have noted on this blog earlier, the "stand your ground" portion of Florida's self-defense law was rendered irrelevant by the testimony of the prosecution's witness that Martin had Zimmerman pinned on the ground.  The verdict was based on the portion of Florida's self-defense law that deadly force is justifiable in response to a threat of great bodily harm, which is substantially the same as the law throughout the country.

An editorial yesterday in the NYT criticizes the pending execution of John Errol Ferguson in Florida.  At least the Times for once describes the crime, however briefly:  "Mr. Ferguson, who brutally murdered eight people in 1977 and 1978, has sat on Florida's death row for 34 years."

Both Mr. Ferguson's and Mr. Hill's crimes were unquestionably horrific; the crimes of death-row inmates almost always are. But to focus on the crime obscures the central moral dilemma of capital punishment. As Sister Helen Prejean, the death-penalty opponent, has put it, the question is not whether someone deserves to die but whether we deserve to kill him.

Ohio Kidnapper Accepts Plea Deal to Avoid Death Penalty: Ariel Castro, the man accused of holding three women captive in his home for almost 10 years, accepted a plea deal today that will allow him to avoid the death penalty.  Ashley Fantz of CNN reports that Castro will now be sentenced to life without the possibility of parole plus an additional 1,000 years in prison.  Castro was originally charged with 977 counts, but under the plea deal he agreed to plead guilty to 937 of the charges.

Convicted Murderer Executed in Alabama: Andrew Lackey, an Alabama man convicted of  beating and shooting an elderly man to death in 2005, became the first inmate executed in Alabama since 2011.  The Associated Press reports that Lackey dropped all of his sentencing appeals, and was executed after writing to the Alabama Supreme Court requesting that his death sentence be carried out.  

Convicted Sex Offender Arrested After Faking his own Death: A convicted sex offender who failed to show up to his July 8 sentencing hearing in Ohio was found in Florida after authorities believed him to be dead.  WFTV reports that William Wigfield, who was convicted of raping a 14-year-old boy, skipped his sentencing hearing, cut off his GPS ankle monitoring device and fled the state.  Police believe Wigfield dumped the GPS monitor into a river in order to fake a suicide and impede their investigation.  

Missing Girl Found After Being kept in a Metal Box: According to a federal complaint filed earlier this week, a teenage girl reported missing from Los Angeles was sexually assaulted, kept inside of a metal box, and forced to take care of marijuana plants under the direction of two Sacramento men.  Joseph Serna of the LA Times reports that the girl was allegedly kept in the box for three days, and was only able to drink water occasionally from a hose.  If convicted, the two men face a sentence of 10 years to life in prison, but they have yet to be charged in the alleged abuse of the girl. 

Convicted Cop Killer Sentenced to Death for the Second Time: A New York federal jury sentenced Ronell Wilson, a man convicted of murdering two undercover police officers in 2003, to death for the second time after his original sentence was reversed on appeal in 2010.  Joseph Ax and Jessica Dye of WHTC News report that Wilson was sentenced to death for the murders in 2007, but the sentence was thrown out due to prosecutorial errors, although his murder conviction was upheld.  Wilson will be the first federal execution of a defendant from New York since 1954.

South Carolina Couple Charged with Murdering Sex Offender: A South Carolina couple has been charged with murder after police discovered they targeted a sex offender and killed him and his wife at their home.  The Associated Press reports that Jeremy Moody told authorities after he was arrested that they caught him just in time, because he planned on killing other people listed on the sex offender registry list that same day.  Authorities believe that the woman killed wasn't specifically targeted, but she was murdered simply because she was inside the home.

California Jails Overcrowded due to Prison Realignment:  California's prison realignment program aimed at reducing prison overcrowding has overwhelmed county jails and forced the early release of dozens of inmates every day.  Brad Branon of the Sacramento Bee reports that during the first nine months of 2012, county jails released inmates 120,000 times due to capacity limits.  Sheriffs in central valley counties have reported that releasing inmates early has created safety risks in their communities, and that the effects of AB 109 are contributing to the state's escalating crime rate. 

Pop quizzes keep the blood moving, so here's another:  What prominent lawyer said the following about the Trayvon Martin trial?

