Thomas Frampton
@TFrampton
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Prof at @UVALaw , former @OrleansDefender , not a cat.
Charlottesville, VA
Joined December 2008
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I got invited once to interview for a law professor job at Baylor. But not if I engaged in homosexual conduct. This was in 2019.
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If Atlanta judges and prosecutors engage in this sort of brazen collusion—“what, we were all just having an ex parte session with a witness mid-trial?!?”—in one of the country’s highest profile prosecutions . . . what sort of misconduct occurs when no one’s looking?
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Query for the 18 U.S.C. 922 scholars out there: Is America's nuclear arsenal a "firearm" that a felon may not possess?
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Beyond horrifying; please take the time to read.
Judges, sheriffs, prosecutors, and politicians conspiring to cover-up & facilitate the torture and sexual abuse of kids is not just a QAnon fever-dream.
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"It's ex parte because that's what the State asked me to do." - Judge Glanville
(Has anyone noted that Glanville revealed on the record that prosecutors initiated SEPARATE, previously unknown, ex parte communications w/ him to seek the latter ex parte meeting w/ the witness?)
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Proud of our
@UVALaw
students who were out there getting maced as legal observers today, documenting the completely unnecessary brutality their classmates (and some of our colleagues) endured.
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I'm going to need a 15,000 word oral history of Frank Easterbrook deciding the time had come to start arresting bosses for violating labor law.
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NEW on SSRN: “Why Do Rule 48(a) Dismissals Require ‘Leave of Court’?” SCOTUS (and DOJ) say it’s only to protect Defs. (so judge must dismiss if Flynn assents). Not so. Rule 48(a) exists to stop Gov't from dropping cases against well-connected defendants.
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Sigh . . . because this impossibly stupid scenario is now a (remote) possibility in real life, a brief thread on the "interstate rendition clause."
(Short version: DeSantis's plan to protest this "un-American" attack almost certainly violates the Constitution.) 1/6
The weaponization of the legal system to advance a political agenda turns the rule of law on its head.
It is un-American.
The Soros-backed Manhattan District Attorney has consistently bent the law to downgrade felonies and to excuse criminal misconduct. Yet, now he is
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If you have a public defender in your life, I am BEGGING you to go ask them what would happen if their client / potential client missed his arraignment because his flight was delayed. Or was unable to hire a paid lawyer despite being order to do so.
BREAKING: Walt Nauta’s arraignment has been delayed until July 6. He he has been unable to find local counsel to represent him and he was unable to be present in court today as a result of flight delays.
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When someone is indicted in one state (the "demanding state"), but they're in another (the "asylum state"), the asylum state must "deliver[] up" the person. That's in Article IV, Section 2 of the Constitution (and also this federal law passed in 1793, now 18 U.S.C. § 3182) 2/6
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The amount of ink spilled over the 5th Circuit’s clerkship hiring policies—as compared to the 5th Circuit’s functional abolition of habeas for the 180,000 state prisoners in TX, LA, and MS in December—is going to make me lose my mind.
"We will not hire any student who chooses to attend Stanford Law School in the future," Ho, who sits on the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, said Saturday evening in a speech to the Texas Review of Law and Politics, which you can read in its entirety here:
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I forget who told me the story, but years ago (probably like 2008 or 2009?),
@unitehere
was picketing a hotel when DMX and like 20 friends on bikes came up. They stopped, politely talked to the picketers, and took off . . . refused to cross the picket line.
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Robert, I don’t think we’ve met (I'm still untenured), but let’s grab ☕️ when you’re back on Grounds? Genuine offer! Until then, please know that I stand by my comments 100%, and by our fantastic law students.
I’ll add a few more thoughts...
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Some personal news: I’m not going to jail! 🥳
Preliminary injunction—and accompanying 92-page opinion—issued in Frampton v. City of Baton Rouge (M.D. La.).
Opinion here: (tl;dr: “My God, this is so unconstitutional; dude what r u even doing?!)
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Periodic reminder that Justice Scalia wrote these words in 1994. Two decades later (after 31 years on death row), Henry McCollum was exonerated by DNA testing.
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"But wait!", you might be saying, that only talks about someone who "flee[s] from Justice" and someone who "fled." Trump's not FLEEING . . . he's just hanging out in Florida.
The Supreme Court considered that argument, and rejected it, about 100 years ago. 3/6
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"I am just a tired old judge who has temporarily filled his quota of remorselessness."
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Our local law enforcement came together tonight to issue a joint statement condemning the irreparable harm visited upon … local law enforcement.
