Adam Serwer

A number of commenters took issue with my characterization of the difference between “voluntary” and “involuntary” manslaughter in the Oscar Grant case, pointing out that “reasonableness” is not a word used in the California penal code to distinguish one from the other. 192. Manslaughter is the unlawful killing of a human being without malice. It […]

Tim Fernholz on the morality of strategic defaulting. Recess appointments for my spouse, but not for thee. NOM thinks Obama flubbed the DOMA lawsuit on purpose. Johannes Mehserle writes about his remorse in killing Oscar Grant. The Miami Herald‘s epic chronicler of Gitmo, Carol Rosenberg, is returning now that the DoD ban has been lifted. […]

From Julianne Hing‘s twitter feed: Batts told reporters at a 10:30 p.m. news briefing that about 50 people were arrested, though he expected that number to double before the night was over. Oakland police officials later confirmed the total number stood at 78 arrests — with about 75 percent of those taken into custody coming […]

Cord Jefferson thinks I haven’t adequately explained why the Justice Department didn’t “throw the book” at the New Black Panthers involved in the 2008 Philadelphia voter intimidation case: Why didn’t Justice throw the book at these clowns? It’s certainly wasn’t a case that required the time, energy and finances of the entire Civil Rights Division, […]

They don’t pay their mortgages: Whether it is their residence, a second home or a house bought as an investment, the rich have stopped paying the mortgage at a rate that greatly exceeds the rest of the population. More than one in seven homeowners with loans in excess of a million dollars are seriously delinquent, […]

Spencer Ackerman got in a fight with the Soup Nazi. No really, the Soup Nazi. Apparently the actor who plays him didn’t take kindly to Ackerman using his picture in a post about the guilty plea of Osama bin Laden‘s former chef in the military commissions at Gitmo. Clearly he should have gone with the […]

Yesterday in Massachusetts, a federal judge ruled that the Defense of Marriage Act, a Clinton-era federal law that defines marriage as being between a man and a woman, violated the 10th Amendment because it infringes on the states’ right to define marriage. In a separate case, Judge Joseph Tauro also ruled that the DOMA ban […]

From the San Francisco Chronicle: The trouble Thursday boiled down to a racially diverse mob of about 200 people, many bent on destruction no matter what, confronting police after the day’s predominantly peaceful demonstrations ended. Sporadic conflicts were quelled quickly early in the evening, but by late night at least 50 people — and maybe […]

Today Johannes Mehserle, the former BART police officer who killed Oscar Grant while he was lying face down and handcuffed in an Oakland train station, was convicted of involuntary manslaughter — his crime, according to the jury, was negligence in not knowing the difference between his heavy black gun and his light yellow Taser. Of […]

Lindsey Lohan cites the Cato Institute’s work on U.S. sentencing policy. Jury shake-ups in the trial of Oscar Grant‘s killer. A rights group for gay and lesbian service members is concerned that participating in the study the Department of Defense says it must perform before ending “don’t ask, don’t tell” could lead to discharges. Judges […]