Oct 2, 2008

Here is the New Award

By popular demand, here's the award for being a top five on LX:

Oct 1, 2008

Cat Burglar Caught

Sep 30, 2008

If Pot Doesn't Cure What Ails You . . .

. . . there's always heroin.

Theft at Police Station

You really shouldn't sneak away from your lawyer and into a police LT's office to steal her pistol.

I May Need to Move to Wall Street

"The biggest growth industry on Wall Street these days is the white collar criminal law firm."

More Protection for Have-a-Go-Heroes

Tories trying to push greater protections for those who help.

Lawyer Threatens Doctor Over Drugs

To keep them flowing.

Guilty on Drugs But Not Frozen Girlfriend

She was on dry ice.

Study: Students Link Flirting and Rape

Northern Ireland.

Sep 29, 2008

Breast Implant Murder Plot

Y'know, as a guy, I admire certain aspects of the female anatomy too, but I just can't see plotting this . . .

ID'ed Juror Out

Judge lets man out of service because his friends figured out he was serving.

Mass. Marijuana

Will it be legal?

Fluffy Marijuana

Did he blow dry it?

Elephant Heroin Addict

A methadone treatment that worked.

LX cast up: Fave Five

Yep, I changed the name.

LX is larger here.

Sep 25, 2008

Virginia Supreme Court Decisions
(includes Spam decision)

Logan v. Commonwealth (No. 072342) 4th Amendment - Probation

A person on probation is charged with a crime. The charge is dismissed after the Virginia Court of Appeals, en banc, decided that the search violated the 4th Amendment. The Commonwealth did not appeal this (because, if you can't win in our Court of Appeals en banc you can't win anywhere). Then the Commonwealth filed a probation violation against the person. The trial judge allowed the evidence of the fruits of the search into the probation hearing. The Court of Appeals upheld the conviction stating that the 4th Amendment does not apply to probation hearings.

Held: The 4th Amendment does apply to probation hearings. Reversed.

---------- ---------- ----------

McMorris v. Commonwealth (No. 072247) Robbery - Principle in the Second Degree

Defendant took part in the mass beating of an individual. During the beating the individual's wallet was stolen. He was convicted by the trial judge of robbery because "This was all contemporaneous." The Court of Appeals refused to hear an appeal on the conviction stating that "the evidence established that McMorris shared the criminal intent of those who did steal Ottey's telephone and other items."

Held: Taking part in a mass beat down does not have as "a natural and probable consequence of the intended wrongful act" the intent to rob. Reversed.

There's a very good discussion in this case of what a principle in the second degree is in Virginia.

---------- ---------- ----------

Jaynes v. Commonwealth (No. 062388) Internet Spam - Jurisdiction - 1st Amendment - Standing - Trespass - Narrow Tailoring - Overbreadth - Narrow Construction

Out of State Defendant convicted of violating Virginia's anti-spam statute.

Held: (1) Jurisdiction is valid because all of AOL's servers are in Virginia and this is common knowledge.

(2) The Virginia Supreme Court quotes the Commonwealth's own stipulations during a prior argument before the federal supreme court and finds that Virginia cannot limit access to constitutional protections to fewer people than the federal government allows.

(3) While trespass may be a valid theory in a civil suit, it does not apply in a case involving the government because governments must answer to the 1st Amendment.

(4) The mere fact that someone sends an anonymous email cannot be illegal because anonymous political speech is protected political discourse. Unlike other States, Virginia has not limited this statute to commercial speech. Therefore, the statute is not sufficiently narrowly drawn.

(5) While mere overbreadth is not enough, this statute is substantially overbroad. It "would prohibit all bulk e-mail containing anonymous political, religious, or other expressive speech. For just being published today example, were the Federalist Papers via e-mail, that transmission by Publius would violate the statute."

(6) The Supreme Court refuses the Commonwealth's invitation to narrow the application of the statute so that it only applies if the internet service provider objects or the emails contain criminal activity, defamation, or obscenity. Rewriting a statute is the province of the General Assembly and mere construction of this statute cannot reach as far as the Commonwealth urges.

