Results matching “first”

The always noteworthy online magazine LifeZette tells us about the predictable effects of shutting away inconvenient facts in the hope of offending no one about anything. See, e.g., this story about how the Portland, Oregon Police Department has stopped tracking gangs because gang membership tends to be concentrated among minority rather than white populations.  Tracking gang membership might thus be viewed as "insensitive" and, in some bizarre sense "discriminatory," notwithstanding that the records are true, legal and useful in suppressing crime, particularly in stressed neighborhoods.   

Illegal Immigrant Arrested for VA Murder:  A Salvadorian national has been arrested in Georgia for the a gang-related murder in Virginia last month.  Megan Cloherty of WTOP reports that Hector Amaya-Gamez was arrested last Friday for his direct involvement in the August 22 murder of Miguel Angel Ruiz Carrillo in Nokesville, VA.  Amaya-Gomez is believed to be a member of the brutal MS-13 gang and is in the U.S. illegally.  He has been charged with first-degree murder and is awaiting extradition to Virginia for trial and sentencing.  

Manson Follower Granted Parole:   A panel of California Parole Board has voted to grant parole for Leslie Van Houten, a former follower of Charles Manson, convicted of murder more than 40 years ago.  John Rogers of the Associated Press reports that Van Houten was the youngest of the Manson cult that participated in the 1969 Tate-La Bianca murders in Southern California.  While she did not participate in the brutal murders of actress Sharon Tate and four others, days later she joined other followers at the Los Angeles home of Leno and Rosemary La Bianca, first holding down the woman while others stabbed her, then taking a knife and stabbing her at least 12 times.  The group then used blood from the two victims to write "Death to Pigs" on a wall in the home.  Governor Jerry Brown must now decide to allow, deny, or modify Van Houten's parole, or ask the full Board of Parole Hearings to reconsider the panel's decision.

The battle over criminal justice "reform" can be seen as a struggle between two forces: Some, in the name of increased safety and the better lives and opportunities safety creates, prefer crime suppression as the touchstone of progress. Others see incarceration itself as the problem,  certainly at its present levels. They think that, in a country dedicated to freedom, less incarceration is in order even if it means a degree of increased crime.  (Those claiming we can significantly reduce incarceration without increasing crime simply are not serious.  Fifty years of nationwide data show this proposition is false).

For years on this blog, I have campaigned against scattershot clemency for federal felons. While there is without doubt a place for clemency, and the Framers were wise to make it available to the Executive Branch, it can also be abused  --  as my liberal critics suddenly discovered over the weekend.  This was after years of their telling us that America needs to be a land of mercy and second chances, that we're too quick to look to punishment rather than understanding, there's an inherent political influence in prosecution and sentencing, and that older people in particular are good bets to remain in (or to be returned to) the community, because they're unlikely to re-offend and, well, simply because it's inhumane to incarcerate the elderly.

Far-leftists in Berkeley, California demonstrated once again this weekend how strongly they resemble the fascists they claim to oppose. James Queally, Paige St. John, Benjamin Oreskes and David Zahniser have this article in the L.A. Times.

Thousands of demonstrators carrying signs with slogans like "Stand Against Hate" descended on Berkeley's Martin Luther King Jr. Civic Park on Sunday for what many hoped would be a peaceful march against bigotry and President Trump.

But it was soon punctuated by tear gas and a scattering of violent skirmishes. Some anti-fascist protesters, wearing black and with their faces covered, chased or beat Trump supporters and organizers who had scheduled and then canceled the "anti-Marxist" rally, citing concerns over safety.

*             *             *

In Berkeley, the demonstration of more than 4,000 people pulled heavily from area labor unions, church groups and liberal activists -- but also scores of young people clad in all black, some carrying shields and others with bandannas pulled over their faces.

Those activists are sometimes referred to as "antifa," a name taken by anti-fascist organizations formed to oppose white nationalists. They are known for their "punch a Nazi" bent.

