Capturing brutal police misconduct on tape isn't always enough to convince a jury to convict the officers of a crime. It isn't surprising that juries often give cops a pass when they abuse arrestees, despite seemingly obvious visual evidence of their guilt. Sometimes the district attorney doesn't prosecute with vigor; sometimes the jury returns a verdict of "he had it coming." Juries bring democracy into the courtroom by reflecting the sense of the community, even when that sense is offensive to those who don't share the community's biases. That's how democracy works -- or doesn't, depending on your point of view.

In Philadelphia:

Fifteen Philadelphia police officers will be taken off the street as authorities investigate a video showing three suspects being kicked and beaten by city police.

Philadelphia officers have been "on edge" since one of their own was killed two days ago, according to Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey. A bit of the video is shown in this newscast. More information here.

I absolutely have to get back to work. I have jails to visit and briefs to write. Here's what I would be writing about if I had the time:

• Never leave a reporter and two lawyers on a jury. Here's a report of the Uma Thurman jury deliberations from a reporter who served on the jury. On the other hand, perhaps he just helped the defendant in a bid for a new trial.

  Tuesday morning, when we reconvened, a couple of my fellow jurors said they woke up sick to their stomachs. Another burst into the room saying he'd seen the drawings sketched by the court artists, and that they'd done a good job depicting us.

  Aren't the jurors admonished to avoid media reports of the trial? Where would s/he have seen the sketch artist's depictions but in a newspaper?

More...

Snitch: Informants, Cooperators, and the Corruption of Justice by Ethan Brown

Sunday, May 19, I'll be hosting the Firedoglake Book Salon where author Ethan Brown will be discussing his new book. (5:00 PM ET)

Pick up a copy or order one from Amazon at the link above, and come join us.

My view: Snitch (cooperators') testimony is purchased testimony and inherently unreliable. It is testimony the Government purchases with promises of leniency, and freedom is a commodity far more precious than money. The incentive to lie is enormous and the practice has made our criminal justice system morally bankrupt.

About the book [More...]

Law Professor and blogger Ann Althouse and I have another Bloggingheads TV diavlog on Tuesday's primaries. The topics (you can click on any one or watch it all, but warning, it's 54 minutes total):

• Did the mayor of Gary, IN try to sabotage Hillary’s victory? (08:34)
• Jeralyn makes the case for Clinton to stay in (09:39)
• Ann fears Obama is too liberal, Jeralyn that he’s not liberal enough (05:59)
• Will voters think Obama is angry because he’s black? (08:35)
• What’s the real difference between Obama and Hillary? (04:46)
• Looking ahead to a McCain Supreme Court (05:19)

This is an open thread, all topics welcome.

The testimony in the trial on Tony Rezko has ended. The defense did not call any witnesses. The prosecution's case lasted 9 weeks. Closing arguments are next week.

"We do not believe the government has met [its] burden proving the charges against Mr. Rezko, plain and simple," Rezko's attorney, Joseph Duffy, said in explaining his tactical decision not to mount a defense case.

Probably a smart move. It's also a typical one, so it shouldn't be viewed as them not having a defense. It's a statement there was no need to put on a defense since the prosecution didn't prove its case.

The Judge has taken under advisement several motions for judgment of acquittal. The charges are multiple counts of mail fraud, wire fraud, attempted extortion, aiding and abetting bribery and money laundering.

Barack Obama is almost certainly going to be the nominee. As I wrote to our friend Markos today (yes, he is still a good friend of Talk Left), it is in Barack Obama's and the Democratic Party's interest to seat the delegations. I assume Democrats in all races, including the Presidential race, want to compete in Florida and Michigan. Seating their delegation contributes greatly to that.

That's why I think attitudes like that exhibited by Matt Yglesias are totally misguided. If Obama loses the nomination, it won't be because Florida and Michigan are seated. It will take a huge meltdown for that to happen. On the other hand, seating Florida and Michigan could very well contribute to Democratic victories in Florida and Michigan, including at the top of the ticket.

By Big Tent Democrat, speaking for me only

Comments now closed.

You'll be hearing this a lot in coming days. The true delegate number and the one Barack Obama must surpass is 2209, not 2025. Litigator Mom over at The Confluence explains, beginning with the correct calculation:

50% + 1 of all the delegates, pledged and SDs, alloted to the 50 states, Guam and Puerto Rico.

Not 48 states, but 50 states. She explains: [More...]

TwinMom at MyDD has an interesting diary up comparing Obama's win in Virginia to North Carolina:

Obama won Virginia by 28 points and North Carolina by 14. What's different, given the similar voter demographics?

Using exit poll data here and here from the NY Times, TwinMom shows the percentages of white men, white women, black men and black women voters were very similar but the results were not:

• In Virginia, Obama won 67% of White Men. In North Carolina only 40%

• In Virginia, Obama won 45% of White Women , in North Carolina only 33%.

• In Virginia, Obama won 93% of Black Men and 85% of Black Women. In North Carolina, he won 91% of Black Men and Black Women.

The conclusion: [More...]

I am watching Hardball and the total nonsense is amazing. They are discussing how the white working class issue disappeared. Specifically, Chris Matthews, with the once respected Chuck Todd nodding vigorously, said Pennsylvania was the past and North Carolina was the future on race relations. This is simply counterfactual. Let's review the data.

In Pennsylvania, Clinton won whites 18-29 (52-48), 30-44 (58-42), 45-59 (63-37), 60+ (68-32). In North Carolina, whites 18-29, just 8% of the vote, went for Obama 57-41. But whites 30-44 went for Clinton (52-45), 45-59 (64-33), 60+ (69-29).

Barack Obama is almost certain to be the nominee, and Tweety is ebulliant about his guy looking like the nominee. But let's stick to the facts please. On the demographics, nothing got better for Obama. The difference between North Carolina and Pennsylvania is there are a lot more African American voters in North Carolina. She never had a chance to win it. Ever.

By Big Tent Democrat, speaking for me only.

Comments now closed.

Update: Marc Ambinder's 7 reasons why Hillary should stay in the race.

Hillary Clinton picked up a superdelegate in North Carolina today.

U.S. Rep. Heath Shuler pledged his support to Sen. Hillary Clinton after she won in his Western North Carolina district.

Obama also picked up a North Carolina superdelegate today. At least two are staying uncommitted, U.S. Rep. Bob Etheridge of Lillington and an attorney (Parker?)whom I heard on the news earlier.

Almost 300 of the 796 superdelegates remain uncommitted. Here's a list of some of the more prominent ones.

Hillary today said she's staying in until there is a nominee. Good for her.

Your turn. This is an Open Thread.

Comments over 200, thread now closed.

In the Left blogs today, it is considered a mortal sin to point out that Barack Obama has trouble connecting with white working class voters. It is a mortal sin to point out that in the South Carolina campaign, the Obama campaign fed the narrative that the Clinton campaign was race baiting. Indeed, the Left blogs themselves led the charge with this smear, notwithstanding the fact that it was utterly illogical. In South Carolina, the last thing the Clinton campaign would have wanted was African American voters rallying to Barack Obama.

In February, Obama was able to nimbly straddle appealing to African American voters while maintaining a broader appeal. Wisconsin and Virginia appeared to be watersheds, where Obama won both the white and African American voters (he has consistently lost Latino voters.) But from Ohio on, it became clear that Obama would not be able to sustain that. Jeremiah Wright was the biggest reason why. More . . .