Comments on: The Economist’s Interview with Radley Balko

By: Forensic Crimes « Left Flank

Forensic Crimes « Left Flank — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 10:09:57 +0000

[...] happens right here in your own country!”, but Nick Rivera does have a point – that is, if one is really serious about making a consistent argument about universal human rights, and not just setting up a nationalist [...]

By: DLS

DLS — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 05:04:20 +0000

“prosecutors [...] known for their conviction rate”

Especially if it helps them advance politically…

By: ProfElwood

ProfElwood — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 04:19:37 +0000

As long as prosecutors are known for their conviction rate, instead of their accuracy, we'll probably get even more militaristic police work.

By: JSpencer

JSpencer — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 02:58:42 +0000

Excellent interview. I hope Balko is right about this:

The generations raised on the internet will be more educated, aware, and informed than any before them, and I think that has instilled in them some naturally libertarian instincts, particularly when it comes to issues like government transparency, accountability, censorship, and police power.

Thanks for the excellent post Nick.

By: nicrivera

nicrivera — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 01:31:59 +0000

Maybe it should be noted that Balko is the blogger who publicized the Cory Maye case.

Yeah, one can't give enough credit to Balko for all the work he did on the Cory Maye case. His interview didn't mention Cory Maye, per se, but it did mention Steven Hayne, the Mississippi medical examiner whose flawed forensics the district attorney relied upon in Cory Hayne's case.

Speaking of Cory Maye, I think it's interesting to note that it wasn't liberals or conservatives who stepped forward to bring justice in the Cory Maye. With the exception of the local Democrat public defender who previously defended Cory Maye, it was libertarians like Radley Balko and the libertarian law firm that stepped forward to defend him and brought the issue to a wider audience. I find it sad that so many so-called freedom loving liberals and freedom loving conservatives as well as the mainstream media have almost completly ignored this case.

By: GeorgeSorwell

GeorgeSorwell — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 20:28:59 +0000

Maybe it should be noted that Balko is the blogger who publicized the Cory Maye case.

By: DLS

DLS — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 18:32:17 +0000

This isn't surprising. David B. Kopel wrote many years ago (1990s) about the militarization of police as well as other abuses like civil asset forfeiture (property seizures, reversal of burden of proof of guilt by government to proof of innocence by the suspect — which Gingrich promoted in his cheap book after the 1994 elections, incidentally ["To Renew America"]), and constitutional overreaches by Washington.

Nothing has changed, really, since then.