Law and Order

Ted Nesi Puts In Perspective Mike Riley’s Remarks

By Monique Chartier | April 7, 2013 |

With reference to the (regrettable) comments that Mike Riley made to the police on that Fateful Night, WPRI’s Ted Nesi tweeted a couple of days ago, Riley’s comments are still no match for Senator Ciccone’s immortal words, “You think you got pension problems now?” http://www.wpri.com/dpp/news/polit… No match, indeed. (For those who might have missed it,…

Late Addition: Bills on Requiring Armed Guards at Schools to be Heard Today

By Carroll Andrew Morse | February 28, 2013 |

A bill (H5068) requiring cities and towns to post an armed guard at every school in Rhode Island was posted Tuesday for a House Municipal Government hearing today. Here’s the complete text: The school committees of various cities, towns, and school districts, shall appoint a guard to each school building within their jurisdiction. The guard…

What to Make of Chris Dorner’s Admirers

By Carroll Andrew Morse | February 23, 2013 |

Last weekend, a small number of people turned out at Los Angeles Police Department headquarters, in some combination of protest and memorial for former LAPD officer Chris Dorner, who killed four people in Southern California, before killing himself during a standoff with law enforcement. Meanwhile, in the virtual world, a Facebook tribute describing Dorner as…

Shooting Monster Felt No Physical Pain?

By Monique Chartier | December 16, 2012 |

Usually, I look through news sites (a couple of times per day) for the latest developments in politics and, especially, for news on Rhode Island politics and gov’t. For the last couple of days, however, it’s been stories about the horrendous Connecticut shooting that I’ve been compelled to click on. Some information is now coming…

Getting Past Cicilline Spin on Violence Against Women Act Reauthorization

By Marc Comtois | October 5, 2012 |

This afternoon, WPRO’s Dan Yorke has taken the Doherty campaign to task (again, hey, it’s a day that ends in “y”) for not being clear on why Doherty supposedly opposes the Violence Against Women Act that is currently stalled in Congress. In truth, there are two versions of the act and Doherty supports the House…

09/14/12 – Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito – Roger Williams Law School

By Justin Katz | September 14, 2012 |

Justin writes live from a “fireside chat” with Supreme Court Justice Alito at Roger Williams University. Continue reading on the Ocean State Current…

Mistaking Community Self-Protection with Street Justice

By Justin Katz | August 3, 2012 |

Fresh on the heals of more murders in one Providence neighborhood, residents in another provided an example of one way to cut down on crime: The suspects fled empty-handed from the house … and found a gathering crowd, said Randy Figueroa, 20, one of the neighbors. One of the suspects pulled out a gun and…

Legalize It

By Patrick Laverty | June 6, 2012 |

First, let me get this off my chest. Decriminalize and legalize are not the same thing. I’ve seen numerous news reports talking about how the General Assembly voted to legalize marijuana yesterday. That’s not true. They voted to decriminalize it. Think of it this way, if you park your car next to a fire hydrant,…

New York Times Editorial Board Says that When the Likely Outcome is Good Enough for our Sensibilities, the Law Should Be Ignored

By Carroll Andrew Morse | May 10, 2012 |

Reacting to the decision made by the First Circuit Court of Appeals that Jason Pleau must be turned over to the Federal government to answer the indictment for the murder of David Main and potentially face the death penalty (though that is far from certain), the New York Times editorial board wrote that the court…

First Circuit Court Rules the State of Rhode Island Cannot Prevent Federal Prosecution of Jason Pleau from Going Forward

By Carroll Andrew Morse | May 7, 2012 |

The First Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled 3-2 that the state of Rhode Island cannot refuse to deliver Jason Pleau “into federal custody to answer the federal indictment” resulting from his alleged role in the murder of David Main in Woonsocket (h/t Katie Mulvaney). The court’s opinion touches on a number of technical issues…