HARD CASES MAKE BAD LAW – Efficiency has become the primary consideration in criminal trials. Severe restrictions on preliminary inquiries and the elimination of peremptory challenges to jury selection won’t really speed anything up and are likely to have the opposite effect through years of appeals, re-trials, and wrongful convictions.

There’s a new challenge for Canadian criminal lawyers conducting jury trials, now that they can’t “challenge.”

Source: Changes to jury selection praised and panned by lawyers

Orlando Cop Arrested 2 Grade-Schoolers in One Day – “Florida is one of 13 states that have no minimum age for the adult prosecution of children, according to the Equal Justice Initiative. Orange County, where Orlando is based, even arrested a 4-year-old in 2010.”

Both arrests may have violated the police department’s policy of getting a supervisor’s approval before arresting anyone under 12.

Source: Orlando Cop Arrested 2 Grade-Schoolers in One Day, and People Want Answers

CANNABIS CONVICTION PARDONS ARE GOOD BUT NOT ENOUGH – “The creation of a mechanism for expungement, both retroactively and forward-looking, is a step in the right direction in finally ending the heavy-handed war on drugs.”

After a month of accepting pardon applications the Canadian federal government has approved 44 out of the 71 applicants of their cannabis convictions. Canada was the second country to fully legalise cannabis for both medical and recreational purposes last year. However, the country still faces a multitude of legal barriers that have hindered consumers and businesses, […]

Source: Canadian federal government pardons previous cannabis convictions