The past week has seen Earth Day, the first round of the NFL draft, and continued travel repercussions from the massive cloud of volcanic ash coming from Iceland. (Best Iceland joke I've heard: It was the Icelandic economy's final wish that its ashes be scattered all over the EU.) It has also seen several interesting criminal law developments: 1. The United States Supreme Court decided United States v. Stevens. The Court struck down 18 U.S.C. § 48, a recently-enacted statute that criminalizes the commercial creation, sale, or possession of audio or visual representations of the intentional maiming, wounding or killing of an animal, unless the representation has serious educational, scientific, or artistic value. The statute was enacted principally to prohibit crush videos, films in which women in high-heeled shoes slowly crush small animals beneath their feet, but the defendant in Stevens was charged for selling dogfighting videos. He argued that the statute was overbroad in that it prohibited a substantial amount of conduct prohibited by the First Amendment. The Court agreed, suggesting that hunting magazines, for example, might fall within the statute's scope. 2. Speaking of the Court, speculation continues regarding the successor to Justice Stevens. Recently, Seventh Circuit Judge Ann Williams has emerged as a contender. She's a former schoolteacher, former federal prosecutor, and long-time federal judge. She was appointed to the district court bench by President Reagan, and became the first black judge on the Seventh Circuit when appointed by President Clinton. 3. Closer to home, Governor Perdue has [...]
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