Molly Miller

“Horse trading determines who goes to jail and for how long. That’s what plea bargaining is. It is not some adjunct to the criminal justice system. It is the criminal justice system.” -Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy Imagine going to a baseball game. You grab a beer and a $12 hotdog and mosey your way through die-hard fans in face paint, kids stumbling in oversized jerseys down to their knees, and elderly couples marveling at the stadium’s big screen TVs. The buzz of the crowd fills the stadium, the crisp, fresh air pulses with anticipation. You plop down in your...

You’re driving your car at night, going a cool 35mph in a 25mph zone on a residential street. The streetlights are sparse. The roads are cracked and uneven. You yawn and look down to change the music to something that doesn’t sound plucked from the playlist of your dentist’s waiting room. Then you — dog. There’s a dog in the road in front of you. You swerve. And hit a fire hydrant. A small dent disfigures your bumper. When you take your blemished vehicle in for repair, you tense your jaw waiting for a diagnosis from the mechanic. He tut-tuts...

During the first few days of this Thanksgiving week, the Crime Story Podcast is taking a look back at some of the themes that have emerged in the posts at CrimeStory.com.  Today our theme is “wobblers.”  In an editorial that we posted on October 8, Molly Miller and I wrote:  “Our dedication to examining systemic inequities in the criminal justice system drew us to defendants, their defenders, and their collective Sisyphean struggle against the power and the practice of powerful prosecutors. We were prepared — by the works of Emily Bazelon, James Forman, Jr., and Paul Butler among others —...

This article contains a summary of Darrell Caldwell aka Drakeo the Ruler's criminal case. For a thorough and moving examination of past proceedings we recommend Jeff Weiss' piece on The Fader. On Monday, we published a piece by Kary Antholis examining the potential political implications of Caldwell's case. The Rolling Stones are a criminal street gang. At least they could be considered a criminal street gang under California’s modern gang legislation if it were applied to the band’s behavior in the ‘60s and ‘70s. I don’t mean to offend the fans of almighty dad rock or demonize the band that recorded the...

Editor's note: Later this week, the third trial of rapper Drakeo the Ruler on charges of profiting off of a gang conspiracy (California Penal Code § 182.5) begins in Compton. CRIME STORY will be covering that trial, as the nature of this law and its use by California Prosecutors raise significant Constitutional and Due Process questions. In conjunction with that coverage, we will also be publishing essays about the treatment of rap lyrics and culture by law enforcement in LA. Molly Miller's story below tells the story of the prosecution of 19 year old rapper, Ron Simmons aka Tiny...

The house always wins. Jian Qiao Chen had already lost $3,000 playing Baccarat. He was about to lose even more. But not to a card game. Chen was gambling at the Commerce Casino, an establishment that has a church-basement vibe, complete with matted floral carpeting and rickety, red-cushioned chairs. Guests expecting the glitz of the Vegas strip might describe it as “seedy,” but for serious players, it’s a hub of competition. According to their website, the Commerce Casino is California’s # 1 venue for games of skill. That includes draw poker, blackjack, Texas Hold’em, and Baccarat. No slot machines. The dings...