I am disappointed by the jury's verdict and hoped that despite the lousy job the DA's office did during the trial, they'd find something to hang a conviction on. This certainly wouldn't be the first time that someone is found guilty with something less than proof beyond a reasonable doubt, and I admit that such a result would not have bothered me.

Murder Suspect Kills Cellmate in County Jail: A Florida man awaiting trial for a second-degree murder charge in the death of his girlfriend will now face an additional first-degree murder charge after allegedly murdering his cellmate three hours after he was placed in his cell.  Brittany Davis of the Tampa Bay Times reports that Scott Greenberg told fellow inmates that he would rather be executed on death row rather than spend his life in prison.  Both inmates were placed in protective custody based on their aggressive behavior while in jail.

Registered Sex Offender Arrested to Face Multiple Murder Charges: Michael Madison, a registered sex offender in Cleveland, will be charged today in connection with the death of three women after their bodies were found over the weekend.  NBC News reports that Madison has confessed to at least one of the murders, and indicated to detectives that he was possibly influenced by Ohio death row inmate Anthony Sowell.  Sowell, also a registered sex offender, was convicted of murdering 11 women in 2009.     

Convicted Felon Suspected in Murder Case: Washington police are looking for a convicted felon they believe is responsible for the murder of a four-year-old boy.  M. Alex Johnson for NBC News reports that the suspect, Trevor Braymiller, shot and killed his girlfriend's son on Sunday, and hasn't been seen since.  Braymiller has an extensive criminal record dating back to 2006 that includes several drug and weapons charges.

Captured Mexican Drug Lord Files for Court Protection: Trevino Morales, the leader of a notorious drug cartel in Mexico, was arrested in Mexico on Monday and is facing multiple charges including homicide, torture, and drug trafficking.  The Daily Mail reports that Morales, who has been linked to over 250 homicides, was notorious for torturing his victims and has asked for legal protection out of fear that he may be tortured while awaiting trial.  According to the indictment, Morales coordinated the shipment of hundreds of pounds of cocaine and marijuana to the U.S. each week, and is wanted in the United States on drug trafficking charges as well.

Chicago Lawmakers Increase Assault Weapons Ban: Chicago city council members voted unanimously to step up the city's assault weapons ban by prohibiting more weapons and adding stricter penalties.  The Associated Press reports that the council approved measures that include a list of 150 specific weapons that are prohibited and creating stricter penalties for gun crimes committed in "student safety areas", which are defined as being 1,000 feet from school grounds between the hours of 6 a.m. and 7 p.m. when school is in session.  The changes come after Illinois' new concealed carrying law when into effect last week.

Gang Member's Tattoo Leads to Murder Conviction: Los Angeles gang member, Anthony Garcia, was convicted Wednesday on a first-degree murder charge after prosecutors used a chest tattoo that depicted a murder scene as evidence against him.  Jessica Hopper of ABC Bakersfield reports that Garcia was charged after a detective saw a photo of Garcia's chest tattoo that looked extremely similar to an unsolved murder he had worked on in 2004.  The prosecutor in the case identified Garcia's tattoo as a "non-verbal confession" to the crime, he could face life in prison when he is sentenced next month. 

Hispanic man Beaten in Alleged Zimmerman Revenge: Police in Baltimore are investigating claims that a Hispanic man was chased and beaten with a handgun by a group of black youths shouting, "This is for Trayvon."  Justin George of the Baltimore Sun reports that one of the youths beat the victim with a handgun while the others stomped and kicked him repeatedly.  Protests over the verdict have been held across the country, including one in Los Angeles last night that ended when 14 people were arrested after their actions became violent and destructive.

Ohio Parole Board Rejects Rare Clemency Plea: An Ohio man sentenced to die for stabbing his neighbor to death was denied clemency despite a rare plea from the prosecution.  The Associated Press reports that the newly elected county prosecutor made a plea for mercy, and had promised voters to reduce the number of death penalty charges when he ran for the position.  The governor has the final say concerning the execution, which is set for August 7. 

