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Forensiphilia: Science Fiction in the Courtroom

Prof — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 02:37:26 +0000

The pre-publication version of my new article, Forensiphilia: Is the Public Fascination with Forensic Science a Love Affair or a Fatal Attraction? is available from SSRN here. The article will be published this summer in the New England Journal on Criminal and Civil Confinement.

Tweets on 2010-03-31

Prof — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 05:06:00 +0000

Preview my article, Forensiphilia: Is the Public Fascination with Forensic Science a Love Affair or a Fatal Attraction? http://ow.ly/1sJu1 #

The Fatal Attraction of Forensiphilia

Prof — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 17:21:32 +0000

My new article, Forensiphilia: Is the Public Fascination with Forensic Science a Love Affair or a Fatal Attraction? will be published soon, but click here for a sneak preview.

Tweets on 2010-03-27

Prof — Sat, 27 Mar 2010 05:06:00 +0000

Kansas State marches on to the Elite 8: Go Wildcats! http://ow.ly/1r9Ht #

Tweets on 2010-03-15

Prof — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 05:06:00 +0000

Justice Thomas' wife launches a tea party group. Shocking! Who knew he had a wife?!http://ow.ly/1kdNs #

Tweets on 2010-03-15

Prof — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 05:06:00 +0000

Justice Thomas' wife launches a tea party group. Shocking! Who knew he had a wife?!http://ow.ly/1kdNs #

Who Messed with Texas?

Prof — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 01:58:14 +0000

Miracles do happen. The Houston Chronicle reports that a state district judge has done the unthinkable: declared the death penalty unconstitutional. Texas – the capital of capital cases and executions – now finds itself channeling the likes of California and other “blue” states that have wrangled with the constitutionality of the death penalty and found it to be cruel and unusual.

Perhaps the the biggest import of the decision is that Judge Kevin Fine emphasized that one can assume that innocent people have been executed (an allusion to the Cameron Todd Willingham case, perhaps?). In his decision Judge Fine posed the rhetorical question: ”Are you willing to have your brother, your father, your mother be the sacrificial lamb, to be the innocent person executed so that we can have a death penalty so that we can execute those who are deserving of the death penalty?…I don’t think society’s mindset is that way now.”

Predictably, the response from the Texas Attorney General was swift, labeling the decision as “an act of unabashed judicial activism.” Texas legal scholars and lawyers doubt the decision will withstand appellate review.

The case itself is unremarkable in the realm of death penalty cases. John Edward Green, Jr. alleged shot and killed a Houston woman and her sister in 2008. Despite Judge Fine’s reference to innocence, this case does not appear to be one where the defendant alleges he is actually innocent of the crime. Instead, Green’s lawyers argued that Texas law related to jury instructions in death cases violates the United States Constitution’s prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment.

The decision itself is groundbreaking, but soon will be buried under the Texas dirt once the appellate courts get a hold of it.

Tweets on 2010-01-15

Prof — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 04:06:00 +0000

Third Circuit goes where no court has gone before: Access to DNA tests to prove innocence via section 1983! http://ow.ly/WFgs #

Tweets on 2010-01-14

Prof — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 04:06:00 +0000

Cool. Where are u texting from?? #
Congress, Connecticut and Credit Cards: the blog is busy tonight: http://www.gabelwire.com #

Tweets on 2010-01-06

Prof — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 04:06:00 +0000

Danger Sneaky Investors! Rule 2019 revision alert: http://blogs.wsj.com/bankruptcy/2010/01/05/bankruptcy-disclosure-rules-rankle-investors/ #
@corygabel it's western expansion at its finest in reply to corygabel #