There are two problems with "punch a Nazi."  First, even swastika-bedecked scum are entitled to express their repugnant beliefs as long as they do so peacefully.  Second, the person punched may not actually be a Nazi.  Say one of the "antifa" crowd takes it upon himself to decide who is a "hater" and act as legislator, judge, jury, and executioner to deliver the punishment he deems appropriate for what he deems to be an offense.  How is he any better or any less of a "hater" than those he opposes?  Obviously, he isn't.

Support for the death penalty comes in cycles.  It was  getting lower in the late Fifties, hit bottom in about 1967, accelerated quickly for about the next three decades as the increasing number and gruesomeness of murder sunk in with the public.  It then started falling for maybe 15 or 20 years as the murder rate plummeted.

ICE Nabs 32 Alien Sex Offenders:  An Immigration and Customs Enforcement sting operation lead to the arrest of 32 illegal alien sex offenders in Long Island earlier this month.  Anna Giaritelli of the Washington Examiner reports that 12 of those arrested were registered sex offenders, and all had been convicted of crimes ranging from sexual abuse to first degree rape.  Included in the roundup were a 24-year-old male from El Salvador convicted of first degree sexual abuse of a 4-year-old child and a 32-year-old Honduran convicted of four sex crimes and on probation for molesting a 15-year-old girl.  All of the offenders were in the U.S. illegally and will be deported.  

When Sri Srinivasan was nominated to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, people fell all over each other to proclaim how smart he is and how well qualified he is.  But smarts are not enough.  If a lower court judge uses his smarts to evade Supreme Court precedent, he can do a lot of damage.  For instance, he might set a criminal free for a reason which has nothing to do with the reliability of the evidence or the justice of the case.

Orin Kerr at VC has this post on United States v. Griffin, decided by the D.C. Circuit on Friday.  Griffin was suspected of being the getaway car driver in a gang murder.  The police applied for a search warrant and provided the magistrate with the reasons they suspected him.  In asking to seize electronic devices found in the home, they merely relied on the common facts that "gang/crew members involved in criminal activity maintain regular contact with each other ... and they often stay advised and share intelligence about their activities through cell phones and other electronic communication devices ...."  The warrant authorized seizure of "all electronic devices."

Orin is interested in the substantive Fourth Amendment aspects and particularly computer law, and he discusses at some length the complexity of the overbreadth issue.  From the very fact that the issue is difficult enough to interest a law professor and have him declare this to be "an important computer search case" one ought to suspect that the invalidity of the warrant was not so clear as to disentitle the prosecution from relying on the good-faith exception of United States v. Leon.  One would be correct.

Joe Palazzolo reports for the WSJ (emphasis added):

A Johnson & Johnson company opposes plans by Florida authorities to use one of its drugs in an upcoming execution, marking the first time the world's largest pharmaceutical manufacturer has waded into the death penalty debate.

Earlier this year, Florida amended its lethal injection protocol to include etomidate, an anesthetic agent that has never been used in executions, after exhausting its supply of the sedative midazolam.

Florida authorities are slated to use the updated protocol for the first time on Thursday in the execution of Mark Asay, who was sentenced to death for the 1987 killings of Robert Lee Booker and Robert McDowell in Jacksonville, Fla.

Scientists at Johnson & Johnson's Janssen Pharmaceuticals NV created etomidate in the 1960s. The company no longer distributes the drug, which is still used in hospitals.

Excuse me, J&J, but if you no longer make or distribute this drug, and if the patent expired long ago, how exactly is this any of your damn business?

Last summer, we reported that the annual Crime in California report showed that crime in the formerly golden state was up across the board.  This year's report, which is 2016 data due to the reporting lag, is more mixed but still not good news, as noted in today's News Scan.

Violent crime rates* rose across the board, 4.1% percent overall.  See Table 2 on page 11 of the PDF file.  The 2015-2016 interval is the first time in recent years that we have had a one-year change number with a consistent definition of rape (see footnote 1), and that figure is up a worrisome 6.4%.

Property crime rates have bounced around since 2011, the last year that was mostly before the major California sentencing changes.  Last year the overall property crime rate was up 6.6% percent from the year before, and this year it is down 2.9% from last year.  Overall, property crime rates have been pretty flat since 2011, with a -1.9% change overall.  National property crime rates have dropped steadily over the 2011-2015 period.  We should have national 2016 numbers in a couple of months.

