Legal briefs

Crime

On July 25, 2024, Sean Hill was arrested in Chicago for theft. At the time of this arrest, he was on pretrial release with electronic monitoring on four, that’s right four, different robbery cases. Despite this, Hill was immediately released again by the Chicago pre-trial services program. Within ninety minutes of his release, he was arrested again, this time for battering a woman. It appears for now, at least, two arrests in one day while already on pre-trial release electronic monitoring for four different robbery cases is sufficient for the Chicago justice system to keep Hill locked up. Since 2015, Hill has been arrested 75 times. He has been arrested 12 times in 2024 alone. You can read more about it here.

Chicago may be the epicenter for the progressive criminal reform movement that has negatively impacted justice policies across the country, including here in Indiana. Mr. Hill escapes accountability in Chicago in the name of compassion and equity. Where is the compassion for the people Hill has robbed and beaten? What is equitable about letting criminals go free while law-abiding people suffer?     

Poverty and Crime

It is a common myth that poverty causes crime. It doesn’t. For instance, this study found that poverty does not predict risky behavior. It is a powerful trope, though. One common policy prescription for solving the fictitious poverty/crime problem is UBI, or universal basic income. UBI enthusiasts argue that income inequality is the root cause of many societal problems, including crime. As a remedy, they would have the government send an unconditional check to people each month, creating a minimum basic income for everyone.

In a setback for UBI advocates, and poverty/crime theorists, a recent study found that UBI does not fix poverty as defined by household income. On the contrary, it makes it worse. In the study, researchers took 1,000 low-income individuals and randomized them into two groups. One group received $1,000 per month in UBI for three years. The other group received $50 per month over the same time. It turned out that the group receiving UBI had a decrease in total income by $1,500 per year. They participated less in the labor market in general and worked fewer hours when they did work. UBI made the participants poorer and less productive. Not only does UBI fail to ameliorate crime, it even fails to ameliorate income inequality.

 Textualism and judicial restraint

Awhile back, I wrote a piece about the Alabama Supreme Court’s ruling in Lapage v. Alabama Center for Reproductive Medicine. You can read it here. In that case, the Alabama Supreme Court found that embryos are unborn children for the purposes of the Alabama wrongful death statute. This caused a panic among in vitro fertilization clinics and patients because IVF uses and sometimes destroys frozen embryos. It also caused the media and the political left to heap claims of extremism on the Alabama Court, and to drag the whole thing into the abortion culture war.

The Court did not base its decision on the morality of abortion or IVF, however. It based its decision on the plain reading of the wrongful death statute and the Alabama Constitution. The Court acknowledged the impact the decision would have on IVF and encouraged the Alabama Legislature to amend the law, which is exactly what promptly happened. That is how it is supposed to work.

Now, however, two of the conservative Alabama Supreme Court justices are up for retention election. Left-wing political groups have begun running ads against the justices. The Alabama Judicial ethics rules prohibit the justices from campaigning, so they will just have to endure the attacks and hope for the best. Godspeed.   

Other

All this time, you thought the bald eagle was America’s national bird. It turns out you were wrong. While the bald eagle is entwined with American mythology, on our currency, and depicted on government seals and military insignia, it has never been officially designated by Congress. That may change soon. Preston Cook, author of American Eagle: A Visual History of our National Emblem, discovered this legislative oversight while researching for his book. He brought it to the attention of his U.S. Senator, Amy Klobuchar, whose bill designating the eagle as America’s national bird recently passed out of the U.S. Senate. The U.S. House is expected to take up the bill this fall. Surely, it will pass and become law. Anyone voting against this majestic creature should be immediately expelled from Congress.

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