Poor Richard's Law Blog is intended as a place for sharing ideas and promoting discussion of American constitutional and criminal law issues.  Poor Richard believes adherence to fundamental principles of judicial decision making is essential to the continued viability and legitimacy of the American courts, both state and federal.  Too often, fundamental principles are either discarded or ignored by judges seeking to obtain a particular result.  Justice, however, is not defined by the result reached in any particular case, but by the process employed.  Only if the process is fair and just can the outcome be considered fair and just as well.  The focus of this blog will be the critical analysis of federal and state appellate decisions, including decisions of the United States Supreme Court, and whether those decisions comport with the most basic principles applicable to decision making by judicial body.