A couple of congressional primary elections were held yesterday.

Alabama held a primary to fill the remaining two years of Jeff Sessions' Senate term.  Senator and former AG Luther Strange, appointed to fill the seat until the election, finished second with 32.8% of the vote.  Former Chief Justice Roy "We Don't Need No Stinking Establishment Clause" Moore finished first with 38.9%.  Alabama has runoffs for primaries, so they will go "heads up" on September 26.

How will the voters who voted for other candidates divide in the runoff, if they show up at all?  I'm inclined to think they will break for Senator Strange in a large enough proportion to make up for his 6-point lag.  I hope so.  We don't need any more loose cannons in the Senate.  The general election is December 12.  The Dems have chosen former U.S. Attorney Doug Jones as their candidate.

Utah held a primary in the race to fill the vacant seat of former Rep. Jason Chaffetz.  Provo Mayor John Curtis won the Republican nomination with 42% of the vote.  No runoffs in Utah.  Mayor Curtis was regarded as the more moderate candidate.  The district is overwhelmingly Republican, so the November general election is likely to be a blowout.

MS-13 Bust in Ohio & Indiana:  On Tuesday, Federal agents arrested ten members of the "Columbus Clique,"  a branch of the brutal MS-13 gang.  Travis Fedschun of Fox News reports that three other members of the gang were arrested in Indiana and agents are looking for two others.  All of the suspects have been indicted for extortion, money laundering and illegal firearms charges.  The Justice Department estimates that there are 10,000 MS-13 members spread across 40 states, engaging in extortion of immigrant businesses, sex trafficking, and the machete and baseball-bat murders of teens, children and pregnant woman.  The President has tasked federal law enforcement with taking down the Salvadorian-based gang. 

ABA: Allow Illegals to Practice Law:   The American Bar Association House of Delegates passed a resolution Monday directing Congress to allow "undocumented" immigrants to practice law in the U.S.  Alberto Luperon of LawNewz reports that the resolution seeks to amend 8 U.S.C. 5 § 1621(d) to read: a state court vested with exclusive authority to regulate admission to the bar may, by rule, or other affirmation act, permit an undocumented alien seeking legal status to obtain a professional license to practice law in that jurisdiction.  California, Florida and New York have allowed illegals to represent clients before their courts.
 
Teen Drug Overdoses Spiking:  A report by the National Center for Health Statistics indicates that, for the first time in seven years, the drug overdose rate for U.S. teens is rising, increasing by nearly 20% in 2015.  Jessica Glenza of the Guardian reports that the same report found that the overdose rate from synthetic opioids for all Americans has increased six-fold since 2002, with fatal heroin overdoses tripling over the same period.  Among teens the increase in overdoses is highest for girls.  While the abuse of prescription drugs is also a serious national problem, most fentanyl and heroin is sold by drug dealers (undocumented pharmacists).  In August 2014, the drug dealer who sold heroin to fatally overdosed actor Phillip Seymour Hoffman cut a plea deal reducing his possible 25-year prison sentence, to 25 days in rehab and 5 years probation.     

Repeat Felon Nabbed For Killing Cop:  A habitual criminal has been arrested for last Sunday's murder of a Missouri police officer.  Dhomonique Ricks of Fox News reports that during a traffic stop at about 10:45 Sunday night, Ian McCarthy jumped out of his vehicle and shot down officer Gary Michael, 37.  Roughly 100 local, county and state law enforcement officers were involved in an intense manhunt which ended with McCarthy's arrest Tuesday.  At the time of the shooting, McCarthy, who has spent time in prison for first-degree assault and violating parole, was wanted in New Hampshire for leaving the state prior to sentencing on a disorderly conduct charge and in Johnson County, Missouri for unlawful possession of a firearm.  The murdered officer had a wife and three children. 

