The United States prison population peaked in 2009 with more than two million incarcerated people in state and federal prisons. The nation’s prison population began its world leader growth in 1972 with President Richard Nixon’s “war on crime.” It continued…
CRIMINAL JURISDICTION
Criminal Jurisdiction:
A Criminal Law Blog from a Defense Perspective
2023
The Criminal Justice Section of the American Bar Association (ABA) in 2019 formed The Plea Bargain Task Force (Task Force) “to address persistent criticisms of the plea bargain system in the United States. Plea bargaining has become the primary way…
2023
Category: Constitutional Law | Federal Criminal Law
The August 1, 2023 indictment of former President Donald J. Trump on four criminal charges related to repeated attempts to overthrow the 2020 presidential election results has triggered contentious public debate about the free speech rights guaranteed by the U.S.…
2023
Category: bail reform | Criminal Justice Reform
There are more than 3,000 county jails in the United States. They house more than 650,000 inmates on any given day. Roughly 70 percent of these inmates are pretrial detainees in jail pending trial because they do not have the…
2023
Category: Federal Criminal Law | Police Misconduct | terrorism
They became known as the “Newburgh Four”: James Cromitie, David Williams, Onta Williams, and Laquerre Payen. The FBI arrested the four men on May 20, 2009, on terrorism-related offenses involving a plot to attack the Air National Guard in Newburgh,…
2023
Category: Arson
Facing accusations of arson in Texas can be an overwhelming and distressing experience. Being accused of an arson-related offense entails possible severe consequences, including lengthy prison sentences and significant fines.
If you find yourself in this challenging situation, it is…
2023
Category: Criminal Justice Reform | Criminal Law | Junk Science
With so many television crime drama shows relying on forensic evidence to capture the guilty party, it is understandable why there is a broad misconception in the general public about the value of forensic evidence.
In actuality, flawed forensic evidence …
2023
Category: Criminal Justice Reform | Qualified Immunity
Pasadena, Texas, population 152,000, is a suburban community in Harris County that falls on the outskirts of the greater Houston metropolitan area.
In the early morning of March 28, 2019, Pasadena police arrested 32-year-old Jamal Ali Shaw for public intoxication…
2023
Category: White Collar Crime
Being accused of a white-collar crime in Texas is a serious and complex matter that can have profound ramifications for individuals personally and professionally. White-collar crimes often involve fraudulent activities, embezzlement, or other non-violent financial offenses, and are taken very…
2023
Getting charged with driving under the influence (DUI) or driving while intoxicated (DWI) in Texas can have serious legal ramifications. While these offenses may seem similar, they have distinct differences in terms of the legal process and potential consequences.
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