CrimLaw

The Year in Review - The Blawg:

By glancing thru the blawg I realized that the image one would probably get of me is that I was an Army interrogator who was taught Arabic during my enlistment. Since leaving the Army I have apparently become a cross between Aquinas and Rehnquist with shades of Ming the Merciless. And, to top it all off, I have problems convincing my dogs that the couch is actually mine. There's probably more to me than that but nothing important comes to mind.

Other matters which have made it onto my blawg:

There have been a couple discussions as to the ethical duties of defense attorneys here and here.

Attempts have been made here to show how a courtroom actually works including a list of the rules which govern the entire system, how clients will often react even if they are innocent, how a rural court works, and the unofficial rules of federal practice in Virginia.

Certain issues have made it onto this blawg with strong reaction (politicians striving to send working class men to jail to gain favor with prohibitionists), others have just amazed me (no mens rea required in Virginia - if the police knock on your door you better sprint to open it - the (re)creation of an old form of contempt to get around the statute - the assumption of a non-existent statute so that a trial court can be upheld), at least one issue lends itself to a simmering contempt for a system which is willing to live the lie (although I offer a solution here), and this just disturbed me.

And of course, the Kringle Affair continues . . .