The Fair Sentencing Act of 2010 reduced the disparity between the amount of crack cocaine and powder cocaine needed to trigger certain United States federal criminal penalties from a 100:1 ratio to an 18:1 ratio and eliminated the five-year mandatory minimum sentence for simple possession of crack cocaine, among other provisions. This disparity was a product […]
The Jury Has Spoken…
… And clearly this Jefferson County jury followed the law, but also sent a message about the shifting public opinion of gay marriage. Dominique James (represented by Annie O’Connell) and Maurice Blanchard (represented by Ted Shouse) are a homosexual couple who wanted to obtain a marriage license from the Jefferson County Clerk’s Office. When they […]
State-Sanctioned Murder
Texas and other states which employ capital punishment are struggling to obtain the drugs needed for lethal injections. Progressive (and benevolent) European-based drug manufacturers have banned U.S. prisons from using their drugs in executions, a move that should be applauded. Death penalty states are now experimenting with new drug cocktails for the state-sanctioned murders, with […]
Women Lawyers Association
I was sworn in today as a member of the 2014 board of the Women Lawyers Association of Jefferson County by Circuit Court Judge Audra Eckerle, and I’m really looking forward to a fun year with some fabulous women! The annual meeting was held today during the lunch hour at The Galt House, and it […]
Refusing to Cooperate
It is not unusual for people to refuse to cooperate with police investigations of criminal activity; even crime victims sometimes don’t want to talk to law enforcement. This story out of Seattle gives a whole new meaning to refusing to cooperate with an investigation…