By Ross Parker ticklethewire.com The DEA announced recently a re-examination of the Schedule I classification of marijuana. This most restrictive classification is reserved for substances which have no accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse. Marijuana’s classification in the federal system is anomalous considering that 23 states have legalized it for medical purposes….
By Gregory Stejskal There is an apocryphal story – Ernest Hemingway was having lunch with some writer friends when he proposed a wager. He bet $10 that he could write a story in six words. With no doubt some curiosity, everyone at the table put $10 in the pot. Hemingway wrote on a napkin, “For…
By Ross Parker ticklethewire.com When counsel approach the lectern in the Supreme Court for oral argument during the rest of the term, instead of facing the blistering questions of the Court’s most aggressive inquisitor, they will instead see an empty chair among the nine on the bench, draped with a black sash. One of the…
By Ross Parker ticklethewire.com In the plethora of political finger pointing and civil and criminal investigations, as well as the avalanche of media reports on the lead contamination crisis in Flint, Michigan, one aspect of the debacle has been barely mentioned—the effect of lead poisoning of children on crime rates in future years. The only…
By Greg Stejskal ticklethewire.com Jack Clingingsmith had what any car guy would consider a dream job. He was the executive in charge of testing for Buick at the General Motors proving grounds. GM’s Milford, Michigan proving ground, when it opened in 1924, was the auto industry’s first dedicated testing facility. Today the sprawling 400 acre…
By Ross Parker ticklethewire.com Tough sledding for the Supreme Court in February with oral arguments on five thorny criminal justice cases. Judicial Bias : What was he thinking? In Williams v. Pennsylvania the DA of Philadelphia, Ronald Castille, personally authorized the pursuit of the death penalty against Terrence Williams in connection with the office’s prosecution for…
By Ross Parker ticklethewire.com This column recently presented the historic changes made by the Obama Administration to change the direction of drug enforcement, drug offender punishment and treatment for drug abusers. For the first time in four decades the executive branch has embarked on a systematic and multi-front program to reduce the penalties for convicted…
By Ross Parker ticklethewire.com As Barack Obama prepares for his eighth and final year as President of the United States, it is an opportune time to review his administration’s performance in the area of the criminal justice system. Perhaps the most notable are the changes in his drug enforcement policies, especially in the area of…
