Is the State ripping your children away from you? It’s an almost unbelievable situation. First you’re dealing with the trauma of being arrested and accused of something you didn’t do, and then all of a sudden you get released from jail and realize the State has decided to remove your…
The Fourth Amendment to the Constitution provides that we have the right to feel safe from unreasonable searches, and where a search warrant is issued, that it must be supported by probable cause and be specific. A search conducted without a warrant is presumptively unreasonable unless it meets one of…
It has recently been proposed that the legal blood alcohol limit in the United States for driving be lowered to a .05 from a .08. All 50 states now adhere to the .08 BA level. This would be a radical downward departure from the previous level of .08. How much…
The court system has suffered profound funding losses in the past several years. Year after year the legislature cuts the court’s funding until now it has reached crisis proportions. Layoffs of court personnel have caused delays in access to the court by the public. Delays will soon turn into denial…
Recently an 18 year old appeared by way of a video arraignment. She was in jail and the judge was in the courtroom. The original charge was pretty simple. However, she was in jail having just been arrested the night before. The Defendant was standing at the podium in the…
Drones are unmanned flying platforms. From these flying vehicles missiles can be launched, cameras installed so they are aerial surveillance vehicles, and listening devices activated. Developed for the battlefield, they are deadly when used against targets while not endangering their human pilots. The drones are controlled remotely from across the…
There has been a lot of publicity over the case in Florida where the unarmed teenager, Trayvon Martin, was killed during a confrontation with George Zimmerman, the neighborhood watch member. Florida’s “Stand Your Ground” law has been used as an argument to justify the shooting of this young man. What…
Alaska Senator Ted Stevens was prosecuted for corruption in office by the United States Attorney’s Office. He allegedly failed to disclose gifts made to him. He was found guilty following a jury trial. The jury based their decision on what was provided to Stevens’ defense team. However, what Stevens and…
The United States Supreme Court on January 11, 2012, rendered a decision in Perry v. New Hampshire, that limits the ability of the defense to successfully attack a suggestive or unreliable identification of the defendant by an eyewitness. Eyewitness identification has long been the subject of commentary and even experiments.…
Recently, a video was seen on television showing a Los Angeles Sheriff’s Deputy questioning a woman on a train. The woman was facing two deputies. One was a woman and one a man. Both deputies were in uniform and both were substantially larger than the woman they were contacting. During…