PRESS RELEASE:
Joint Release: Charlottesville Law Enforcement Agencies Respond to Events in Memphis
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So who would enforce NY's extradition demand if DeSantis refuses? The federal courts. In 1987, in Puerto Rico v. Branstad, SCOTUS made clear that a demanding state can get a "writ of mandamus" in federal court to force an asylum state to fulfill their obligations. 5/6
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UVA tells me that this is “guidance” but not the official policy.
“The document circulating around isn’t policy.” Tents are prohibited “regardless of the nature of their use.”
I’m told the doc was updated to reflect official policy and correct the “erroneous” guidance.
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In 1906, in Appleyard v. Massachusetts, Justice Harlan endorsed the view that "fugitive" (for extradition purposes) just means someone who is no longer in the demanding state. Same thing in Strassheim v. Daily (1911), authored by Justice Holmes. 4/6
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There's lots of interesting parallels/contrasts with Northern states' antebellum resistance to extradition under Fugitive Slave Act.
@dsfarbman
's way more knowledgeable there.
But I'll be fielding all media requests on this, the stupidest possible piece of this saga. 6/6
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Key insight from watching the Trump trial in person this morning: Whatever else happens, the DA paralegal who collected Trump’s social media is going to have a wild law school application essay.
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Only because she's the targeted professor whose work I know the best, this racist attack on
@JameliaNMorgan
is despicable. I've learned a tremendous amount from her scholarship and I wish she were our colleague at UVA Law.
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My job
@UVALaw
lets me take a few habeas cases pro bono. Folks who wouldn’t otherwise have attorneys.
This is now our 4th habeas win. And each time, the Louisiana Supreme Court denied the same claim 7-0.
State courts are a nightmare. Go buy your local public defender a pint.
Lewis v Bickham:
#5thCir
reverses, grants
#habeas
relief: defendant's third trial was barred by
#DoubleJeopardy
Clause: no manifest necessity to declare
#mistrial
over jurors' scheduling conflicts
#criminallaw
#appellatetwitter
#lawtwitter
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840 days. Finally got our ruling: habeas granted!
It's a big win. It would be even bigger if Mr. Parker hadn’t already served his entire (unconstitutional) 3-year sentence waiting on the federal courts.
A (slightly bitter) 🧵about this broken process... 1/14
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Horrifying: 11 federal judges (5th Cir. and SDTX) taking part in lighthearted song telling folks not to "cry" and "don't be sad" about the suspension of jury trials during COVID. Meanwhile, pre-trial detainees are dying.
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Mini-🧵on a SCOTUS case set for argument tomorrow, Jones v. Hendrix: If a federal prisoner is 100% innocent, does a federal court have the power to release him from prison?
Prisoner & U.S. say "yes"; Court-appointed amicus says "no." 1/6
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It appears that on the basis of this new policy (published at 9:52AM this morning, long after students told they were violating the policy) — a policy that’s only being enforced against pro-Palestine students —
@UVAPolice
is now arresting students.
after telling students their tents violated school policy, UVA administrators discovered the tents do not actually violate school policy so they simply changed the school policy without any notice whatsoever.
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That last tweet was a joke. But it turns out
@esqueer_
just wrote a helpful article on this very topic (in the context of criminal abortion laws) that has some of that history too!
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ME: Hang on, need to snap a quick photo so
@socialistdogmom
sees this.
STUDENT: [Coughs judgmentally] Clout-chaser...
TFW you're about to teach Batson in 45 minutes in Criminal Adjudication and this comes across your feed 👇
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Absolutely chilling quote from the longtime DA of Red River Parish, Julie Jones (RE: the rape and abuse of incarcerated children in her jurisdiction): “Do I worry about their safety? No, I don’t. I think they are quite capable of taking care of themselves.”
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1. I take seriously my obligations to ALL our students, regardless of politics.
2. The least we owe them (imo) is to NOT spray/arrest/evict them unless necessary.
3. What UVA did was wholly unnecessary.
4. Our spare bedroom is open to any student UVA just barred (see 1-3).
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@laurastoobusy
The interview invitation asked me to review a vaguely worded set of "Expectations" beforehand. When I sought clarification, the exact wording was that "any kind of homosexual activity, even in the context of marriage, could be the basis for an adverse employment action."
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It's a fun, short read, opening in early 1920's Montana. If you liked "A River Runs Through It," you'll love this. (Also, comments more than welcome!)
