California Archives - Cockle Legal Briefs

24 Aug, 2011

Conviction by Jailhouse Snitch

Shon R. Hopwood2019-03-18T18:47:54-05:00August 24th, 2011|Tags: California, informants, jumping on a case, SB687|

It is nice to see California attempting to rectify one of the more serious problems with the criminal justice system. The problem is what I call "conviction by jailhouse snitch." This is when the prosecution locks up someone in a county jail with known snitches. These snitches question and prod and sometime interrogate the defendant [...]

Does the Constitution Require Same-Sex Marriage?

Jacob H. Huebert2019-03-18T18:48:06-05:00February 15th, 2011|Tags: California, constitution, debate, ed whelan, federalist society, gay, jonathan adler, Lawrence v. Texas, mark strasser, marriage, Ninth Circuit, proposition 8, same-sex|

Whether gay marriage is a good thing and whether the constitution requires it are two different questions. In this video from a recent Columbus Federalist Society debate, Volokh Conspirator Jonathan Adler, NRO "Bench Memos" blogger Ed Whelan, and Capital Law Prof. Mark Strasser debate the second question. (I moderate.)

A Rat Bites an Inmate’s Penis and other Prisoner News for the Week

Shon R. Hopwood2019-03-18T18:48:07-05:00January 14th, 2011|Tags: California, criminal justice system, Joan Petersilia, prison news, rat|

This is the first of many posts covering a legal issue that is very important to me, to 2 million of its members, and to many more millions of the members’ families: prisoner news. A former inmate at the Nassau County Correctional Center in Long Island, New York, filed a law suit [...]