Non-Violent Offender Charged With Murder:  A Louisville, KY man charged with the Saturday, August 5th murder of 31-year-old man, had been released on Kentucky's Home Incarceration Program (HIP) five days earlier.  Natalia Martinez of Wave News reports that proponents of the HIP program touted it as a safe way for the state to prevent jail overcrowding and reduce incarceration costs.  The suspect, Justin Curry, has been released on HIP on August 1st after he was arrested for cocaine possession and violating probation.  Currey had priors for drug dealing, receiving stolen property, illegal firearm possession, assault and domestic violence.  All of these are considered low-level, non-violent crimes that qualified Curry for release as a low risk-offender. Prior to the 2011 adoption of Kentucky's Public Safety and Offender Accountability Act, these crimes would have qualified him for time in prison or county jail.  Tough luck for the victim.    

Death Penalty For Woman Who Killed Cousin:  On Monday, a 29-year-old Phoenix woman was sentenced to death for locking her 10-year-old cousin in a plastic storage box and leaving her to die. CBS News reports that Amy Deal was locked in the box as punishment for stealing a popsicle.  The girl's death ended a lifetime of abuse.  Samantha Allen became Amy's legal guardian after Samantha's mother was sentenced to 24 years in prison for abusing Amy.  The abuse continued under Samantha's care and included repeated beatings, being kicked in the face, near drownings, and being locked in the storage container.   Samantha's husband will also be tried for first-degree murder and child abuse beginning on October 9. 

Illegal Immigrant Convicted of Rape:  An illegal immigrant living in Vacaville, CA, has agreed to plead guilty to the rape and sexual abuse of three young girls.  Jess Sullivan of the Daily Republic reports that 36-year-old Nelson Arana agreed to the plea deal rather than face a second trial on the charges.  He had been in prison since 2012 after an earlier conviction on the same charges, but a court of appeal overturned the conviction based upon evidence that the sex with one of his victims had been consensual.  Rather than face a retrial and the possibility of a longer sentence, Arana agreed to a six-year sentence and deportation.

DC Circuit Tosses Blackwater Conviction:  A divided panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia overturned the first-degree murder conviction of a security contractor who fired on a group of Iraqi civilians in 2007, leaving 14 dead.  Spencer S. Hsu of the Washington Post reports that the court found the 2014 conviction of guard Nicholas Slatten resulted from an abuse of discretion by the trial judge for not allowing him a separate trial as the only one of the four guards facing a murder charge.  The court also overturned Slatten's life sentence, and the 30-year sentences given the three other guards.  The court determined that  the sentences, required under federal law for use of military weapons, were not intended for military security contractors, but for U.S. drug traffickers.  Judges Karen LeCraft Henderson and Janice Rogers Brown held that the sentences were "grossly disproportionate to their culpability for using government-issued weapons in a war zone." 

ICE Banned From CA Labor Offices:  The California Labor Commissioner has ordered her employees to refuse entry to federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to state labor offices unless the agents have a court warrant.  Adam Ashton of the Sacramento Bee reports that the order was in response to three instances in recent months where ICE agents sought the immigration status of workers who had filed claims against employers.  The Commissioner said that the presence of ICE agents would discourage immigrants from reporting employers.  We assume she meant illegal immigrants.  Last December the CA Superintendent of Schools encouraged school districts to declare campuses "safe havens" from immigration enforcement.  Rather than wait for all other state agencies to take similar action, the state legislature is currently moving a bill that would declare the entire state a sanctuary for illegal aliens. In late July the California Department of Motor Vehicles reported that it had issued driver's licenses to nearly 1 million undocumented immigrants, in effect making them documented immigrants.  

Trump's Fifth Judicial Appointment Confirmed:  On Tuesday the U.S. Senate confirmed the appointment of former Alabama Solicitor General Kevin Newsom to the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals.  Alex Swoyer of the Washington Times reports that this was the fifth Trump judicial pick confirmed this year, far outpacing Presidents Obama and George W. Bush.  Obama had zero appointees confirmed by August of 2009, Bush had three by August of his first year in office.  So far, in addition to Justice Gorsuch and Judge Newsom, Trump has placed two other judges in federal courts of appeal and one on a district court. There are 28 other Trump judicial appointees awaiting Senate confirmation.   

