No more DUIs? No more car accidents? No more driving on a suspended license? No more rites of passage like getting your drivers license at 16? You mean the DMV doesn’t exist? Well yes, there could be lots of benefits to the concept car coming out. What concept car you…
Imagine you are driving along and you get pulled over for a registration violation. The police officer asks for your cell phone along with your drivers license and insurance card. You say what? You have a right to have my cell phone?? The officer says, “oh yes I do. You…
Every year the National Trial Lawyers Association creates a list of the top 100 trial lawyers from around the nation. They look for the best and brightest of minds, those who have achieved the unthinkable in determining to fight for their clients’ best interests. The National Trial Lawyers Top 100…
Think secret bail hearings only exist in fiction? Unfortunately the answer is no, even though the 6th amendment to the constitution guarantees everyone the right to a public trial if they’re accused of a criminal act. The United States Supreme Court has long held that this right extends to pre-trial…
It wasn’t too long ago that I cautioned those who were comfortable with law enforcement practices to ask “Who watches the watchers?” On the heels of a nationwide scandal involving the NSA and their blatant violations of our Constitutional rights comes a scandal that strikes much closer to home. 18…
The justice system has to be able to conduct lengthy criminal trials even when important witnesses can’t be there. For example, a typical murder trial will last at least two to three weeks, and may require the testimony of dozens of witnesses. Because of the backlog in our court system,…
Tally another victory for civil liberties and constitutional rights. On Tuesday November 5, 2014, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that a gang injunction in place in Orange County was overly broad and violated an individual’s basic freedoms. An injunction is an order by a court for someone to…
On November 8, 2013, the Los Angeles Times had a headline that read, “34 year wait for justice is over”. The defendant, Kash Register, was convicted of murder in 1979 on the testimony of a woman named Brenda Anderson. Register spent 34 years in State Prison maintaining his innocence. He…
Subvert the criminal justice system. Lie to the judge. Hide evidence. Sounds like a defendant in a criminal case doesn’t it? Who else could it be? If it isn’t the criminal defendant, it must be the much maligned criminal defense attorney, right? You know who he or she is, right?…
Is the government growing a conscience? Our previous blog post discussed the NSA’s very nasty habit of watching everything we do without warrants or permission, and then turning over their information to law enforcement agencies. Well when we asked “who watches the watchers”, it seems like we may have found…