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Marlin Gusman was the sheriff of Orleans Parish for 17 years too long. Congrats to everyone in the movement to oust him.
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One more reason, on top of
@equalityAlec
's great 🧵, that makes Biden's latest US Attorney nominee unfit for office...
In 2012, Landrum oversaw the murder trial of Jabari Williams, in which prosecutors ALL of their peremptory strikes (11 of 11) against Black jurors. 1/5
THREAD. A huge scandal is brewing with Joe Biden. What we feared two years ago appears to be happening. According to reports, Biden is about to nominate a U.S. Attorney despite overwhelming evidence that she committed federal felony crimes against the most vulnerable people.
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Today I’m filling two bar complaints in Louisiana. Since it's in the news, I figured I'd make it public here. (my first thread) 1/6
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@jonathanweisman
@equalityAlec
Read the piece. Who are the unnamed analysts you cite, and why wouldn't you attribute that particular analysis to a named source?
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The Financial Times is going to have to try a little harder if the goal is to dissuade people from reading Graeber's last book . . .
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UVA’s very clear and consistent application of its “no tents” policy.
(But, more importantly, keep talking about Palestine.)
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On retrial, Evangelisto Ramos was just found “Not Guilty.” (It was unanimous.)
Congrats to Mr. Ramos and defense counsel Sarah Chervinsky.
Here's Kagan mocking Gorsuch and Kavanaugh for using "soaring rhetoric" in Ramos (requiring unanimous jury verdicts) then refusing to apply it retroactively.
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I suspect we have different views on Palestine. And free speech on campus. But I hope you had similar support when you studied here. And I wouldn’t label you an “embarrassment” to
@CovingtonLLP
(as you term me) simply bc I think your last tweet was ill-informed & misguided.
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Also, incentives. The Greens won $$$ in their initial suit; my lawyers will get more $$$ now (thanks 42 USC sec. 1988!). But none of the cops who violated the 4A, & none of the lawyers who violated the 1A, will pay a cent. They're just lighting taxpayer money on fire. Fun system.
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UVA has: 1) placed “degree holds” on seniors; 2) barred all from most campus life via NTO’s, 3) filed University disciplinary charges, and 4) said zero about the criminal cases.
(Speaking only for myself, if UVA wants to “rebuild trust,”👆might be a good place to start.)
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Excited to share some personal news. (Also, blown away thinking about all the incredible scholars and students I'll be getting to work with
@UVALaw
, and very grateful to too many folks to mention
@Harvard_Law
and beyond who made this possible.)
Thomas Frampton, a criminal law expert whose scholarship focuses on inequality in the criminal justice system, will join the
#UVALaw
faculty this summer.
@TFrampton
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Biden's pick for U.S. Attorney in Louisiana just ran for D.A... and voters rejected her. Her opponent was facing 11 federal charges... and she lost by 16%. Her ads touted her as the "LAW & ORDER," "END CATCH & RELEASE" candidate... nobody wanted it.
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Another AM in court w/ fellow
@UVALaw
Prof. Orians (
@yoyokellyo
).
The dozens of kind/thoughtful undergrads, grad students, staff, faculty, and community members that
@UVA
had VSP violently arrest at the pro-🇵🇸 protest are among the best of our community.
They are great & good.
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Draft of "The First Black Jurors and the Integration of the American Jury" (or something, title TBD, forthcoming
@nyulawreview
) now on SSRN. Comments welcome!
Instead of a full summary, here's an Abstract and some cooler finds from the archives... 🧵
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Why do some
@BRPD
cops, like the ones in the video above, have such contempt for the rights of the citizens they ostensibly serve? Lots of reasons, but a big one is that the lawyers who defend/enable them share that disdain. (Law students: Don’t be those lawyers!)
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This one SHOULD be a scandal, but maybe we're all too jaded?
My client Shermanie Reed told
@BRPD
that she'd settle her police brutality lawsuit for $40,000 + an apology, from either the officer who falsely arrested her or Chief Paul. Or $55,000.
Guess which one BRPD picked?
Is an apology worth $15,000? Baton Rouge paid more to settle police lawsuit without one.
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MUSTAFA IS UN-BANISHED!
Mustafa’s too magnanimous to say anything negative, but speaking just for myself,
@UVA
’s conduct here was shameful. For those asking “Could it really be as arbitrary [to use a kind euphemism] as the reporting suggests?!" The answer is "yes & worse.”
I wrote about a nursing student who was being denied access to UVA Grounds, keeping him from a summer externship.
