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August 18, 2009

A great new blog for resources on criminal informants, aka snitches

CrimProf Alexandra Natapoff has done ground-breaking work on criminal informants in articles and a book, and I am pleased to learn that she has now brought her expertise to the webvia a new blog called Snitching Blog.   An introductory post here provides details of the project:

Snitching Blog is about a part of our criminal system that most people know little or nothing about: criminal informants, or snitches.  At any given moment, thousands of informants are trying to work off their own criminal liability by giving information to the government. These informants may be in court, in prison, on the street, or in the workplace.  Police and prosecutors often rely heavily on information obtained from snitches — especially in drug enforcement but also in white collar crime, organized crime, and terrorism investigations.  In fact, it is impossible to fully understand the U.S. legal system without understanding snitching.  Nevertheless, there is very little public information available about this important public policy.  That's where Snitching Blog comes in.

This blog does a bunch of things.  It discusses how snitching works — on paper and in reality. It provides resources to individuals, lawyers, law enforcment, and legislators — check out the links on the left.  It covers current events and news stories. And it lets you share your own experiences by posting a "Testimonial" — click on the link at the right.

Looks like I have another regular must-read to add to my blog browsing, especially since so many big sentencing cases have a snitching element.  For example, Sasha has this recent post on the Troy Davis case, titled "Troy Davis Gets a Hearing — Recantation Redux."

August 18, 2009 at 09:03 PM | Permalink

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Comments

Excellent.

Posted by: JC | Aug 18, 2009 10:58:53 PM

I am a San Diego Criminal Attorney and found your piece very informative. There were a few things in there that I have not read anywhere else. Definitely going to check out the rest of your site! Thanks.

Posted by: San Diego criminal attorney | Mar 4, 2010 4:30:54 AM

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