18 Sunday May 2014
Posted in Criminal Law, First Amendment
≈ Comments Off on Court Bars Woman From Facebook. First Amendment Violation?
Woman Barred From Ranting About Family On Facebook, by Matt Moreno, NEWSY
http://www.newsy.com/videos/0518facebook/
Hate it when people rant on Facebook? Well, one New Jersey mom has actually been banned from doing just that.
A judge has ordered one unidentified woman not to go on Facebook rants about her children or ex-husband. . . .
13 Sunday Apr 2014
Posted in Criminal Law, Drug Possession, Fourth Amendment - Search & Seizure, Governmental Tort Claim Act, Probable Cause
≈ Comments Off on Smelling Pot From A Moving Car With Closed Windows.
Tags
CrimProf Blog, CrimProf BlogEditor, Fourth Amendment, Law Enforcement, Marijuana, Police, Probable Cause, Washington Post
Smelling Pot From A Moving Car With Closed Windows, By CrimProf BlogEditor, CrimProf Blog
FourthAmendment.com links to this piece at the Washington Post, discussing the ease with which police can stop cars that they suspect might be carrying drugs. Among the most interesting aspects is the discussion of cases in which cops in moving cars with closed windows claim to smell pot in other moving cars with closed windows. . . .
26 Wednesday Feb 2014
Tags
Anti-Gay Bill, Arizona, Center for Arizona Policy, Discrimination, Gender Discrimination, Governor Jan Brewer, Jeff Flake, John McCain, Mitt Romney, Religious Liberty, Secretary of State John Kerry, Senate Bill 1062, Super Bowl
Arizona Governor Vetoes Anti-Gay Bill, by Dan Nowicki, Yvonne Wingett Sanchez, and Alia Beard Rau, The Arizona Republic, USA Today
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/02/26/arizona-governor-vetoes-anti-gay-bill/5849187/
It will be interesting to see how Arizona Governor Jan Brewer’s veto will affect similar legislation in other states, such as Oklahoma, Idaho, and Kansas, and if the pressure from businesses and the public have not already done so. -CCE
Facing intense pressure from political and business interests and a growing public outcry, Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer announced Wednesday that she had vetoed a bill that would have allowed businesses to refuse service to gays and others based on religious beliefs.
Brewer said the bill was unnecessary legislation that threatened the state’s recovering economy by driving away high-profile events such as next year’s Super Bowl and corporations looking to relocate to Arizona.
“Religious liberty is a core American and Arizona value — so is non-discrimination,” Brewer said at a news conference announcing the veto. She said the proposed law, known as Senate Bill 1062, was too broadly worded and could have resulted in “unintended and negative consequences.” . . .
22 Saturday Feb 2014
Posted in Gun Control Laws, Stand Your Ground Law
≈ Comments Off on The Effect of Missouri’s Gun Law Change.
Tags
CNN, Daniel Webster, Duke University, Firearm Homicides, Gangs, Gun Control, Handgun Purchasing Supplier, Jason Miks, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Policy and Research, Licensed Gun Dealer, Missouri, Philip Cook, Public Safety, Right To Carry, Stand Your Ground Law
What Missouri’s Gun Law Change Did, by Daniel Webster, Special to CNN, post by Jason Miks, CNN
CNN Editor’s note: Daniel Webster is director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Policy and Research and Professor of Health Policy and Management at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. The views expressed are his own.
Many Americans have a built in bias when they’re considering the potential for gun laws to reduce violence. After all, our TV screens are regularly filled with stories about gun violence – a gang member suspected in a triple shooting in South Chicago, an estranged husband murders a woman and then commits suicide, a shooting at local night club, scores dead and injured after a gunman opens fire in a crowded movie theater.
So it might seem logical that with so many dangerous people apparently determined to kill, and so many guns already in circulation and available to those individuals, that efforts to prevent killings through gun laws are futile. It’s an idea encouraged by the rhetoric of the National Rifle Association and others who argue that criminals, by definition, won’t obey gun laws.
But our perceptions of reality can be distorted by the things that we don’t see every day – what the media does not or cannot report. For example, aside from the FBI’s records of the number of individuals who don’t pass background checks when attempting to purchase a firearm, we simply cannot know how many people don’t even try to buy a gun because they are disqualified from possessing guns.
16 Sunday Feb 2014
Posted in Constitution, Second Amendment
≈ Comments Off on Got Your Gun? OSBI Launched Self-Defense Act License Online Application System.