Reversed.

Wow. This case is a tour de force by the Virginia Supreme Court. It's 28 pages and not an inch of fluff in it (the federal supreme court would have wasted at least 75 pages on something like this). I don't like the result, but really can't argue with the reasoning.

Sep 24, 2008

It's time to play . . .

. . . name that crime!

Sep 22, 2008

CLTV 41: Hubris, Heller, & Harvie (Wilkinson)

Reviewing a law review article by Judge Harvie Wilkinson (4th federal circuit) in which he equates Roe and Heller.

Larger version here at CLTV.

Sep 18, 2008

RIAA to Court: That Bad Old Attorney Was Mean to Us!!!

How does the RIAA react to an attorney who defends people it charges and defeats it? And then has the gall to publish parts of the PUBLIC court file on his blog?

Why it sues him, of course. He's "vexatious."

In other words, he won and has made the RIAA look bad (like it needed any help).

You've got to be kidding me. Admittedly, I don't know all that much about federal civil procedure, but if I remember back to law school, aren't cases filed in bad faith supposed to be sanctionable? Couldn't an attorney filing a case in bad faith also end up with an ethics violation at his State Bar?

BTW, the attorney being sued is Ray Beckerman and his blog is "Recording Industry vs. The People."

Sep 16, 2008

Review: Raising the Bar

The Characters:

Sep 15, 2008

CLTV 40: Expungement and Innocence in Virginia

Taking the former discussion about innocence further, I discuss the expungement statute in Virginia and some bad case law which has strayed from the clear meaning of the statute.

Here it is in larger format over at CLTV.

Sep 14, 2008

I Hate Explorer

Well, I wrote the page once and it worked with Opera, Firefox and even Chrome. Of course, it didn't work with Explorer. I don't know why. All I know is that I had to rewrite it in a different way to get it to work.

Hopefully, it's working well now. If anybody's having problems let me know.

Righteous Kill

5 Second Review: Fair to middlin'.

30 Second Review: Two veteran detectives find themselves under the microscope when someone starts killing any of their offenders who are not convicted. Two young detectives come in and start accusing one of the Vets of being the killer. Bedlam ensues.

2 Minute Review: Across the board, all the actors in this movie turn in excellent performances. However, the bait-and-switch is obvious and the end was obvious long before it came. I did not see exactly how the resolution would occur and something happens toward the end which is meant to be shocking, but was more perplexing than anything else. A character acts inconsistently with that character's prior actions and throws an extra, unnecessarily distracting element into what could have been a far more psychologically interesting ending. If you like these actors or this kind of movie go see it - if not save your pennies for another flick.

Sep 12, 2008

What's That Mean?

I'm in the hall after a brief hearing in court. Defendant walks past me with his girlfriend and stops to ask me a question. I tell him twice that he shouldn't talk to to me and he needs to get a defense attorney to ask questions. He persists and I try a third time: "Look, I'm on the other side. Go talk to a defense attorney."

At which time, Girlfriend, who had walked on about 10 feet, whirls and says in a voice which could blister paint, "Don't talk to him!! You're paying for his kids' Christmas! We'll go talk to John Smith. His office is across the street."

Defendant looks embarrassed, tells me thanks, and turns, following Girlfriend out of the building.

As for me, I'm left standing there wondering how my (non-existent) kids are having their Christmas paid for by this guy.

Sep 11, 2008

Paying for the Vacation

Why? Why do I take a vacation? I know what the week after will be like and yet I still take the vacation. Oh well, who needs to get home before 8 p.m.?

Sep 10, 2008

Does This Make Me Poetry?

"Comes now the petitioner, Prose, and moves this court to . . ."

I feel like I ought to reply: "Comes now the respondent, Iambic Pentameter, and asks this court to . . . "

Sep 9, 2008

CLTV 39: Football Bryan Station and Centre College (and Field Hockey)

Sports as I watched them over the last weekend. I traveled to go watch my High School, Bryan Station, play and my college, Centre, play their first home football games. Then I tripped over a field hockey game on Sunday before I left.

And everyone loves trains.

Here it is large over at CLTV.

