BREAKING NEWS: SCOTUS Allows Oklahoma to Use Midazolam for Executions
The Supreme Court has just issued its decision in Glossip v. Gross, a petition on behalf of Oklahoma inmates along the familiar lines of tinkering with the machinery of death.
BREAKING NEWS: Has SCOTUS Lost Its Appetite for Sentencing Enhancements and Risk?
Amidst the good news that are not this blog’s topic, about which you can read here and here, the Supreme Court also decided an important sentencing case, Johnson v. U.S. The case involves
Must Motel Owners Keep Detailed Registries and Give Them to the Police?
The Fourth Amendment protects “people, not places”, but in applying it the courts seem to care quite a bit about places, too. As Jason Miller’s explains in his useful note in
How Should People in Pretrial Detention Be Treated? And–a Primer on the “Reasonable Man”
Most issues reviewed on this blog that pertain to prison conditions are legally assessed under the Eighth Amendment‘s prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment. Therefore, one of the ways in
Are Mass Murderers and Serial Murderers Inherently Mentally Ill?
Goodbye, Friends. As we were all still reeling from the horrific mass murder in Charleston, still too shocked to properly mourn the nine innocent victims–priests, coaches, students, parents, sons, daughters,
What Happens If the Court Disallowed Your Attorney from Attending a Batson Hearing?
The Sixth Amendment requires that defendants be tried by a jury of their peers; this raises serious questions when partisan interests bring racial considerations into the choice. Batson v. Kentucky, decided
How to Determine Intellectual Disability for Death Penalty Purposes?
This morning, the Supreme Court decided Brumfield v. Cain, a Louisiana case that raised the question how to determine intellectual disability for death penalty purposes. The facts are as follows:
Eliminating Grand Jury in Police Violence Cases in CA? Good Intentions, Bad Idea
Senator Holly Mitchel, a well-intentioned and well-respected member of the California Senate, has proposed SB 227, which consists of the following: Existing law requires a grand jury to inquire into
Squash-Kasha Patties
Still living off the soaked kasha from two days ago! Today, I mixed about a cup of it with a cup of pureed butternut squash, added some herbs and flavorings
Flax Crackers
To the left: an image of the very first batch of (oddly shaped) flax crackers, made in my new Excalibur dehydrator. I used to eat these quite a bit after