Tags
eGovernment, Gun Control, Handgun License, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation, Online Gun License, OSBI, Second Amendment, Self-Defense Act
Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation Offers Online Gun License Application, OK.gov
Applying for an Oklahoma gun license just got easier. The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation (OSBI) has launched the Self-Defense Act (SDA) License Online Application system. The system allows users to submit applications to apply for or renew a handgun license. The online application can be accessed on the OSBI website at http://www.ok.gov/osbi.
Last year, more than 60,000 Oklahomans applied for a gun license. To deal with the influx of applications, OSBI hired more temporary and full-time staff for the unit and added a night shift. The online application will expedite and streamline the process.
The online service is a product of a partnership between the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation and OK.gov, Oklahoma’s official website managed by the eGovernment firm, NIC Inc. (Nasdaq: EGOV). The actual launch date of the online application system was January 14, 2014. . . .
15 Saturday Feb 2014
Posted in Constitution, First Amendment, Municipal Code, Municipal Law, Panhandling
≈ Comments Off on Federal Court Rejects Portland’s Panhandling Ordinance.
Tags
Anti-Camping, First Amendment, Homeless, Mayor Charlie Hales, Muncipality, Oregon, Panhandlers, Portland, U.S. Constitution, U.S. District Judge George Z. Singal
Our View: Rejection Of Median-Strip Panhandling Ban Right Call For Portland, Portland Press Herald
It is estimated that 4,000 homeless people sleep on Portland’s streets. Portland’s Mayor Charlie Hales has been taking various measures since last summer to address with Portland’s homeless situation. Mayor Hales has said he wants to crack down on homeless camps by increasing homeless shelters, but has not set any specific amount for pay for shelters.
The Mayor’s anti-camping law allows police to “sweep” homeless on sidewalks. In a “sweep,” the police discard the homeless’ few possessions, including warm clothing and blankets, in spite of the number of homeless who have frozen to death.
Mayor Hales says this law is not about homelessness but about lawlessness. Unfortunately for Mayor Hales, his actions have galvanized grass roots protesters to head this week towards City Hall with – literally – pitchforks and torches.
To the Portland Police Department’s credit, it responded to the recent extremely cold conditions by moving people to shelter. The Fire Department also did its part to help. Normally around 1,000 shelter beds are available for the homeless, but various agencies, such as the Red Cross, provided 350 more shelter beds.
This will, I hope, give you an idea of the scope of the homeless situation in Portland, the struggle to address it, and set the stage for the case discussed in this post from the Portland Press Herald. An ordinance forbidding panhandling purportedly to address “public safety” has been struck down by a federal judge in support of the First Amendment. -CCE
There is something disturbing about seeing men and women standing near the roadway holding signs and asking for help. It’s hard to ignore a median-strip panhandler when you are sitting in a car stopped at a red light. It makes some people feel angry, others threatened.
Moving panhandlers off the median strips did not fix any of the real problems of poverty in Portland, but neither does knocking down the ordinance that banned them. City leaders should keep working to address the real problems of homelessness and extreme poverty.
But that’s not enough to override the First Amendment to the Constitution, according to U.S. District Judge George Z. Singal. In his ruling Wednesday, Singal struck down a Portland ordinance that banned standing in median strips by pedestrians as ‘content-based restriction on free speech.’
Judge Singal saw right through the city’s claim that the goal of the ordinance was to protect public safety, correctly pointing out that the ordinance did not prohibit people from posting campaign signs on the medians, which is at least as dangerous as standing still. . . .
14 Friday Feb 2014
Posted in Appellate Law, Constitution, Second Amendment, United States Supreme Court
≈ Comments Off on Did 9th Circuit Kill Gun Control In Response to 7th Circuit Case?
Did The 9th Circuit Court Just Kill Gun Control?, by Michael McGough, Los Angeles Times – Opinion
Last year, after the U.S. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals struck down Illinois’ blanket ban on the carrying of “ready to use” guns outside the home, a Los Angeles Times editorial said this:
‘Even if it were affirmed by the Supreme Court, the 7th Circuit’s decision probably wouldn’t threaten most state laws that impose sensible restrictions on the carrying of firearms. (In California, applicants for a ‘carry a concealed weapon’ permit must prove that they are of ‘good moral character,’ have sufficient cause to carry a weapon and have received firearms training.)’
We were wrong — sort of.