The appointment of Gen. Kelly as White House Chief of Staff, and his immediate replacement of the loose-lipped (to be kind) Anthony Scaramucci, may provide the occasion for a re-set of the frayed relationship between President Trump and Attorney General Sessions.

Ohio Court Upholds Death Sentence:  An Ohio murderer lost a bid to overturn his death sentence Tuesday.  The Associated Press reports that a divided Ohio Supreme Court rejected Jeffrey Wogenstahl's claim that that the state lacked jurisdiction to prosecute him because the body of 10-year-old girl he murdered was found in Indiana.  Wogenstahl was convicted and sentenced to death for the 1991 kidnap and murder of Amber Garrett.  Facts found by the jury indicate that he abducted the girl from her bedroom at roughly 3:15 AM in Harrison, a town on the Ohio-Indiana border.  The girl's body was found about 4 miles across the border in ditch five days later.  Amber had been stabbed 11 times in the chest and neck, and her head had blunt force trauma consistent being hit with a jack handle.  While there was evidence to suggest that she was not killed where her body was found, and that she might have died in Wogenstahl's apartment, it was not conclusive.  The question of jurisdiction was not directly raised at trial.  The Court held that, considering the evidence in this case, state law allowed the presumption that the murder occurred in Ohio.   

Murderer's Challenge to Execution Drug Rejected:  A Florida judge has denied a double-murderer's claim that the anesthesia used in the state's execution protocol may allow him to feel pain.  Julia Jenae of WTLV reports that white supremacist Mark Asay, sentenced to death for gunning down two black men in 1998, brought in an out-of-state expert to support his claim that the drug etomidate does not keep a person unconscious long enough, and can cause pain during injection.  A state expert disputed the claim, noting that the drug works in 10-15 seconds and lasts long enough to allow a painless execution. In rejecting Asay's claim the judge noted that he only "demonstrated the possibility of mild to moderate pain that would last, at most tens of seconds."  Asay has until July 31 to appeal the judge's decision to the Florida Supreme Court.   His execution is scheduled for August 24.  No word on whether the ACLU and the NAACP will file argument on his behalf. 

Activists Oppose Baltimore Gun Crackdown:  Two people were arrested at the Baltimore City Hall Tuesday night as activists protested against the adoption of a local law to take guns off the streets.  Kimberly Eiten of CBS Baltimore reports that bill would require a one year jail sentence for anyone convicted for a second time of illegal possession of a firearm in the city.  The Mayor noted that there have been over 600 shootings in Baltimore this year and that something had to be done to get illegal guns off the streets.  Opponents are against the mandatory sentence.  The City Council voted 5-2 to move the bill to the next stage of review.

Illegal Charged for Rape of NY Girl:  A 37-year-old illegal alien has been charged with first degree rape for multiple assaults on a 12-year-old New York girl.  Fox News reports that Fernando Alvarado-Perez allegedly had sex with the girl several times when she was 12 and 13.  Local officials report that he had entered the US illegally ten years ago.  The Livingston County Police Chief told reporters that the immigration status of Avafado-Perez  "wasn't a priority to us."  ICE has placed a detainer hold on the suspect, who is being held without bail. 

Alan Johnson reports for the Columbus Dispatch:

Ronald Phillips could not avoid his seventh execution date.

After six postponements, the 43-year-old Summit County man was executed Wednesday for a murder he committed 24 years ago, a week into Bill Clinton's first term as president. Phillips' victim was Sheila Marie Evans, the 3-year-old daughter of his then-girlfriend.

The time of Phillips' death was 10:43 a.m. at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility near Lucasville.

The execution was completely calm with none of the complications or reactions of the last execution.

The last-minute legal maneuvering involved the three-drug protocol with midazolam as the first drug.  States have had to turn to this controversial method since the "guerrilla war against the death penalty" succeeding in cutting off the preferred barbiturates.  A Sixth Circuit panel originally upheld the district court's preliminary injunction against executions, but the full court reversed.

