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There’s No Rational Way to Justify America’s Drug Laws

Loaded on Aug. 15, 2018 by Maia Szalavitz published in Criminal Legal News September, 2018, page 8
Filed under: Racial Discrimination, War on Drugs. Location: United States of America.

People assume a medical committee sat down to consider which recreational drugs were the safest and least addictive, and this wise group decided alcohol and tobacco should be legal, while marijuana and everything else shouldn’t. That’s not what happened.

by Maia Szalavitz, tonic.vice.com

In 2013, CNN’s medical correspondent, Sanjay Gupta, ...

 

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  1. How Coercive Interrogations Can Lead to a False Confession, by Brian Leslie
  2. $9 Million Settlement in Baltimore Wrongful Conviction Case, by Christopher Zoukis
  3. Fifth Circuit Affirms Habeas Relief Granted to Louisiana Prisoner Who Overcame SOL by ‘Credible Showing of Actual Innocence’, by Christopher Zoukis
  4. Minneapolis Police Used EMS Staff to Drug Certain Suspects, Report Says, by Betty Nelander
  5. U.S. Supreme Court: Drivers of Rental Cars Not on Rental Agreement Have Expectation of Privacy, by Dale Chappell
  6. Seventh Circuit: ‘Force’ for Aggravated Sexual Abuse Requires ‘Physical Force,’ Not Psychological Coercion, by Christopher Zoukis
  7. U.S. Supreme Court’s Carpenter Decision a Warning to Police on Warrantless Data Searches, by Derek Gilna
  8. Washington Supreme Court Clarifies Process by Which Insanity Acquittees May Petition for Release, by Christopher Zoukis
  9. SCOTUS’ Unanimous Death-Penalty Jury Verdict Decision Affecting Florida Cases, by Derek Gilna
  10. New Kansas Law Compensates Those Wrongfully Convicted, by Dale Chappell
  11. Georgia Defense Attorney Wins Another ‘Jury-Nullification’ Case, by Derek Gilna
  12. New Jersey Appellate Division Extends Urbina Self-Defense Rule to Defense of Others in Plea Allocution, by David Reutter
  13. Virginia Supreme Court Holds Convictions for Common Law and Statutory Involuntary Manslaughter Violate Double Jeopardy Clause, by Dale Chappell
  14. Cato Institute: Require Cops to Carry Liability Insurance, by Christopher Zoukis
  15. SCOTUS Issues Landmark Fourth Amendment and Digital Privacy Opinion in Carpenter
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  17. First Circuit Holds Appeal Not Barred by Plea Agreement Waiver Provision When Sentence Exceeds Agreement, by David Reutter
  18. New York City Decriminalizes Some Public Smoking of Marijuana in Policy Shift, by Derek Gilna
  19. Can Cops Shoot a Fleeing Suspect in the Back?, by Dale Chappell
  20. Texas Courts Rubber Stamp Post-Conviction Fact Findings in Death Penalty Cases, Study Says, by Matthew Clarke
  21. New Jersey AG Intervenes in Possible Wrongful Conviction Case, Considers Reforms, by Christopher Zoukis
  22. Hawaii Supreme Court Vacates Conviction Due to Prosecutor’s Bogus Argument Attacking Defense Counsel, by Matthew Clarke
  23. Drug Detection Using Fingerprints in the Works, by Matthew Clarke
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  25. Kansas Supreme Court: Deadly Weapon-Use Finding Prerequisite to Imposing Violent Offender Registration Requirement, by Matthew Clarke
  26. Third Circuit Grants Habeas Relief to Prisoner Convicted of First-Degree Murder Without Evidence of Specific Intent to Kill, by Christopher Zoukis
  27. Why Sex Offender Registries Keep Growing Even as Sexual Violence Rates Fall, by Steven Yoder
  28. NYPD’s Lack of Disciplinary Record Transparency Frustrates Prosecutors, by Betty Nelander
  29. Maryland’s Top Court Rules Actual Notice by Trial Judge Unnecessary to Trigger Hearing Requirement On Defendant’s Request to Replace Defense Counsel, by Christopher Zoukis
  30. Immigration Authorities Seize Wrongfully Convicted Man After Release, by Matthew Clarke
  31. Chicago Tries to Reduce Deficit at its Poorer Citizens’ Expense, by Edward Lyon
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  38. South Dakota Supreme Court Rules that Trial Court Cannot Reject a Plea Agreement It Already Implicitly Accepted, by Christopher Zoukis
  39. New Mexico Supreme Court: Seriousness of Charged Crime Itself Not Sufficient to Deny Defendant Pretrial Release, by Dale Chappell
  40. Iowa Supreme Court: Relief from Conviction Not Required When Suing for Legal Malpractice Based on Wrongful Sentence, by Dale Chappell
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  43. There’s No Rational Way to Justify America’s Drug Laws, by Maia Szalavitz
  44. News in Brief
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