Koan of the Week

A monk was asked to discard everything.
"But I have nothing!" he exclaimed.
"Discard that, too," ordered his master.

Why All Prosecutors are Bad Lawyers

The easiest way to be a bad lawyer is to believe in what you do. For prosecutors, it's a job requirement.

Fame at Last

Apparently the "premiere criminal law review in the Western United States" plans to publish some of my thoughts on the California appellate courts' befuddlement with street gang laws
in the upcoming Fall 2006 issue (which actually comes out in February 2007).

(The link is to an early draft which makes no mention of the recent case of People v. Hill. The final version will be more up to date and no doubt will be improved immensely thanks to the editing skills of smart Berkeley kids such as those seen here with fictitious Boalt Hall alumni, Sandy Cohen.)

Spot the Difference

India's Criminal Tribes Act of 1871

• Enacted by a largely white government in response to widespread fear of marauding ethnic gangs
• Allowed for certain groups formed among ethnic minorities to be designated “criminal tribes, gangs, or classes,” based on the opinions of local government officials
• Facilitated surveillance of members of those groups and compelled members of those groups to be fingerprinted and documented by law enforcement
• Authorized harsher penalties for members of “criminal tribes, gangs, or classes,” compared to non-members committing the same offenses
• Condemned by Nehru as “out of consonance with all civilized principles of criminal justice” and repealed soon after India gained independence from Britain

California's Street Terrorism Enforcement and Prevention Act (STEP Act) of 1988

• Enacted by a largely white government in response to widespread fear of marauding ethnic gangs
• Allowed for certain groups formed among ethnic minorities to be designated “criminal street gangs,” based on the opinions of local peace officers
• Facilitated surveillance of members of those groups and compelled members of those groups to be fingerprinted and documented by law enforcement
• Authorized harsher penalties for members of “criminal street gangs,” compared to non-members committing the same offenses
• Still in use throughout California

Conundrum

Robert meets all the elements of criminal street gang participation in violation of Penal Code 186.22(a), except for one---the commission of a felony.

One night, Robert is caught carrying a loaded firearm on his way to the store.

Carrying a loaded firearm in public is a misdemeanor . . . unless the person carrying the firearm is a criminal street gang participant, in which case the crime would be elevated to a felony.

What crime or crimes is Robert guilty of?

a) Criminal street gang participation
b) Carrying a loaded firearm in public, a misdemeanor
c) Criminal street gang participant carrying a loaded firearm in public, a felony
d) a and c
e) None of the above

(Answer at 141 Cal.App.4th 604.)