Every other court of appeals to consider that procedure has likewise upheld it, including most recently the Eighth Circuit, which rejected a nearly identical challenge in a procedural posture identical to the one here. See McGehee v. Hutchinson, 854 F.3d 488, 492 (8th Cir. 2017) (en banc) (per curiam), cert. denied, 137 S. Ct. 1275 (2017); Glossip, 135 S. Ct. at 2739-40 (collecting cases); Brooks v. Warden, 810 F.3d 812, 818-22 (11th Cir. 2016); cf. Jordan v. Fisher, 823 F.3d 805, 811-12 (5th Cir. 2016). Yet here the district court thought the same procedure is likely invalid. We respectfully disagree and reverse the court's grant of a preliminary injunction.

The President criticized Attorney General Sessions for the third consecutive day today. The President's quite explicit disappointment with Sessions has led many to believe the Attorney General's days on the job are numbered.

Among the planks of the platform President Trump was elected on was his promise to be a law-and-order President.  Unlike some of the other planks, that is a promise he has delivered on so far.  Two of Mr. Trump's most important accomplishments six months into his term are the appointments of Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court and Jeff Sessions as Attorney General.

Yet strangely, Mr. Trump is having second thoughts about the AG appointment, obsessively focusing on the Russia investigation recusal.  Third thoughts are in order.  The Department of Justice is much bigger than that one investigation.  Broader and more lasting decisions are at stake.

As we have discussed many times on this blog, American criminal justice has come a long way since the dark days of the 1980s and early 1990s.  Simply put, getting tough worked.  But that success is in peril.  George Soros and the Koch brothers have been spreading their money on the same side of the ledger for once.  The dangerous myth that our prisons are mostly full of people imprisoned for possession of one joint whom we can safely release has gained far more currency than it deserves.  Jeff Sessions resisted this tide in the Senate, and he continues to resist it at the Department of Justice.  The chances of replacing him with anyone nearly as good are remote.

The political pressure to appoint a special counsel for the Russia kerfuffle was irresistible, and one would have been appointed regardless of whether the AG was recused.  Yet Mr. Trump continues to focus on the single matter that involves him personally rather than the broader issues of greater concern to the ordinary folks who make up his base and put him in office. 

It's not all about you, Mr. President.  There is blood in the streets already, and how much more there will be depends to a considerable extent on how well you keep your promise to be a law-and-order President.  You took an important first step in appointing a law-and-order Attorney General.  Don't go wobbly on us now.

Ohio Murderers Seek Execution Stay:  Three condemned Ohio murderers are asking U.S. Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan to stay their executions on Eighth Amendment grounds.  The Associated Press reports that after losing a ruling by a divided Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals last month, child killer Ronald Phillips is running out of time.  His execution is scheduled for July 26 for the 1993 rape and murder of his girlfriend's 3-year-old daughter.  If it is carried out, Phillips execution will be Ohio's first in three years. The other murderers are scheduled to be executed on September 13 and October 18.  The murderers claim that the use of the sedative midazolam in the state's execution process creates an unconstitutional risk of pain.

Released Criminal Assaults Police Officer:  A habitual felon recently released from a California prison is facing charges of attempted murder after a Monday attack on a San Diego police officer.   The Associated Press reports that Daniel Moses Cook was high on methamphetamine when he was confronted by the officer after he robbed a Dollar Tree store and was stealing soft drinks from a KFC restaurant.  Cook attacked the officer, knocking him to the ground and beating him unconscious.  Fox5 reports that a bus driver who saw the attack called the police, who had to tase Cook in order to take him into custody.  At a hearing Thursday, Cook pleaded not guilty to attempted murder, robbery, and drug charges.  If there is not enough evidence to prove the attempted murder charge and it is reduced to assault on a police officer, under current California law the worst punishment Cook can receive if convicted is time in county jail.

Jess Bravin of the WSJ has this light-hearted look at the SCOTUS cafeteria and the traditional assignment of the junior justice to the governing committee.

Justice Gorsuch arrives at the cafeteria as something of a stealth candidate. President Donald Trump, despite running several restaurants in his hotel empire, selected a judge with practically no food-service experience.

