Green Rage:  A hat tip to Sentencing Law and Policy for this story, by Jennifer Sullivan from The Seattle Times, reporting that a Washington man has received a 21 month prison sentence for assaulting a fellow golfer. It seems that a year ago, James Compton and his foursome on the Auburn Golf Course, became annoyed with the slow play of the party ahead and complained to the greens marshal.  Nicholas Shampine and his party counter-complained that Compton's group was too noisy.  Eventually the two groups confronted each other, and after some shoving, Shampine demonstrated his prowess with the six iron by striking Compton in the temple.  The victim had to be hospitalized and still suffers memory loss and confusion.  Yesterday a judge gave Shampine the upper range sentence for second degree assault.  What factor persuaded the judge to levy the upper term?  One doubts that Shampine completed his follow through during the stroke.    

DC Police Checkpoints Blocked:  A unanimous panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia has announced that police checkpoints in a crime plagued Washington neighborhood are unconstitutional. At the checkpoints, which were announced in advance, D.C. police stopped motorists entering a crime plagued neighborhood to ask if they lived in the area and the nature of their business there.  Last year the Partnership for Civil Justice filed suit to block the checkpoints on behalf of three drivers who had been stopped. AP writer Brett Zongker reports that the court's ruling in Caneisha Mills v. D.C. cited several Supreme Court cases as precedent.  In ordering the case back to the district court for reconsideration, the ruling states: "The harm to the rights of appellants is apparent. It cannot be gainsaid that citizens have a right to drive upon the public streets of the District of Columbia or any other city absent a constitutionally sound reason for limiting their access."