Author Archive | Paul Cassell

CBS News “Analyst” Andrew Cohen has called Justice Scalia a “bully” for offering strongly-worded views on legal subjects in this column. Cohen’s views are absurd. There is a vast difference between strongly arguing one’s case and “bullying” someone. In fact, it is Justice Scalia’s well-known ability to offer lively, opinionated views on legal subjects is […]

The Sixth Circuit has just handed a crime victim a notable victory in the Sixth Circuit in this interesting order. The case involves a federal criminal prosecution in Columbus, Ohio, involving some sort of fraud. After the defendant entered a guilty plea, he moved to seal all of the pleadings and other information involved in […]

A VC reader has forwarded to me this very interesting amicus brief filed by the Poker Players Alliance in a Kentucky case. The brief is filed “in support of every person’s right to legally play poker, both on the internet and in person.” The crux of the argument is that the wagers in poker involve […]

According to this interesting article, a federal judge has recently set the sentencing date for four plant managers convicted of environmental and safety crimes on April 26, 2006. The sentencings are now set for April 24, 2009 — nearly three years later. It is not clear what has caused the delay. Federal prosecutors filed a […]

According to this link, some college buddies nabbed in a poker bust are asking a South Carolina judge to decide whether Texas Hold ’em is an illegal game of chance or permissible game of skill. Here is the text of the South Carolina criminal statute that appears to be at issue: If any person shall […]

My colleague Amos Guiora has an interesting op-ed on the situation in Gaza, focusing on the question of how the concept of proportionality should apply in a situation where the combatants (Hamas and Israel) have disproportionate power. Here is the core of the argument: Israel and Hamas have disproportionate weapons available to them. The IDF […]

I posted a parody a couple of days ago on how the BCS computers are a poor way of determining champions. The comments on that thread lead me to think, as the sole University of Utah blogger here, that I should set out the case for the Utes being ranked #1. We could sit and […]

I previously posted on the Carlisle Moody and Thomas Marvell rebuttal to a 2003 article by Ayres and Donohue on the debate over the link between shall issue gun permit laws and crime. An alert reader has given me the link to the soon-to-be published Ayres and Donohue reply to Moody and Marvell, which I […]

The federal Crime Victims’ Rights Act gives crime victims “the reasonable right to confer with the attorney for the Government in the case.” 18 U.S.C. sec. 3771. How far does this right extend? In a previous post (found here) I noted the Eleventh Circuit’s recent decision interpreting the Crime Victims’ Rights Act as providing protection […]

A new article has recently appeared in a peer-reviewed journal on the issue of whether “shall issue” right-to-carry concealed weapons laws (reqwuiring authorities to issue concealed-weapons weapons to anyone who applies without a criminal record or history of mental illness). The article, found here, concludes that such laws are generally beneficial. The article, written by […]

This e-mail is making the rounds. I’ve seen it several places, so not quite clear who to give the hat tip to. * * * After determining the Big-12 championship game participants, the BCS computers were put to work on other major contests and today the BCS declared Germany to be the winner of World […]

My colleague Amos Guiora always has insightful things to say about the Middle East, as proven by this recent op-ed from the Baltimore Sun. In it he argues that a wedge that has been driven between moderates and extremists in Arab world resulting from Hamas

Today the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit agreed with my argument that anyone who is injured as the result of a financial fraud is a

Yesterday the Justice Department indicted five Blackwater security contractors for their role in the deaths of civilians in Iraq that arose during a firefight with Iraqi insurgents on September 16, 2007 in Baghdad. I have played a small role in the defense of the case and thought I would post a few links that may […]

Yesterday Ifiled a mandamus petition in the Eleventh Circuit, asking that borrowers who were overcharged on loans be recognized as “crime victims” under the federal Crime Victims’ Rights Act. The petition seeks restitution and other rights in the criminal justice process. The petition challenges a ruling by U.S. District Judge Elizabeth A. Kovachevich of the […]