Sep 7, 2008

Rating Chrome

So, Google has put out a new browser: Chrome. I won't bother linking to it because if you've used Google in the last week you've had the link pushed at you. I've tried it and now I'm going to inflict my opinion on ya'll.

The Good

The browser is the fastest I've seen. Flash videos even seemed to load and run more quickly. One podcast I listen to even said it tests better than the upcoming version of Firefox. It's pulldown/right-click menus are better than Firefox's; they are laid out more along the lines of Opera's menus.

The Bad

It's a true Beta. I know that Google is infamous for abusing the Beta label, but this time they mean it. Weird things happened when I used cut and paste functions. At one point, I was happily opening a bunch of sites with videos and it rebooted my entire computer. Now, I had both Firefox and Opera chugging along in the background and I've not been able to reproduce it, but nothing else I was running had ever done that before.

The Ugly

Sometimes I think the fine people at Google take their obsession with simplicity too far. This browser is simple looking and simply ugly. Admittedly, I was mostly interested in seeing how fast it would run and testing basic functionality so I didn't look to see if there are alternative skins. Still, it looks like they went out of their way to make this look bad.

Conclusion

After a few bugs are worked out this is going to be the best browser out there. Of course, the others will raise their game as well so everyone will benefit (except maybe Explorer users - I'll believe Microsft can put out a good browser when I see one). For now, I'm sticking with Opera; my bookmarks are all set up with it and I've got everything tweaked the way I want it. It's not worth the hassle to switch to a browser which is still buggy and won't import my Opera bookmarks. However, you can bet money I'll be checking back on Chrome in a few months to see what it's like after the bugs are worked out.

Sep 5, 2008

On the Road Again . . .

Just thank goodness you can't actually hear me singing the song. I'm traveling for the next couple days, so don't expect much in the way of posts.

First, I'm going to go watch my High School play it's first home game tonight in Lexington. Sadly, the team hasn't done well in umpteen years, but last week it beat Dunbar handily so maybe they've turned the corner.




And then I'm off to watch my college's first home game Saturday. I've no clue how well they'll do this year. You see, the problem is that our players actually have to go to class and don't get scholarships.

See you all soon!

Tagged - Even on Vacation

So, I check to see who has linked here and I see that Gideon has tagged me.

The rules are simple: name 5 blogs I read and tag 5 blawgers. Note the subtle difference: 5 blogs, not blawgs.

Ok here goes:
BNN Virginia - Aggregator of Virginia Political Blogs
Japundit - Because Japanese do some of the most interesting things
Gruntled Centre - Very bright former Prof of mine from Centre College
Spill - Audio and video movie review blog
Blogging Heads - Political video blog

5 blawgers tagged: Ubjeckshin, Blonde Justice, Seeking Justice, HOWT, & Matlock

Sep 3, 2008

How You End Up With a Specialized Plate

So, you're at your local court clerk's office getting your license plate replaced. You see the picture of the special license plates up on the wall and it has your college on it; it's actually a fairly decent plate. Of course, there's a $25 charge for that specialized plate which you're not going to fork over.

The very nice lady who has been helping you fill out the paperwork (who is the local judge's wife) looks up and asks if you want any plate in particular. Showing some school pride, and figuring your school is 3 hours away and the nearest other alumnus is probably almost as far away, you say with a smile, "Not unless you've got a Centre plate." There's no way they'll have one of those laying around.

The Lady turns to a younger clerk, "Maggie, do we have a Centre plate?" Maggie hits the pile of plates next to her with Olympic speed and in 2.3 seconds - before you can quickly utter anything like "Don't worry about it" or "Just kidding" - she comes out of the pile with a Centre plate in hand. The clerks have been helpful, nice, and efficient. What do you do?

I bought the dang plate.

Sep 2, 2008

Courthouse - Letcher County Kentucky

Even when I don't have to go and work at a courthouse I end up at one. I had some business today at the Letcher County Courthouse in Whitesburg, Kentucky.

Here's the road leading up to the courthouse.



Here's the courthouse.



Here's the entrance.




