Paul Coggins
April 22, 2002 | Law.com
Community Policing or Profiling?Regarding a DOJ proposal to deputize local police to enforce federal immigration laws, Paul Coggins has this to say: "Don't settle for shooting down that balloon. Blast it out of the sky." While acknowledging the INS' plight as an underfunded and understaffed agency, Coggins points out the rupture this proposal would cause in the already tenuous relationship between local police departments and the communities they serve.
By Paul Coggins
6 minute read
March 27, 2006 | National Law Journal
It Doesn't Stay in VegasPaul Coggins warns that because of national security letters, what happens in Vegas . . . can wind up in a government database.
By Paul Coggins
7 minute read
April 03, 2002 | Law.com
Austin Powers vs. James BondThe Motion Picture Association of America recently axed the title of the third installment of the Austin Powers spy spoof series, "Goldmember," as being too close to the 1964 Bond classic, "Goldfinger." According to Paul Coggins, it shouldn't take a court of law to remind us that parody must be nurtured. What's needed are courts, counselors and companies with a sense of humor.
By Paul Coggins
5 minute read
September 27, 2002 | Law.com
The Year of the RatsThanks to the Justice Department's post-9/11 proposal to create citizen-spies, Paul Coggins says this could become the year of the rats, with espionage the new national pastime. Coggins adds that, in the face of protests, Congress balked at the DOJ's Terrorism Information and Prevention System, and the White House backtracked -- but, he notes, the administration has not formally abandoned the program.
By Paul Coggins
5 minute read
January 18, 2002 | Texas Lawyer
Feds Must Answer Four QuestionsOne hundred and sixty-eight days - that`s the record for the longest jailing of a writer for contempt in U.S. history. Cub crime writer Vanessa Leggett holds that record, and odds are that she will break her own record in 2002. Leggett recently was sprung from a Houston jail not because the federal government withdrew its grand jury subpoena for her notes of interviews with confidential sources and not because she relented and produced those notes. She was released because the grand jury that issued the sub
By PAUL COGGINS
6 minute read
June 14, 2002 | Texas Lawyer
Post-Sept. 11: More Bucks, Bodies and BureaucracyThe French have a saying - the more things change, the more they stay the same. I would have printed the adage in its original tongue, but I wouldn`t want to be accused by our president of being an intercontinental: code for being a smarty-pants and unpatriotic to boot. On the surface, the world of federal law enforcement has changed radically since Sept. 11. President George W. Bush has anointed a security czar and created an entire new Cabinet-level Department of Homeland Security. Bush has ordered
By PAUL COGGINS
5 minute read
April 12, 2002 | Texas Lawyer
Community Policing or Profiling?The U.S. Department of Justice is floating a test balloon to gauge public reaction to a proposal that would allow local police departments to enforce federal immigration laws. Don`t settle for shooting down that balloon. Blast it out of the sky. The idea has been floated before. In 1998, Salt Lake City briefly considered signing onto a pilot project in which its police officers would be deputized to enforce immigration laws. The proposed pilot project sparked a firestorm, with the harshest criticism from
By PAUL COGGINS
5 minute read
March 30, 2006 | Law.com
It Doesn't Stay In VegasNational security letters under the Patriot Act pose a significant threat to U.S. business
By Paul Coggins
7 minute read
February 15, 2002 | Texas Lawyer
Victims of Dallas` War on SheetrockReporters can be a royal pain in the ass. For public servants, a reporter is bad news waiting to happen. A reporter will probe, prod, plead, pester and then pounce on every flub. He will portray the beleaguered bureaucrat in a bad light. He will mangle a politician`s pithy phrase. Oh yeah, and one last thing - a reporter can be your only protection against a criminal justice system gone mad. The only buffer between you and the slammer. Your last shot at freedom.
By PAUL COGGINS
5 minute read
May 19, 2003 | Texas Lawyer
Fahrenheit 215Section 215 of the USA Patriot Act empowers the feds to snoop through all sorts of records, including those of bookstores and libraries.
By Paul Coggins
5 minute read
