by georgeroland | May 3, 2014 | Uncategorized
Without a doubt, the greatest drama ever to be aired on HBO was The Wire, which ran from 2002-2008. For those unfamiliar with the show, each season took a look at a different player or character in the Baltimore drug trade. Early on in the show, the...
by georgeroland | Apr 27, 2014 | Uncategorized
One of the great things about jury trials is that the public—the citizens of a county—get to decide what conduct they believe is deserving of punishment. Towards this, there is a concept called “jury nullification” wherein the jury may believe the Defendant is...
by georgeroland | Apr 24, 2014 | Uncategorized
There is, recounted in Slavoj Zizek’s excellent 2008 book, Violence, a story of the food riots in Brazil, wherein the lower classes who lived in the favelas (slums, basically) of Brazil began to terrorize the middle class during a food shortage. Commentators...
by georgeroland | Apr 17, 2014 | Uncategorized
It is not uncommon at a motion to suppress hearing based on an unlawful seizure of a citizen to hear the police officer state that he or she “was just checking on the [defendant.]” That is, the officer will suggest, that they stopped the defendant—not...
by georgeroland | Apr 10, 2014 | Uncategorized
While less a problem in rural areas, the on-street encounter with police is prevalent in urban areas. Consider the following: you are out on Fry Street talking to a friend of yours on the curb in front of [insert your favorite Fry Street bar]. A police officer...
by georgeroland | Apr 9, 2014 | Uncategorized
I have been reading an excellent book by David J. Hand, The Impossibility Principle: why coincidences, miracles, and rare events happen every day, (2014), that discusses the mathematical framework of concepts that we commonly hold to be “miraculous” or “extraordinary”...