Here's the Memorial to those from the county who have died defending their country. The white board you see behind the statue has a placard for each lost son of the county. At the top of the board is an eagle and "Those who share the peace honor those who preserved it."



And, of course, as there is in every small town with a courthouse - The Courthouse Cafe. Ate lunch there and it was pretty dang good. Cheeseburger, fries, pie, and ice tea all for about $9.00. The place was pretty classy. Wooden chairs and tables along with an honest to goodness wood floor - all used enough to look like they'd been there for 50 years and belonged there for the next 50 (classy old always trumps classy new). The topper was when I opened the menu and they had a selection of wines, beers (from Kentucky, who knew?), and some really nice bourbons. You gotta love Kentucky because people know their bourbons - it even had Blantons.

The Clock

The Clock was the first masked hero/crime-fighter to ever appear in a comic book. In those days he wore a three piece suit and the above is a somewhat reimagined, modern version. There are a number of sources who think he is an inspiration for The Spirit. Whenever the Clock solved a crime he left a calling card behind which said:

Sep 1, 2008

Blogging the Political

Dawgonit, yet another crimlaw blawg is falling into political mode. Well, there's only one real solution for this.

Aug 31, 2008

Ken Want

With the price of gas in the modern day, I've looked around at scooters/mopeds a little bit. An interesting thing out there is the 3 wheelers.

I pretty much fell in love with the Piaggio MP3 at first site.



The nearest quality competition is the Brudeli 625L. It's not as cool looking as the Piaggio, but it looks sturdier and the articles claim it has more power. Of course, it's $25,000 as opposed to the $8,000 ticket on the Piaggio.



However, it doesn't look like I'd be able to afford either one of them so the Bonzai looks like it might be closer to my price range ($2,000). I like the concept of this vehicle and it's supposed to be street legal. However, since I'm not a mechanic, it probably isn't a good choice.



Of course, there are any number of two wheel vehicles selling for about $700, but none are quite as interesting as the above. Honestly, I doubt that a scooter/moped would get me over the mountains on my way to work unless I buy one of the ones with a powerful engine and I don't think I'm going to find that on this side of $5,000. Oh well, I guess I'll stick with the Jeep.

Aug 30, 2008

Why is Facebook Trying to Marry Me Off?

Every time I get on Facebook it tries to set me up with someone.

Now, not to be too cynical about things, but girls who looked like that weren't too interested in me when I was young and in far better shape. I suspect they aren't going to be more interesting nowadays unless I win the lottery and become a multi-millionaire.

Saturday Funnies: the Accused

From Cartoonstock. There are more; I just grabbed the ones which most tickled my fancy.

Saturday Funnies: Defense Attorney

SF: Why Defense Attorneys Aren't Allowed to Argue for Jury Nullification

Saturday Funnies: Judge

Saturday Funnies: The Prosecutor

Aug 29, 2008

Animotoing

I've been playing around with Animoto. It's a site to which you upload pictures and it mixes them with music and effects. Here's an example using various logos I've used over the years:



The effects used are chosen by the web site and don't always turn out perfectly. However, it does allow you to remix using the same pictures if you are not satisfied. The above was the video I thought the best; below are two videos the were not quite as good, but show other effects which might manifest themselves.

Aug 27, 2008

Should Juries Be Able to Declare a Defendant Innocent?

In yesterday's CLTV, I proposed that juries be given three options: guilty, not guilty, and innocent. Scott doesn't cotton to this idea at all.

It shifts the burden of proof from the prosecution to the defendant, where a verdict of innocent would require that the defendant prove "actual innocence" while the prosecution tries to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. Ken's lightened the load a bit, suggesting that only 10 out of 12 jurors need agree on actual innocence. It's a kind thought, but still not enough.

And it suffers from yet another infirmity. It is quite possible that a wholly innocent defendant be placed into a position of appearing more likely guilty than not (the preponderance standard), when an eyewitness identifies the defendant as the perpetrator of a crime that he simply did not do. This is compelling evidence, even though it's of dubious value given the frequency of false identifications and the problems inherent in eyewitness testimony. But even when it may not be sufficient to meet the beyond a reasonable doubt standard, rarely would a jury reject it so completely as to conclude the defendant to be innocent.

