Wash Park Prophet

• Are You Smarter Than A Supreme Court Justice?

  You know that the law of federal habeas corpus is broken when U.S. Supreme Court justices are deeply confused by it, and the lawyers arguing before them are having trouble explaining it, yet the only way a convicted state prisoner has a right to raise issues on federal habeas [...]
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  Posted: November 04, 2009, 4:32pm EST
  

• Is There A Right Not To Be Framed?

  Does a prosecutor who fakes evidence in the pre-trial phase of a criminal case, and then introduces it at trial to procure a wrongful conviction, have absolute immunity from being sued under federal civil rights laws for doing so?
  
  This is the issue that the Justice of the U.S. [...]
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  Posted: November 04, 2009, 3:11pm EST
  

• California's Civil Gideon Law

  California has adopted a law providing legal representation at state expense in certain non-criminal family law, eviction and foreclosure suits. Previously, publicly appointed counsel was available only in criminal and termination of parental rights cases, and in rare cases where courts appoint counsel so that a position can be [...]
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  Posted: November 04, 2009, 1:39pm EST
  

• Prof Dismisses Suit v. Above The Law

  Sunlight is the best disinfectant.
  
  Professor D. Marvin Jones, in the face of overwhelming negative publicity in the popular press and legal blogosphere about his pro se lawsuit against the Above The Law blog, and a letter from their lawyer (Marc Randazza), has voluntarily dismissed [...]
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  Posted: November 04, 2009, 1:20pm EST
  

• Other News

  November 3 in history:
  
  0644 - Kalief Omar I injured during assassination attempt
  1394 - Jews are expelled from France by Charles VI
  1493 - Christopher Columbus discovers island of Dominica
  1527 - Ferdinand of Austria/Bohemia chosen as king of Hungary
  1529 - London: [...]
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  Posted: November 04, 2009, 11:07am EST
  

• 2009 Election Redux

  So, there was an election yesterday. What happened in Colorado?
  
  Denver voters rejected (by an almost 7-3 margin) an initiative proposing mandatory car impoundment for driver's without licenses. It was opposed by almost the entire political establishment and was a loophole closing follow up to a prior impoundment initiative' [...]
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  Posted: November 04, 2009, 9:59am EST
  

• Meet Western Citizen

  Yesterday, Wendy Norris launched Western Citizen, a new online magazine featuring investigative reporting and local color. Wendy was a colleague of mine at Colorado Confidential (now known as the Colorado Independent, link in the sidebar). As she describes her new venture:
  
  The aim is to combine investigative reporting [...]
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  Posted: November 04, 2009, 9:46am EST