Criminal Law and Policy News and Events for the University of Arizona Community

Border Agent Sues Homeland Security for Illegal Search of his Home

Story Here.

Commentary on "Sexting"

CNN Article here

PrawfsBlawg post here

Australian Court approves serving legal documents via Facebook

Tracking down ne'er-do-wells via their blurry vacation photos.

http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20081216-facebook-profile-used-to-serve-legal-docs-in-australian-case.html

The court's MySpace account official webpage:  http://www.courts.act.gov.au/supreme/

-- Don

We don't mean to brag, but . . . . 100% pass rate!

Now that the results are in from several far flung states, it appears that the inaugural class of Criminal Law and Policy Certificate Program Students had a 100% bar passage rate.  Warmest congratulations, Alexis, Rana, Karen, Jennifer, Greg, Clay, Fred, Jeff and Virginia!  Of course we are not surprised.

1Ls and 2Ls, it is not too late to sign up. . . . .  

AG Mukasey Names Special Prosecutor to Investiagte USA Firings; Gonzales & McNulty Focus of Investigation

NYT reports that Att'y. Gen'l. Mukasey has appointed Acting USA Nora Dannehy (Conn.) special prosecutor to investigate the Dec. 7, 2006, USA firings.  Mukasey's announcement coincides with the release of a massive report (usdoj.gov) authored by DoJ Inspector Gen'l. Glenn Fine and DoJ Office of Professional Responsibility counsel Marshall Jarrett.  From the article:  "The [356]-page report released on Monday was blistering in its assessment.  'The report makes plain that, at a minimum, the process by which nine U.S. attorneys were removed in 2006 was haphazard, arbitrary and unprofessional, and the way in which the Justice Department handled those removals and the resulting public controversy was profoundly lacking,' Mr. Mukasey said in a statement. The report called for further investigation to determine whether prosecutable offenses were committed either in the firings or in subsequent testimony about them."  Disturbing are the timeline charts in the report's indices which track the evolution of the "remove list," a list containing the names of dedicated, professional USA's who were to be unceremoniously booted from the offices they so dutifully served. [Note:  The above quote was from the Times' initial article which has been edited.  As such, the portion I quoted is no longer in the article -- nor is mention of Deptuty AG Paul McNulty.]

Presidential Candidates' Platforms on Criminal Justice

Here.

Arizona Attorney General's Clinic

Here's a U of A News Item on the Arizona Attorney General's Clinic and our recent jury trial.

Loan Forgiveness for Prosecutors and Defenders?

One of the great scandals of our criminal justice system is the financial sacrifice imposed on many prosecutors and defenders.   (When I was a public defender in NYC, for example, I lived at home.)  A bill in Congress would make it possible at least for these public servants to pay their loans.  Here's a letter from the ABA describing the situation.  Jack Chin, thanks to Amanda Bynum for the tip.

***

Dear Law Student Division Members:

As Congress enters its August recess, the ABA Law Student Division is excited to update you on recent developments on Capitol Hill. In the 110th Congress, the ABA championed three avenues for student loan repayment assistance, two of which have been approved in some form in both the House and Senate. The third has been cleared by the Senate and the ABA is working to ensure its passage in the House.

On April 18th and 19th, the Law Student Division met with over 40 congressional offices for ABA Day. ABA Day is the time each year where the ABA heads to Washington to meet with lawmakers to discuss issues that impact the legal community, the state of the profession and the Rule of Law. While ABA Day was a success for the Law Student Division, our work is not complete.

Below are brief summaries of the legislation and how you can help.

The College Cost Reduction Act of 2007

One program under the College Cost Reduction Act of 2007, H.R. 2669, will allow public interest lawyers, along with similarly critical community services providers, to enter all qualifying loans into "Income-Contingent" or "Income-Based" repayment, and be obligated to repay just 15%-20% of their take-home pay each month, regardless of the size of their loans. Any balance remaining on these loans at the end of 10 years of service and timely payments is repaid, in full, by the government.

The definition of public interest already includes government, including prosecution and public defense, and the ABA is working to ensure that legal aid, and other attorneys working for non-profit organizations, will be included, as well.

H.R. 2669 has been approved in both the House and Senate and awaits conference committee reconciliation of the differences between the two versions.

The John R. Justice Prosecutor and Defender Incentive Act of 2007

The John R. Justice Act would provide state and local prosecutors, as well as federal state and local public defenders, up to $10,000 a year in exchange for a three-year commitment. That commitment can be renewed once, for a maximum benefit of $60,000.

The House version, H.R. 916, was submitted by Rep. Scott (D-GA) and approved by the House 341-73 in May. The Senate version, S.442, passed the Senate Committee on the Judiciary in April, but was held from a floor vote. Sen. Durbin (D-IL) included the program in an amendment (S.1642) to the Senate Higher Education reauthorization bill without objection, which went on to a unanimous vote, 95-0.

Civil Legal Assistance Attorney Loan Repayment Act

In July, Sen. Harkin (D-IA) and Sen. Cardin (D-MD) submitted S.1167 to create a loan repayment assistance program for legal aid lawyers. Under this program, legal aid lawyers would receive up to $6,000 each year for three years with an option to renew that commitment to a maximum benefit of $40,000. The ABA is working with House lawmakers to support passage of similar legislation in the House.

In the fall, members of the House and Senate will meet to decide on final language for all of the above legislation. Your voice is needed to make sure this legislation is signed into law. We need you to make your voice heard by calling, emailing or writing a letter to your member of Congress and telling them your story and how this legislation impacts your career choices. You can find out who represents your law school by visiting: http://www.abanet.org/lsd/legislation/feb2007/crls.pdf

If you would like to learn more about the Law Student Division's Advocacy Program, please visit the Division Delegates Legislative Webpage http://www.abanet.org/lsd/legislation/.

We wish to acknowledge and thank the 2006-07 ABA Law Student Division Delegates for their dedication and commitment in advocating on behalf of our nation's law students for loan repayment assistance this past year:

   

*    Chris Casey - Roger Williams University School of Law
*    Sam Jammal - The George Washington University School of Law
*    Alyssa McCorkle - Thomas Jefferson School of Law

We also wish to congratulate the newly elected 2007-08 Division Delegates who will carry the torch on our legislative advocacy efforts for the coming year.

   

*    Marc Baranov - Southwestern University School of Law
*    Ashley Ligas - Florida State University College of Law
*    Chris Sprowls - Stetson University College of Law

Please also encourage your fellow law students to help make our voice stronger on these matters by joining the 51,000+ members of the ABA Law Student Division. Enroll online at http://www.abanet.org/lawstudent/pm/enrollment.shtml

Thank you for your attention to this important issue and if you have any questions, please feel free to contact us at [email protected].

Daniel Suvor
Chair - 2007-08
ABA Law Student Division
The George Washington University Law School

Michael DePetrillo
Immediate Past Chair - 2006-07
ABA Law Student Division
Tulane University Law School

Downtown Cameras

This page has a bunch of webcams covering downtown Tucson.  Some of them are controllable; including this one that shows Presido Park and the Justice Court from City Hall. 

Congratulations to Us: Top 30 Criminal Law Program

Prelaw Magazine, published by the National Jurist, listed the U of A as one of the top 30 places to study criminal law. (Vol. 11, Issue 1, at 45).  The same issue listed the College of Law as a whole as one of the 25 best value schools. (Page 25). The issue is not on line evidently, but it appears it will eventually be here.