First, let me say that I recognize my idea is not a perfect - it's just better than the system as currently laid out. Currently, even if the jury thinks the charges are the most bogus, unsubstantiated pile of malarky, all it can do is find someone not guilty. Ironically, in Virginia the only way get a finding of "innocent" is to be convicted, file for a writ of actual innocence, and have it granted. I suspect this is similar to other States, although most of them probably do this in habeas proceedings where the defendant can find himself right back in murky waters. Is a defendant innocent or just not guilty if his conviction is overturned because of ineffective assistance of counsel?

In any event, I accept that in some cases the jury will find someone not guilty when he is actually innocent - just like juries now wrongly find some people not guilty or guilty. As long as we human beings are involved the system will never be perfect. However, that does not relieve of of the obligation to try to make it better.

And this system would be better. I suspect that the number of people found innocent rather than not guilty would be a small percentage. I could be wrong in this. Faced with legal mumbo-jumbo about whether someone is merely not guilty or innocent jurors may default to innocent (thus making Scott a happy man). Either way, a number of people who are now being found not guilty would find themselves completely cleared of the charge.

As to the burden of proof, I disagree with Scott. There is no burden shifting under the system as I envision it. I envision what we call around here a "waterfall instruction." It would go something like this:

If you find that the prosecution has not proven its case beyond a reasonable doubt you must then decide whether the prosecution has proven its case by a preponderance of the evidence. If 10 jurors agree that the prosecution has failed to prove its case by a preponderance of the evidence you shall find the defendant innocent. Otherwise, you shall find the defendant not guilty.

That puts no burden whatsoever on the defendant to prove anything. In fact, in most cases it would just add ammo to the defense attorney's arguments: "Not only do they have to prove Mr. Smith "not innocent", which the prosecution has failed to do, they must climb even higher and reach beyond a reasonable doubt. Since they've failed to prove him "not innocent" they've failed abysmally in their attempt to reach that hallowed level of proof."

It'd be a pain in the posterior region. However, sometimes such a pain is acceptable if it makes the system more just.

Aug 26, 2008

CLTV 38: Levels of Proof & Presumptions

Why presumption of innocence is a poor concept, levels of proof, and allowing jurors to decide innocence.

Larger CLTV version here.

Aug 25, 2008

Never Wanted to be a LawProf so Much . . .

How much does it pay?

"Salaries for full professors vary widely and remain undisclosed by most private schools. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the mean annual salary in 2006 for law teachers was $94,290. The median associate law professor salary, according to www.Salary.com, is $101,558. Salaries for full professors at the most elite law schools can range from $250,000 to $300,000 annually."

Just in case anybody out there an "elite" law school is wondering: Yes, I can be enticed away from my current job. Heck, I'll even give you a little bit of a discount and agree to come in for only 200,000.

Giving Officers Contradictary Duties

Previously on CrimLaw:

2) Should the Denver Chief of Police be fired for enforcing the laws he's sworn to enforce?
-----
Comment:
well that Denver comment is certainly pure sound-byte spin. are you saying the citizens of a city should have no say in the order of priorities for law enforcement?

Okay, here's the oath a Denver police officer takes:

I do solemnly swear by the ever-loving God that I will support the Laws and Constitution of the United States and of the State of Colorado, and the Charter and Ordinances of the City and County of Denver; and that I will faithfully perform the duties of the office of Police Officer of the City and County of Denver, to which I have been appointed.

And here's the State's statute making marihuana illegal:

18-18-406. Offenses relating to marihuana and marihuana concentrate.

(1) Any person who possesses not more than one ounce of marihuana commits a class 2 petty offense and, upon conviction thereof, shall be punished by a fine of not more than one hundred dollars.

