Professors O’Hear and Wheelock surveyed over 800 registered voters in Wisconsin about their attitudes toward punishment, rehabilitation and reform. See how public attitudes toward sentencing vary by race, gender and political party affiliation here.
Here’s an interesting new study on the consequences of courts imposing prison sentences that are much longer than a person’s natural lifespan.
Recent SCOWstats posts compared SCOW’s performance with the supreme courts of Minnesota and Iowa. This post extends the analysis to Michigan and Illinois. Find out where Wisconsin ranks when measured by productivity, opinion length, and polarization here.
Which are better: Involuntary Civil Commitment Courts or Mental Health Courts? This new article by New York University Law Professor Professor Michael Perlin compares and contrasts the two.
This one is for the appellate nerds out there. One way SCOTUS clears its docket is via Grant/Vacate/Remand orders. Empirical SCOTUS, a blog that crunches numbers on our highest court, has just examined which decisions precipitated large numbers of GVRs. If you’ve been following Johnson v. U.S., you definitely want to click here.
Seriously. Click here for the ABA’s resolution, which is aimed at celebrating the many positive contributions lawyers make to society, and click here for more on what’s in store for you today!
State v. Steven J. Schaefer, 2015AP2555-CR, District 3, 11/1/16 (one-judge decision; ineligible for publication); case activity (including briefs)
Schaefer challenged evidence seized after he was arrested outside his home. He argued the arresting officer entered the curtilage of his home without a warrant. The court of appeals holds the area was not curtilage under the four-factor test established by United States v. Dunn, 480 U.S. 294 (1987). [continue reading…]
State v. Curtis D. Christianson, 2015AP24400-CR, District 3, 11/1/16 (one-judge decision; ineligible for publication); case activity (including briefs)
An officer observed Christianson deviate from his lane of traffic “numerous” times by going over the center line and fog line; some of the deviations occurred while he was driving through a construction zone that had orange barrels blocking access to the left lane. (¶¶3-5). Those observations gave the officer probable cause to stop Christianson for a traffic law violation. [continue reading…]
