a public defender

A day early, but never too much so to salute the veterans who have served this country over the years. This one’s for you:

• Speaking of serving your country, public defenders in seven states are refusing cases due to high caseloads and low funds.
• Why the path of least resistance in police encounters isn’t always the best approach.
• Michael Dorf has some interesting suggestions for post Proposition 8 strategy.
• SCOTUSblog has this preview of today’s argument in Melendez-Diaz, a Crawford case.
• Jon Katz argues that the slowing economy demands a tighter criminal justice system.
• New Haven implements street cameras.
• The fantastic OLR has this report detailing every single time in the last 30 years that the legislature has responded to a Supreme Court or Appellate Court decision.
• Who bears responsibility for overburdened dockets? Not judges.

Huh. That was a slow weekend. Anyway, enjoy the day and the day off tomorrow, if you have it.