(2) Whenever a person is arrested or detained for a violation of subsection (1) of this section, the arresting or detaining officer shall prepare a written notice or summons for such person to appear in court. The written notice or summons shall contain the name and address of such arrested or detained person, the date, time, and place where such person shall appear, and a place for the signature of such person indicating the person's written promise to appear on the date and at the time and place indicated on the notice or summons. One copy of said notice or summons shall be given to the person arrested or detained, one copy shall be sent to the court where the arrested or detained person is to appear, and such other copies as may be required by the law enforcement agency employing the arresting or detaining officer shall be sent to the places designated by such law enforcement agency. The date specified in the notice or summons to appear shall be at least five days after such arrest or detention unless the person arrested or detained demands an earlier hearing. The place specified in the notice or summons to appear shall be before a judge having jurisdiction of such class 2 petty offense within the county in which the class 2 petty offense charged is alleged to have been committed. The arrested or detained person, in order to secure release from arrest or detention, shall promise in writing to appear in court by signing the notice or summons prepared by the arresting or detaining officer. Any person who does not honor such written promise to appear commits a class 3 misdemeanor.

(3) (a) (I) Any person who openly and publicly displays, consumes, or uses not more than one ounce of marihuana commits a class 2 petty offense and, upon conviction thereof, shall be punished, at a minimum, by a fine of not less than one hundred dollars or, at a maximum, by a fine of not more than one hundred dollars and, notwithstanding the provisions of section 18-1.3-503, by fifteen days in the county jail.

(II) Open and public display, consumption, or use of more than one ounce of marihuana or any amount of marihuana concentrate shall be deemed possession thereof, and violations shall be punished as provided for in subsection (4) of this section.

(b) Except as is otherwise provided for in paragraph (a) of this subsection (3), consumption or use of marihuana or marihuana concentrate shall be deemed possession thereof, and violations shall be punished as provided for in subsections (1), (2), and (4) of this section.

(4) (a) Any person who possesses more than one ounce of marihuana but less than eight ounces of marihuana commits:

(I) A class 1 misdemeanor; or

(II) A class 5 felony, if the violation is committed subsequent to a prior conviction in this or any other state, the United States, or any territory subject to the jurisdiction of the United States of a violation to which this subsection (4) applies or would apply if convicted in this state.

(b) Any person who possesses eight ounces or more of marihuana or any amount of marihuana concentrate commits:

(I) A class 5 felony; or

(II) A class 4 felony, if the violation is committed subsequent to a prior conviction in this or any other state, the United States, or any territory subject to the jurisdiction of the United States of a violation to which this subsection (4) applies or would apply if convicted in this state.

(5) Transferring or dispensing not more than one ounce of marihuana from one person to another for no consideration shall be deemed possession and not dispensing or sale thereof.

(6) The court may utilize treatment, probation, and deferred prosecution or deferred sentencing for any person who violates subsection (4) of this section.

(7) (a) Any provision of this article to the contrary notwithstanding, any person eighteen years of age or older who transfers or dispenses more than one ounce of marihuana for consideration to any person under eighteen years of age but at least fifteen years of age or any amount of marihuana concentrate, with or without consideration, to another person under eighteen years of age commits a class 4 felony and, in addition to the punishment prescribed in section 18-1.3-401, shall be punished by a fine of not more than five thousand dollars. For offenses committed on or after July 1, 1985, the fine shall be in an amount within the presumptive range set out in section 18-1.3-401 (1) (a) (III).

(b) Any person eighteen years of age or older who transfers or dispenses any amount of marihuana, with or without consideration, to any person under the age of fifteen years commits a class 4 felony and, in addition to the punishment provided in section 18-1.3-401, shall be punished by a fine of not more than five thousand dollars. For offenses committed on or after July 1, 1985, the fine shall be in an amount within the presumptive range set out in section 18-1.3-401 (1) (a) (III).

(c) Any person commits a class 3 felony, if the violation is committed subsequent to a prior conviction in this or any other state, the United States, or any territory subject to the jurisdiction of the United States of a violation to which this subsection (7) applies or would apply if convicted in this state, and, in addition to the punishment provided in section 18-1.3-401, the court shall sentence the defendant to the department of corrections for at least the minimum term in the presumptive range. For offenses committed on or after July 1, 1985, the fine shall be in an amount within the presumptive range set out in section 18-1.3-401 (1) (a) (III).

