Legal briefs
Crime
In the early 1990s, New York City was overwhelmed with crime. In 1990, NYC had 2,245 murders. Crime in the city, and across the country, had been rising since the 1960s. In the early 90s, William Bratton became the NYC police commissioner with a mandate to get crime under control. Bratton introduced the broken windows theory of policing. The broken windows theory posits that visible signs of crime such as broken windows, open air drug use, and civil disorder in the streets encourages further crime, including more serious crime. From 1990 to 1996, the NYC crime rate fell by 46.1%. The rate continued to fall throughout the late 90s and beyond, until around 2019. That’s when progressive criminal reform movement efforts began to bear fruit. The crime rate in NYC, and across the country, is again at historic highs.
Last week, current NYC Police Commissioner, Jessica Tisch, gave a speech calling the level of crime in New York “unsustainable” and advocated for a return to broken windows policing. Tisch blamed NYC progressive prosecutors, judges, and the state’s bail and discovery reform laws for a revolving door of crime in the city. Tisch ended her speech by saying, “I am channeling the voice of virtually every NYPD cop and everyday New Yorkers when I say enough is enough. Criminals in New York City-including violent, repeat offenders-continue to be given every courtesy. And the people of this city suffer as a result.”
While there may have been some problems with the implementation of broken windows policy, it certainly worked to reduce crime. We can sort through what worked and what did not, but we must heed the lessons of history. You have to sweat the small stuff. Hopefully, Commissioner Tisch is successful in her effort to return to serious policing and prosecution. And hopefully that spreads across the country. You can read about her speech here.
More crime
In related news, at around 3:00 p.m. on September 16, 2024, police patrolling the NYC subway saw Derrell Mickles jump the turnstile and enter the station without paying. He appeared to be carrying a knife. The officers followed him. Mickles, noticing the police, said, “You’re going to have to kill me if you don’t leave me alone.” Officers ordered Mickles to drop the knife. He said, “I’m not dropping the knife. Shoot me.” The officers then fired two Tasers at Mickles, but he was unfazed. Mickles then began chasing one of the officers with the knife raised. Two officers fired multiple rounds at Mickles. Mickles was hit and incapacitated but not killed. One of the other officers along with two bystanders were also hit with stray bullets. One of the bystanders remains hospitalized with serious injuries. You can read about this incident here.
Regarding the incident, the New York Times wrote this headline: “One Hopped Turnstile, 9 Police Bullets, 4 People Shot. Does It Add Up?” Notice anything missing from the headline? How about the homicidal and suicidal guy chasing the cops with a knife on the subway platform? I realize the The New York Times is a propaganda machine, but it does reflect the bizarre thinking of too many people influencing criminal policy across our nation. They think the police are the problem, rather than the life-long criminal brandishing a knife on the afternoon commuter train. This is the kind of thing NYC Police Commissioner Tisch is talking about in the post above.
Textualism and originalism
Birthright citizenship has been in the news lately. Soon after taking office, President Trump issued an executive order arguing that children of illegal immigrants born on U.S. soil are not automatically citizens. This has led to lawsuits that will ultimately make their way to the U.S. Supreme Court. I was planning to write a piece about the differing legal theories on this issue, but Substacker Adam Unikowsky beat me to it, and does a great job. You can read Adam’s post below.
Other
The Illinois Supreme Court recently released a study looking at bullying in the legal profession. The study defined bullying as “inappropriate behavior intended to intimidate, humiliate, or control the actions of another person, including verbal, nonverbal and physical acts.” It found that 38% of female lawyers reported being bullied on the job in the past year. This compares to 15% of male lawyers. The study also reports that 38% of young lawyers report being bullied, regardless of gender or minority status. Of the lawyers reporting bullying, 14% reported that the bully was a judge, compared to 64% who reported the bully was another lawyer.
This is a tough business and should be. It’s an adversarial process. But there is no place for bullying lawyers. Make your case, attack ideas, advocate, but don’t demean or intimidate. As a judge, I can say that professionalism goes much, much further in persuading me than aggressive behavior.
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