Recent Articles

Theft in Texas: One Pet = Nine Cows = Ninety Nine Goats

Jamie Spencer
January 07, 2009 07:21

The Texas Penal Code has a “value ladder” for theft. Get yourself accused of stealing: Less than $50   = Class C Misdemeanor – max $500 fine $50 < $500         = Class B Misdemeanor – max 6 months in jail $500 <...

By the Time Sanjay Gupta Was My Age...

Jamie Spencer
January 07, 2009 03:40

…he was being considered for Surgeon General. (With my hearty apologies to the better line: “By the time Mozart was my age… he was dead.”) Right wing nut jobs (see the above link) are going ballistic over the travesty of appointing a neurosurgeon with a healthy...

Police Worry That Marijuana Decriminalization May Reduce Number of Arrests

Jamie Spencer
January 06, 2009 19:56

No kidding. Last November Massachusetts’s voters approved a ballot initiative which reduced the penalty for possession of less than one ounce of marijuana from a possible maximum of six months in jail and a permanent blotch on your criminal history to a maximum of a $100 civil penalty, no...

Directing Your Free Speech Towards the Police

Jamie Spencer
January 05, 2009 21:53

From the recitation of facts in the Supreme Court of South Dakota’s recent decision reversing a defendant’s disorderly conduct conviction on the grounds of free speech: [A]t approximately 2:00 a.m. in Brookings, South Dakota, the bars on Brookings’ Main Avenue had just closed, and...

The "Law Offices" Of...

Jamie Spencer
December 30, 2008 14:53

Why do so many criminal defense lawyers, who are solo practitioners mostly, insist on getting a DBA or incorporating as “The Law Offices of [John Smith]” plural? Instead of “The Law Office of [John Smith]” singular? Actually it’s not just those in the criminal...

On Writing Well

Jamie Spencer
December 08, 2008 16:31

A few months ago, before the election, a judge and I were talking about the presidential candidates (a discussion made easier by our complete and total agreement on our preference) and I asked her whether she had read Obama’s memoir “Dreams From My Father”. She...

Insulting Turkishness

Jamie Spencer
December 04, 2008 09:05

Jeffrey Rosen’s article “Google’s Gatekeepers” in Sunday’s New York Times Magazine is an interesting read. Seems that Google has to employ a gaggle of YouTube censors to make sure it complies with laws in every jurisdiction it reaches. Laws that have not only...

Andy Rooney Asks a Law School Exam Question

Jamie Spencer
December 01, 2008 09:23

Given the state of the economy, it’s no surprise that everyone’s favorite curmudgeon Andy Rooney chose to speak about “thriftiness” last night. To be more like Andy you can: Make your own coffee at work, and save $1.50 Ride the bus to the Giants home games...

Sending Brave Women (and Children?) to War

Jamie Spencer
December 01, 2008 09:15

Private Monica Brown became the second woman awarded the Silver Star since WWII for helping rescue several fellow soldiers from a burning vehicle with bullets racing by and mortars exploding all around her. Tonight 60 Minutes ran a story about her and women “on the front lines” in...

So Your Son Was Convicted... What Next?

Jamie Spencer
December 01, 2008 09:10

Mom certainly gets points for going the extra mile…