(8) (a) (I) No person knowingly shall cultivate, grow, produce, process, or manufacture any marihuana or marihuana concentrate or knowingly allow to be cultivated, grown, produced, processed, or manufactured on land owned, occupied, or controlled by him any marihuana or marihuana concentrate except as authorized pursuant to part 3 of article 22 of title 12, C.R.S.

(II) Any person who violates the provisions of subparagraph (I) of this paragraph (a) commits:

(A) A class 4 felony; or

(B) A class 3 felony, if the violation is committed subsequent to a prior conviction in this or any other state, the United States, or any territory subject to the jurisdiction of the United States of a violation to which this subsection (8) applies or would apply if convicted in this state.

(b) (I) Except as is otherwise provided in subsection (7) of this section and except as authorized by part 3 of article 22 of title 12, C.R.S., or by part 2 or 3 of this article, it is unlawful for any person knowingly to manufacture, dispense, sell, distribute, or possess with intent to manufacture, dispense, sell, or distribute marihuana or marihuana concentrate; or attempt, induce, attempt to induce, or conspire with one or more other persons, to manufacture, dispense, sell, distribute, or possess with intent to manufacture, dispense, sell, or distribute marihuana or marihuana concentrate.

(II) As used in subparagraph (I) of this paragraph (b), "dispense" does not include labeling, as defined in section 12-22-102 (16), C.R.S.

(III) Any person who violates any of the provisions of subparagraph (I) of this paragraph (b) commits:

(A) A class 4 felony; or

(B) A class 3 felony, if the violation is committed subsequent to any prior conviction in this or any other state, the United States, or any territory subject to the jurisdiction of the United States of a violation to which this subsection (8) applies or would apply if convicted in this state.

(9) (Deleted by amendment, L. 2003, p. 1428, § 12, effective April 29, 2003.)

(10) The provisions of this section shall not apply to any person who possesses, uses, prescribes, dispenses, or administers any drug classified under group C guidelines of the national cancer institute, as amended, approved by the federal food and drug administration.

(11) The provisions of this section shall not apply to any person who possesses, uses, prescribes, dispenses, or administers dronabinol (synthetic) in sesame oil and encapsulated in a soft gelatin capsule in a federal food and drug administration approved drug product, pursuant to part 3 of article 22 of title 12, C.R.S.

(12) In addition to any other penalty imposed by this section, upon each conviction, entry of plea of guilty or nolo contendere, or receipt of a deferred sentence for a nonfelony violation of this section or adjudication as a delinquent for an act that would constitute a nonfelony violation of this section if committed by an adult, any driver's permit or minor driver's license held by the offender shall be suspended as provided in section 42-2-127.3, C.R.S.

Good gracious, that is a huge statute; Virginia's anti-marijuana statute is all of a single paragraph.

Anyway, you have officers which swear an oath to federal, State and local laws. In case there's any confusion here, federal trumps State and State trumps local. Even if Colorado has walked away from the Dillon Rule (IDK), the fact that the State has set out a law makes that the law of the entire State. It does not matter if

"[i]n Denver, voters . . . voted to legalize personal possession of marijuana" and "voted in majority numbers for a failed statewide legalization initiative."

The law of the State remains the law of the entire State and the responsibility of police to enforce.

Now, as to this:

"[Denver voters] voted to make marijuana enforcement police's lowest priority."

Really? Do you think that police are salivating at the mere thought of enforcing simple possession of marijuana violations? Most every marijuana possession I've seen comes out of something else. These "lower enforcement" ordinances probably aren't legal and whether they are or not, they are basically just propaganda.

When is a Rockefeller Not a Rockefeller?

When he's Christian Karl Gerhartsreiter, a German who tried to kidnap his daughter.

No Dissent for You

The problem with refusing to let a Supreme Court Justice publish his dissent is that there are plenty of other places to publish it and it gets more attention than it ever would have.

BritGov Loses Prisoner Info

for 130,000 prisoners.

The Virtual Boyfriend Plot

If you plan to kidnap your virtual boyfriend you probably shouldn't leave your real dog behind.