The 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, where Justice Gorsuch previously sat, has no cafeteria in its Denver courthouse. He avoided signaling his culinary philosophy during confirmation hearings in April.

"The Senate overlooked that," laments retired Justice John Paul Stevens, who first dined in the cafeteria as a law clerk in the 1940s.

The article headline advises, "Don't Eat There."

A:  Drug overdoses.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit today decided In re National Security Letter, No. 16-16067:

In this case, we consider challenges to the constitutionality of the law authorizing the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to prevent a recipient of a national security letter (NSL) from disclosing the fact that it has
received such a request. 18 U.S.C. § 2709(c). An NSL is an administrative subpoena issued by the FBI to a wire or electronic communication service provider which requires the provider to produce specified subscriber information that is relevant to an authorized national security investigation. Id. § 2709(a). By statute, the NSL may include a requirement that the recipient not "disclose to any person that the Federal Bureau of Investigation has sought or obtained access to information or records" under the NSL law. Id. § 2709(c)(1)(A). Both the information request and the nondisclosure requirement are subject to judicial review. See id. § 3511. (Because § 2709 and § 3511 work together, we refer to them collectively as "the NSL law.")

Certain recipients of these NSLs claim that the nondisclosure requirement violates their First Amendment rights. We hold that the nondisclosure requirement in 18 U.S.C. § 2709(c) is a content-based restriction on speech that is subject to strict scrutiny, and that the nondisclosure requirement withstands such scrutiny. Accordingly, we affirm.

The opinion is by Judge Ikuta, with Judges R. Smith and Murguia concurring.  I think a petition for rehearing en banc is nearly certain.

Illegal Immigrant Charged With Murdering Her Family:  A 33-year-old woman charged with murdering four of her children and her husband on July 6 smiled for cameras at her first hearing last Friday.  The Associated Press reports that Isabel Martinez has been identified by ICE as an illegal immigrant from Mexico, but the agency does not know how long she has been in the U.S.  Police say that last Thursday Martinez stabbed and killed her 10-year-old daughter, her three sons, aged 7,4, and 2, and her husband at their home in Loganville, GA.  She also stabbed her 9-year-old daughter, who survived with serious injuries.

Gang Member Made Video of Murder:  At a preliminary hearing Monday, an FBI agent told the Fairfax County, VA, court that one of the MS-13 gang members who participated in last December's brutal revenge murder of a 15-year-old girl recorded the killing on his smartphone.  Justin Jouvenal of the Washington Post reports that 17-year-old Jose Cerrato orchestrated and videoed the murder to prove his willingness to carry out orders from gang leaders.  A group of gang members lured the girl into a park, forced her to undress, and stabbed her with a knife, and a wooden stake, while Cerrato narrated on his phone.  The judge ruled that he will be prosecuted as an adult.

Because of what are said to be "botched executions," abolitionists (both those who admit they are and some who don't) are pushing for the right to have access to phones during the execution process so that they can reach judges in the event of, shall we say, incipient botching.

"If we are to have an effective death penalty, as the Supreme Court has said the Constitution allows, then, at some point, the opportunity for litigation must come to an end," William Otis told Bloomberg BNA via email.

I'm opposed to the legalization of drugs.  Yes, it would increase "freedom," very broadly construed, but comes at too high a price to the well-being of the country.  I might add that, except for pot, this is the overwhelming view of my fellow citizens.

Jill Bleed and Andrew DeMillo report for AP:

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) -- A man yelled "Freedom!" as he crashed his vehicle into Arkansas' new Ten Commandments monument early Wednesday, nearly three years after he was arrested in the destruction of Oklahoma's monument at its state Capitol, authorities said.

The privately funded Arkansas monument had been in place outside the state Capitol in Little Rock for less than 24 hours before it was knocked from its plinth and smashed to pieces.

Michael Tate Reed, 32, of Van Buren, Arkansas, was booked in the Pulaski County jail shortly after 7:30 a.m. on preliminary charges of defacing objects of public interest, criminal trespass and first-degree criminal mischief. An arrest report lists his occupation as "unemployed/disabled."

Probably didn't do his car a lot of good, either.