By Robert J. Hansen Woodland, CA – Cynthia Rodriguez, challenger for Yolo County District Attorney, has been getting criticized for her policy approach or for being soft on crime in the last couple of weeks or so. Columnist with the Winters Express, Richard Casavecchia, recently wrote that candidate for Yolo […]
Criminal Law
Executive Order on Advancing Effective, Accountable Policing and Criminal Justice Practices to Enhance Public Trust and Public Safety
By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, I hereby order as follows: Section 1. Policy. Our criminal justice system must respect the dignity and rights of all persons and adhere to our fundamental obligation to ensure fair and […]
Deadly Consequences of Not Prosecuting Misdemeanors: Why “Data and Science” Don’t Say What Rogue Prosecutors Claim
Did you know that crime goes down when you don’t prosecute criminals for breaking the law? Yep, that’s the whopper the rogue prosecutor movement and its divorced-from-reality cheerleaders want everyone to believe. And to double down on this claptrap, they claim that “data” and “science” back up this upside-down logic. […]
Joint Statement on Place of Safety – World
Attachments “The concept of place of safety under international law and the respect of the rights of migrants and refugees rescued at sea by all States” May 2022 *The below statement was jointly issued by a group of UN entities to call on States to adopt measures ensuring that refugees […]
Uyghur county in China has highest prison rate in the world | Taiwan News
BEIJING (AP) — Nearly one in 25 people in a county in the Uyghur heartland of China has been sentenced to prison on terrorism-related charges, in what is the highest known imprisonment rate in the world, an Associated Press review of leaked data shows. A list obtained and partially verified […]
Committee on criminal law reforms recommended amendments to sedition law
Either completely withdraw the law or amend the particular section, says official Either completely withdraw the law or amend the particular section, says official A panel of experts constituted by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) to suggest reforms to the British-era Indian Penal Code (IPC) has recommended amendments to […]
Noida man held for ‘digital rape’ of minor for 7 years. What is digital rape?
An 81-year-old sketch artist has been arrested in Uttar Pradesh’s Noida for the alleged ‘digital rape’ of a 17 year-old girl over a period of more than seven years. But what is digital rape? While the term evokes ideas of the newly developing metaverse, it actually refers to the physical […]
Canada’s top court says voluntary extreme intoxication a defence in violent crimes
The Supreme Court of Canada issued a major decision on Friday allowing criminal defendants in cases involving assault — including sexual assault — to use a defence known as self-induced extreme intoxication. Effectively, it means defendants who voluntarily consume intoxicating substances and then assault or interfere with the bodily integrity […]
Opinion | An Update of Rape Laws Would Be a Step Back on Consent
A major effort to update the model criminal code on rape may actually undermine new understandings of consent advanced by the #MeToo movement. Silence or a lack of resistance, as we have now learned, does not signal consent. Yet the proposed code — a blueprint for states in updating their […]
Native and Tribal News Updates in Litigation, Legislation
Welcome to Van Ness Feldman’s Native Affairs newsletter. The newsletter serves as a forum to discuss a range of legal and policy developments of interest to our clients, colleagues, and friends across Indian Country. Please contact our attorneys or public policy professionals with any questions, and please send us your […]