Legal

California Bill Would Require Witnesses to Report Violent Crimes

December 19, 2009

Assemblymember Pedro Nava (D-Santa Barbara) announced a proposed amendment to California's criminal code. The amendment would require witnesses to violent crimes to report the incident to police. Failure to report the crime could result in up to six months in jail and a fine of $1,500. The current California law requires witnesses to report crimes [...]

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Florida: Judges Cannot be Facebook Friends with Litigants

December 9, 2009

Florida's Judicial Ethics Advisory Committee responded to a few questions from one Florida judge about the use of social networking sites. The Committee found that judges cannot accept friend requests from litigants in their court. They take special care to note: This opinion should not be interpreted to mean that the inquiring judge is prohibited [...]

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Non-profit Files Disciplinary Complaints Against Torture Memo Lawyers

December 2, 2009

On November 27th a group of lawyers filed complaints with the Washington, D.C. Board of Professional Responsibility to disbar William Haynes II, John Choon Yoo, and Alberto Gonzales for their participation in the torture memos. Haynes was the former General Counsel for the Department of Defense, while Yoo was the Deputy Assistant Attorney General for [...]

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Some Thoughts on the Proposed Changes to the Federal Rules of Evidence

November 17, 2009

The federal judiciary recently posted a revised version of the Federal Rules of Evidence to solicit comments on the proposed changes. The revisions, overall, are a tremendous improvement over the current rules. They make the rules easier to read and understand. However, while the goal of these re-styled rules is to avoid any changes in [...]

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Prepare for the Upcoming SCOTUS Term with CrimProf Blog

September 2, 2009

The CrimProf blog has been running a series called "Previewing the Coming Term." In each installment, one case before the Supreme Court is presented. The posts provide a little background information including the issue, a factual and procedural history, and the arguments for both sides. When possible, links are provided to the briefs. This is [...]

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