Chastek Blawg

UPDATE (6/21/2019): " "The Supreme Court on Friday reaffirmed its strict prohibition against racial bias in jury selection, voting 7-2 to overturn a black defendant’s murder conviction by a Mississippi court after a prosecutor dismissed 41 of 43 African Americans over the course of six trials for the same killings." https://www.wsj.com/articles/supreme-court-reaffirms-rule-against-racial-bias-in-jury-selection-11561129358?mod=hp_lead_pos6 Peremptory challenges are commonplace as citizen jurors are removed from the jury pool without necessitating a reason. However, the U.S. Supreme Court has been hearing testimony surrounding whether racial bias was present during jury selection for the Curtis Flowers murder trials of 1997, 2004, and 2010. [1] In the Flowers’ case, it is being argued that the prosecutor knowingly removed prospective jurors due to race and/or ethnicity in order to tip the balance of the trial. Flowers has been tried six times for four murde...

Iowa’s AG’s office is taking legal action to shut down a ‘puppy laundering’ ring that has been selling puppy mill puppies as rescue animals, circumventing the state’s puppy mill ban. [1] While not having an outright ban on puppy mills, Washington State has attempted to severely restrict the ability of puppy mills to exist through increased regulations on dog breeding facilities. These regulations include a limitation on the number of intact, unfixed dogs at a single location, specific space and enclosure requirements, housing facilities with strict sanitary requirements, and mandatory food and water access. [2]   But, puppy mills have continued to thrive in the wake of increased regulations. Just in the latter half of 2018, two illegal Chihuahua puppy mills were shut down in Stevens County and some 250+ dogs were taken to local rescue shelters. [3] Recently, in an effort to further restrict the sale of puppy mill puppies statewide, House Bill 1640 was introduced in the Wa...