UVA has since relented, allowing him to begin his paid position and avoiding a lawsuit. Abdelhamid had planned to sue UVA as a last resort.
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MANY SMART LEGAL SCHOLARS: Risk-assessment instruments, often promoted by criminal justice reformers, may reinforce (not reduce) racial bias in the law.
ORLEANS PARISH DA: Want diversion? Take our survey! [Fun dystopian footnote: this is called the "Criminal Thinking Scale."]
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Over the last several decades, Congress and the Supreme Court have done a lot to make it easier to land up in prison, and MUCH MUCH MUCH harder to get out. To end mass incarceration, we've got to rethink all of this, top to bottom. END
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Final thing: unlike most folks
@BRPD
unconstitutionally targets, I had a bang-up legal team from Day 1. (Let's be honest: most competent organizations don't target privileged white law professors for a reason.)
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@ElieNYC
I mean, I think this one might be worse?
“[M]ust I become a negro rapist before you give me due process?” - Justice Felix Frankfurter, to Justice Frank Murphy (who FF accused of gossiping about him), 1943.
(Thanks to the amazing librarians at the Bentley Historical Library at
@UMich
for tracking this down for me.)
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. . . instead, he was giving up on the hope that any set of procedural/substantive rules could guide a system that "accurately and consistently determine[s] which defendants 'deserve' to die." So, like, seems like an important historical footnote.
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“[M]ust I become a negro rapist before you give me due process?” - Justice Felix Frankfurter, to Justice Frank Murphy (who FF accused of gossiping about him), 1943.
(Thanks to the amazing librarians at the Bentley Historical Library at
@UMich
for tracking this down for me.)
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Thurgood Marshall did NOT like CJ Burger’s draft dissent in Batson v. Kentucky. 🤣
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The bill he's cheering will mandate the release of the names of 13-year-olds who have been arrested (but NOT found delinquent), but only in Caddo, East Baton Rouge, and Orleans Parishes.
For those unfamiliar with Louisiana geography, here's a primer.
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Today is a Big Deal and I’ll be listening bc I’m interested in Reconstruction.
But the SCOTUS decision most likely to impact the 2024 election isn’t the one with 1000 amici and 80 min of argument. It’s a shadow docket decision in 2 wks about a stay. 🤷♂️😕
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@steve_vladeck
As someone who grew up in NW DC and went to Sidwell, this is THE most "I grew up in NW DC and went to Sidwell" attempted flex I have ever read.
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So we go to federal court. Bc this contempt thing was SUPER illegal. And the judge (rejecting abstention) agreed, finding “overwhelming evidence... that [Baton Rouge] acted in bad faith and in retaliation.... The hypocrisy of the City/Parish’s position is astounding.” (RUHROH!)
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Posted a draft of "The End of Batson? . . . " forthcoming
@ColumLRev
, w/ recent
@UVALaw
grad Brandon Osowski. Comments welcome!
Admittedly, 25,000 words on state court judicial rulemaking authority might not SOUND fascinating, but readers, BUCKLE UP! 1/6
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👀
Kelly Orians and Thomas Frampton got married an hour ago in DC in the company of only their families, then took a walk in BLM Plaza to celebrate Joe Biden’s win.
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Also, IP law folks, does adopting the persona of King George III for a fun little song about <checks notes> suspended constitutional rights count as parody or satire? Seems a little too on-the-nose. Just checking for
@Lin_Manuel
's sake.
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P.S. UVA Law's Supreme Court Litigation Clinic is repping Hendrix. Our students have done some great work on this case and I'm really proud of them.
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Felix Frankfurter kept a list of Frank Murphy’s “clients” in 1944:
“Reds,” whores, crooks, Indians and other colored people, . . . pacifists, traitors, Japs, women, children, most men.
[Another amazing doc from the Bentley Historical Library at Michigan. Thanks librarians!]
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“To determine if this Bivens claim arises in a ‘new context,’ we first ask if the plaintiff is literally reanimated corpse of Mr. Bivens, and whether the defendants are federal officers faithfully pantomiming the exact tableau of the original case...”
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I haven't seen stats for the federal system, but in Texas, about 80% of those who have died due to COVID were pre-trial detainees.
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So,
@BRPD
runs a torture warehouse. We just filed 2 federal lawsuits; one of the cops immediately resigned and the Mayor has shut down the warehouse. 👀
(Proud to work w/
@RKeithThompson
and
@jhawk421
to rep Mr. Lee; and w/ some fantastic
@UVALaw
students on both cases.) 🧵
BREAKING UPDATE: One day after our WAFB I-TEAM report on the Brave Cave,
@MayorBroome
announces operations at the facility have been suspended and Troy Lawrence, Jr., officer with history of complaints, has submitted his resignation from the Baton Rouge Police Department.
