Author Archive | Thea Johnson

No new criminal decisions out of the Second Circuit today. But there was one interesting argument that focused on prosecutorial overreach.

The Second Circuit heard argument today in the case of former Connecticut governor, John Rowland, who was sentenced last year to 30 months for trying to conceal his role as a paid consultant in two separate congressional campaigns in Connecticut. It was his second conviction in a decade relating to corruption. Today before the panel (Chin, Winter and Carney), his lawyer accused the government of arguing for an “unprecedented expansion” of a financial accountability law to criminalize legal consulting work that Rowland undertook during the 2012 campaign season. Rowland’s lawyer, Andrew Fish, (embed: http://www.lockelord.com/professionals/f/fish-andrew-l) a former S.D.N.Y federal prosecutor, made prosecutorial over-zealousness a centerpiece of his brief and argument in the case. Read more about the case here: http://www.courant.com/politics/hc-gov-john-rowland-appeal-0316-20160318-story.html.

-Thea Johnson…

No criminal decisions out of the Second Circuit today, although the court did hear arguments today in the infamous “deflate-gate case” and did not seem receptive to the arguments made by the N.F.L. Player’s Union.

Two interesting local criminal justice stories today: First, a look at the plan to stop arresting people in Manhattan for minor offenses , such as public drinking or taking up two seats on the subway, that was unveiled this week by Mayor DeBlasio, Police Commissioner Bratton, and Manhattan DA Cyrus Vance. Vance predicts that the plan will reduce the number of low-level cases coming through the court each year by as many as 10,000.  Second, New York City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito’s Bail Fund, which would provide bail to indigent defendants charged with low-level crimes, has been approved as a not-for-profit charity by the state attorney general’s office. The fund is …