Tag Archives: courts

Convictions test convictions (2)

The sentences for the January 6 insurrectionists are getting far more harsh. Partly, it’s because the first sentences reflected plea bargains, and then prosecutors worked up to the trials of the worst offenders–and they’re not done yet. Stewart Rhodes, founder … Continue reading

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Convictions test convictions: Oath Keepers, Proud Boys, and the Republican Party (1)

Seditious conspiracy is a heavy criminal charge in the United States, hard to prove, rarely used, and harshly punished. But this week a jury convicted four members of the Proud Boys–a far right group–of the charge, along with a range … Continue reading

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How punishment works

Jenna Ryan, who joined the Capitol insurrection on January 6, is putting a an upbeat spin on serving 60 days in federal prison for trespass. She’s announced on TikTok that she plans to exercise, do a lot of yoga, eat … Continue reading

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Rittenhouse and more: verdicts versus signals

Courts decide cases, not causes. On the surface, the acquittal of Kyle Rittenhouse in Kenosha was only about a kid with an assault weapon who killed two men and maimed another. The jury, considering two weeks of testimony, videotapes, lawyers’ … Continue reading

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What a guilty verdict can’t do

Almost everyone exhaled. A jury convicted the former police officer who murdered George Floyd, and everyone in the United States must have been tuned in. It was an extremely unusual verdict; criminal prosecution of police violence against Black men is … Continue reading

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Cases, Causes, and the next wave of Black Lives Matter

Judge Peter A. Cahill, presiding in Derrick Chauvin’s murder trial, denied a defense motion to sequester the jury. Chauvin, working as a Minneapolis police officer, strangled George Floyd to death last year. His defense wants to keep the rest of … Continue reading

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March for Our Lives (rightly!) claims credit for NY’s lawsuit against NRA

Political activists don’t get credit unless they claim it. Minutes after New York Attorney General Letitia James announced that she was filing a lawsuit calling for the National Rifle Association to be disbanded, March for Our Lives sent out an … Continue reading

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Police, provocation, and protest

Bad policing poked an old open wound in American life, one that had suffered continual poking and scratching over the past few weeks, months, years, and turned thousands of people out into the streets in protest. Bad policing of the … Continue reading

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Are the Open-Up protests winning? What does winning mean? COVID-19

Dramatic, often confrontational, protests by small groups to “open up” seem to be working. The protests certainly haven’t enjoyed the support of most Americans. A substantial majority of Americans oppose a quick lifting of restrictions on public life and are … Continue reading

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Opportunistic Advocacy (1/x); COVID-19 (4/x)

Effective advocates don’t want to waste a crisis. They try to photobomb into public attention to advance their concerns. Sometimes, it’s a clear fit–in direct response to the challenges of the moment; sometimes, they fly a long favored reform or … Continue reading

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