Grandfather Killed by Convicted Murderer on Day Release: A grandfather attempting to come the rescue of his neighbor during an attempted robbery was killed by a convicted murderer out on day release from a prison in England.  Victoria Ward and Tom Whitehead of The Telegraph UK report that the alleged killer, Ian McLoughlin, has served 22 years of his 25 year sentence and had been placed on a day release program prior to his parole date.  McLoughlin was released after his first murder in 1990, only to be convicted of murdering another man 18 months after being paroled. 

Audio and video from the Federalist Society's First Annual Executive Branch Review Conference are available here.  The criminal law panel, with the above title, features George Terwilliger, John Malcolm, and Mary Beth Buchanan.  Adam Liptak of the NYT moderates.

FBI Documents Indicate no Racial Bias in Zimmerman Case: Pursuing a civil rights violation charge against George Zimmerman may be difficult for the Justice Department due to a lack of evidence as cited by previously filed documents from the FBI.  Fox News reports that civil rights charges have been issued in the past with cases such as the Rodney King beating, but filing them in the Zimmerman case will be difficult due to the lack of evidence to support that he killed Trayvon Martin based on racial bias.  The FBI has already interviewed dozens of people in the case, and has found no evidence to indicate the killing of Martin was racially motivated.

Death Row Inmate Waives Clemency Hearing: An Oklahoma death row inmate scheduled to be executed in September has waived his right to a clemency hearing with the state's Parole and Pardon Board.  Tim Talley of the Associated Press reports that Anthony Banks was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to death 34 years ago, and is also serving a life sentence for an unrelated killing he committed the year prior.  Banks is set to die by lethal injection September 10th, 2013.

Sex Offender Sneaks into Jail and Assaults Inmate: Former New York City inmate, Matthew Mantagrano, has been accused of sneaking back into jail and assaulting an inmate after spending more than a week inside of the facility.  James Daniel of Daily Mail reports that Mantagrano used a fake gold badge and impersonated a Corrections investigator to gain access to both the Manhattan Detention Center and Riker's Island jail.  Mantagrano allegedly assaulted and strip-searched an inmate, handed out cigarettes, and stole $5,000 worth of equipment from security officers.

Former California Governors Seek Inmate Release Delay: Four of California's former governors have joined Governor Brown in asking the U.S. Supreme for a stay in order to delay the release of almost 10,000 inmates.  Sam Stanton of the Sacramento Bee reports that the "friend of the court" brief was filed this morning by CJLF in response to an earlier decision made by a three-panel judge ordering the state to release 9,600 inmates by the end of the year.  The panel has ordered the release of thousands of inmates in order to address the issue of prison overcrowding.

In the wake of the Zimmerman acquittal, there is predictable talk about invoking the "dual sovereignty" loophole in the double jeopardy rule and prosecuting him for a federal civil rights violation.  (Update: Arian Campo-Flores, Lynn Waddell, and Ashby Jones have this story in the WSJ.  "The Justice Department said Sunday it would weigh whether to file federal criminal charges against George Zimmerman....")

A commenter to Bill's post on the verdict asks how that is possible in the absence of state action.  Good question.

The FBI has this page with plain-English explanations of the principal federal criminal civil rights laws.  (Well, plainer English, compared to the actual statutes.)

Because the federal government, unlike state governments, is one of enumerated powers, any law Congress passes has to have an identifiable authorization in the Constitution.  In United States v. Lopez (1995), the Supreme Court reversed a prosecution under the Gun-Free School Zones Act of 1990 for lack of such a power.  Taking a gun to school did not have enough connection with interstate commerce to support a Commerce Clause argument for federal authority.  In United States v. Morrison (2000), the Court struck down a federal civil remedy for rape under the Violence Against Women Act.

Federal civil rights prosecutions against state actors (e.g., police officers) usually come under 18 U.S.C. §242, which the FBI summary describes thusly (emphasis added): "This statute makes it a crime for any person acting under color of law, statute, ordinance, regulation, or custom to willfully deprive or cause to be deprived from any person those rights, privileges, or immunities secured or protected by the Constitution and laws of the U.S."  The "color of law" element limits the act to people acting under authority of the State, bringing the statute within Congress's power under §5 of the Fourteenth Amendment to enforce the prohibition on deprivation of rights by States.  "Color of law" is sometimes a stretch, but it is extremely doubtful it could be stretched far enough to cover Zimmerman.  So what's left?