@WAFB
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So profound thanks to the crew: William Most & Associates (
@MostWilliam
),
@TulaneLaw
’s First Amendment Clinic (clinic director Katie Schwartzmann, law students Dayton Dunbar, Denver Nicks, John Mieras), Jane Hogan of Hogan Attorneys, and
@ACLUofLouisiana
.
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80% of the time I want to delete this app. But a few months ago I had a Fifth Circuit oral argument, randomly reached out to
@RMFifthCircuit
, and he very generously took my call (on a weekend!) beforehand. What a swell thing to do!
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RBG’s death takes it from “unlikely” to “incredible long shot” that 1000+ prisoners in Oregon and Louisiana convicted by non-unanimous juries will get new trials. (Case is set for oral argument in November.)Thinking about how gutted they must feel this AM.
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The federal judge also hinted that one of the top BRPD lawyers responsible for this mess, who testified under oath at the evidentiary hearing, maybe just . . . committed perjury? (DOUBLE RUHROH!)
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Finally, many thanks to the other folks in legal academia who reached out in support, both here at
@UVALaw
and around the country. It means the world and I feel privileged to have y’all as colleagues.
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"Felon" is going to be used an awful lot in the next six months; these are two really smart pieces about the word/category.
- "Criminal Terms," by Anna Roberts
- "Farewell to the Felonry," by Alice Ristroph
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I can't think of a more devastating critique of
#8cantwait
police "reforms" than the "Reimagining Policing" section of the Memphis Police Department website.
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A thread about four NOPD officers—Jason Collins, William Knowles, Samuel Senter, and Jordan Sherr—who keep illegally arresting young Black men in New Orleans. (And how bad prosecutors at
@NewOrleansDA
support bad cops.) Them at work: 1/15
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CONTEXT: In May, my clients decided to share video of
@BRPD
abuse. (Think nightmarish CrimPro exam issue-spotter, but real.) I upload & tweet; internet does its thing. So then, BRPD files a stand-alone “contempt” charge against me (literally, no joke, for sharing the footage).
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A 🧵on one of the most remarkable protests / labor stoppages in U.S. history.
73 years ago this week (Feb. 1951), 31 prisoners in solitary confinement at Louisiana State Penitentiary ("Angola") shared a single razor blade, and 1 by 1, slashed their left achilles tendons. 1/9
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Okay, time to get a little nerdy: Federal courts normally won’t halt criminal cases pending in state court, even if they’re unconstitutional. This is called “Younger abstention.” But a narrow exception to this rule applies for charges brought in "bad faith."
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And to compound the irony, this was Scalia's scathing rejoinder to Blackmun's famous "I no longer shall tinker with the machinery of death" dissent. Importantly, Blackmun WASN'T saying he had come to the conclusion that the death penalty could never be morally justified . . .
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The VAST majority of state ct convictions result in sentences that are < 3 yrs. When fed cts take 840 days to issue rulings in a briefed habeas cases, it sends a clear message: there are no real consequences for ignoring the Constitution in state ct, at least in most cases. 5/14
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But Mr. Parker wanted to name names, so… What happened here? In short, a legendary New Orleans judge, Paul Sens, and city prosecutor, Jane Beebe, appear to have (very intentionally) worked together to violate Mr. Parker’s basic constitutional rights. 10/14
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In fact, to get his ruling in "only" 840 days, we had to sue. After 2+ yrs of silence, we petitioned the 5th Cir. for a writ of mandamus. Props to
@UVALaw
students Amalia Garcia-Pretelt and Blair Schaeffer for drafting the thing! 8/14
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Some good news from SCOTUS this AM in the world of prison conditions, but when this is what counts as “good news,” we’re all in trouble. Reversing 5th Cir., prison officials SHOULD know you can’t keep someone in a cell “teeming with human feces” for 6 days. THOMAS, J., dissents.
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Gross.
@NewOrleansDA
fights to keep the poor IN JAIL because
#coronavirus
. If you are an ADA and asked to file, resign. People will die because of this s--t. (And not that it matters, but these are pre-trial detainees in jail because they can't afford bail, not a conviction.)
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P.S. This thread was written by me, but sent out at the request of Mr. Parker. If I’m tweeting about a case/client, it’s at their request.
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