Posts by BWTBL_admin
The 25th Amendment and Presidential Disability
Join summer intern and law clerk Lauren Pountnay, Serge Antonin, and Clarke Ahlers as they veer off the beaten path of criminal justice issues to discuss something that everybody is discussing: the 25th Amendment to the United States Constitution. This isn’t a political diatribe. One (or maybe two) of the hosts refer to the apparent…
Read MoreSay her name: Rachel Morin
Say her name: Rachel Morin. On August 5th, 2023, Rachel — a mother of five — was murdered while exercising on the Ma & Pa Heritage Trail in Hartford County, Maryland. Rachel’s family turned to Maryland attorney Randolph Rice, the managing partner of Rice, Murtha & Psoras for assistance. In today’s episode, Randolph Rice describes…
Read MoreLive from the United States Courthouse in Wilmington, Delaware: The Biden Trial
Join Serge and Clarke and special guest Lauren Pountnay for this podcast about the Hunter Biden trial. Lauren is a rising senior at N.C. State. She is Clarke’s intern/law clerk for the summer of 2024. Lauren and Clarke attended one day of the Hunter Biden trial in Delaware and are interviewed by Serge about the…
Read MoreDiddy’s Bad Boy Record
In this episode, Serge and Clarke discuss a video of Sean “Diddy” Combs assaulting Cassandra “Cassie” Ventura in the hallway of the L.A. InterContinental Hotel in 2016 as well as the recent Homeland Security search warrant raids on Diddy owned properties in Los Angeles and Miami. Clarke offers Diddy’s team some legal advice. Serge disagrees.…
Read MoreSeason IV — Episode One: Okaloosa Shooting Death & Marilyn Mosby’s Sentencing
Serge and Clarke begin Season IV with a discussion of the tragic shooting death of a United States Airman in his own home by a Deputy Sheriff in Okaloosa, Florida. Then Serge and Clarke discuss the efforts of Marilyn Mosby and her supporters, including the NAACP, to have the President of the United States pardon…
Read MoreArtificial Intelligence Used in Genuine Stupidity and Crime!
In Baltimore County, Maryland a man has been arrested and accused of creating and publishing a recording that purported to be a high school principal making offensive racial remarks to the vice-principal. This is the new world of artificial intelligence and is the topic of a discussion between Serge and Clarke. Be assured: this episode…
Read MoreThe Kenny Somers Story—A Baltimore Tale—Part 2
In part 2 of the podcast, Kenny Somers reflects on the arrest, his incarceration, and his thoughts on the past and future of Baltimore.
Read MoreThe Kenny Somers Story — a Baltimore Tale of a Broken Criminal Justice System
Imagine the following story. “John Doe” steals a car — or more accurately, John Doe steals the same car two times. The car owner, Kenny Somers, a professional automobile recycler, recovers the car the first time and attempts to recover the car a second time. But John Doe has other plans and tries to kill…
Read MoreThe Inside Skinny on a Jury Trial in Manatee County, Florida.
Join Serge and Clarke as they share Nathan Steelman’s experience sitting as a juror in the judgment of a woman charged with domestic violence in Florida. You have heard the expression “I’d rather be judged by 12 than carried by 6.” (Clarke disagrees: he would rather be carried by six than judged by 12). But…
Read MoreThe Tragic Death of NYPD Police Officer Jonathan Diller
Serge and Clarke comment on the murder of Ofc. Diller and update the listeners on renewed efforts on the Columbia Project. Worth a listen.
Read MoreStand Your Ground Doesn’t Legalize Illegal Deadly Force
Serge and Clarke celebrate Easter. We have friends who have a blessed Ramadan. We have friends who we will wish Happy Passover in several weeks. We have re-uploaded an episode. We will be back next week with a brand-new episode. In rural New York, a 65-year-old man fired two shots from his porch killing a…
Read MoreIf Only There Was a Way for Civilians to Experience “Shoot Don’t Shoot.”
Law Enforcement firearms training has historically emphasized reaction time and marksmanship. But the decision to shoot or not shoot is the most fundamental choice the police officer faces in highly stressful situations. For the most part, civilians (who sit in judgment of the police) have not had large-scale access to simulator training. In this week’s…
Read MoreSeize the Day But Don’t Necessarily Take the Bonus
At the request of a listener, Serge and Clarke offer their advice to young people without law enforcement experience who wish to apply to become police officers. People: this is solid advice from two men who have been there.
Read MoreSeven Seconds and One Shot Into a Burglary Investigation and Melvin Jay is Dead.
February 1, 2024 — Prince George’s County, Maryland. Prince George’s County Police Officer Braxton Shelton is dispatched to a burglary in progress at an apartment in Suitland. He arrives within a minute of the dispatch, finds the apartment door ajar, and enters by himself. Seven seconds later Shelton fires one shot killing Melvin Jay, who…
Read MoreWhat’s Worse Than a Criminal With a Handgun? A Criminal with a Glock and Glock Switch.
What is worse than a plethora of undereducated, jobless, and unfocused young men with semi-automatic handguns shooting at each other in cities across America? Answer: A group of undereducated, jobless, and unfocused young men with machine-guns shooting at each other in cities across America. Welcome to the $50 “Glock switch.” This small, inexpensive, and easily…
Read MoreThe CSI Checklist Phone App is the Preeminent Tool for Criminal Investigators
There IS something new under the sun! Tom Mauriello, the mastermind of FORENSIQ, has organized decades of law enforcement expertise in a CSI phone app that is exceptional, affordable, and practical. Any criminal justice stakeholder can access an investigative blueprint for every type of investigation from arson to mass casualty event. In this episode of…
Read MoreOur 100th Episode — Serge, Clarke, and our Listeners Reach a Milestone
The Black and White and Thin Blue Lines podcast began in Spring of 2021 as the effort of Serge Antonin and Clarke Ahlers. The podcast concerns itself with issues of criminal justice, particularly at the intersection of race in America. Since then, Serge and Clarke have learned the technology of podcasting, produced and edited 100…
Read MoreMaryland Fights Crime by Taxing Law-Abiding Citizens and More
The Maryland General Assembly proposes an excise tax on the sale of guns and ammunition, the Howard County Council debates a ceasefire in Gaza, and several state senators propose to eliminate good time credits for a very small number of convicted felons. Is our government fiddling while our community burns? Serge and Clarke add their…
Read MoreA NY City Cop Gets a Complaint When He Doesn’t Write a Ticket
Dateline Harlem: Friday night January 26, 2024, about 6:30 P.M. A NY City police officer stops city councilman Yosef Salaam for unlawfully tinted windows on a BMW sedan. The officer was polite and professional and sent Mr. Salaam on his way after Salaam, the driver, identified himself as a city councilman. Professional courtesy? Presumably so.…
Read MoreTeach Your Children Well
In 1968, Graham Nash, later of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, wrote a song about the difficult relationship he had with his father who was sent to jail for receiving stolen goods. The song “Teach Your Children” has beautiful lyrics including this stanza: “Teach your children well, Their father’s hell did slowly go by, Feed…
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