02 Sunday Feb 2014
Posted in 1st Circuit Court of Appeals, 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, Android Phones, California Supreme Court, Cell Phones, Constitution, Florida Supreme Court, Fourth Amendment - Search & Seizure, Georgia Supreme Court, iPad, iPhones, Legal Technology, Massachusetts Supreme Court, Ohio Supreme Court, Privacy, Tablets, United States Supreme Court
≈ Comments Off on Can Law Enforcement Search A Cell Phone Without A Warrant?
Tags
California Supreme Court, Cell Phones, Fifth U.S. Court of Appeals, First U.S. Court of Appeals, Florida Supreme Court, Fourth Amendment, Fourth U.S. Court of Appeals, Georgia Supreme Court, Kwame Opam, Law Enforcement, Massachusetts Supreme Court, Ohio Supreme Court, Police, Probable Cause, Search and Seizure, Seventh U.S. Court of Appeals, The Verge, U.S. Supreme Court
Supreme Court Will Decide If Warrantless Cellphone Searches Are Constitutional, by Kwame Opam, The Verge
The United States Supreme Court will rule on two cases on whether a warrantless search of cell phones is legal under the Constitution. The U.S. Supreme Court’s decisions will impact Fourth Amendment search and seizure procedures for law enforcement – must police first obtain a search warrant to access the data on an arrestee’s cell phone? May a cell phone and its digital data be used as evidence?
At this time, both federal circuit courts and state supreme courts disagree as to whether the police can search a cell phone without a warrant. The Fourth, Fifth, and Seventh U.S. Court of Appeals, together with the Supreme Courts of Georgia, California, and Massachusetts say yes, they can. The First Circuit Court of Appeals and the Supreme Courts of Florida and Ohio disagree.
The courts are not the only ones paying close attention to the outcome of these two cases. Several organizations and others are concerned about maintaining privacy of digital devices and data. Law enforcement is in favor a final decision allowing warrantless searches on cell phones if there is probable cause.
The Supreme Court may rule as early as April 2014. -CCE
22 Wednesday Jan 2014
Posted in Appellate Law, Criminal Law, Evidence, Excessive Force, Fourth Amendment - Search & Seizure, Governmental Tort Claim Act, Litigation
≈ Comments Off on Second Circuit Denies Officers’ Qualified Immunity.
Tags
Adam Klasfeld, Confidential Informant, Courthouse News Service, Drug Paraphernalia, Drugs, Excessive Use of Force, Fourth Amendment, No Knock Warrant, Qualified Immunity, U.S. District Judge Lawrence Kahn, U.S. District Judge Rosemary Pooler, United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, Weapons
Botched Drug Bust Sends Investigator to Court, By Adam Klasfeld, Courthouse News Service
http://www.courthousenews.com/2014/01/22/64741.htm
When law enforcement execute a search warrant on a residence, officers can use the “knock and announce” rule. Police knock on the door, announce their intent to enter, and wait a “reasonable time” for the resident to open the door. Obviously, this approach has its drawbacks. Officers’ announcement of their presence before entering the residence can cause possible destruction of evidence and/or endanger the officers or others.
Law enforcement has another option – the “no knock” rule, which is just what it sounds like. Officers can obtain a search warrant to enter without knocking and announcing their presence or intentions before entering the residence. To obtain a no-knock warrant, the officers need to prove to the judge issuing the warrant that the officers are not disregarding reliable information indicating that this type of use of force is inappropriate. When procedures are properly followed, the involved officers have qualified immunity if the homeowner later sues for damages or excessive use of force under the Fourth Amendment.
When issuing a no-knock warrant, the police kick in or knock down the door to enter the residence. Regardless of the method, the door is often completely knocked off its hinges. In this Second Circuit case, the effect was even more dramatic. Around 6 a.m., Ms. McColley, a mother, and her young daughter woke to the sounds of the police knocking down the front door and the explosion of a flash bang grenade. -CCE
An immunity defense is premature for the drug investigator who led a turbulent raid on the apartment of a family with no criminal history, the 2nd Circuit ruled.
* * *
Michael Riley, an investigator for the Rensselaer County Drug & Gang Task Force, obtained the warrant days earlier based on the word of a confidential informant.
Though the CI claimed to have bought crack-cocaine from a man named Sport at the apartment, Riley conducted a background check on the property that revealed McColley as the tenant with her spotless record and young child.
He applied for the no-knock warrant anyway without mentioning the background check, the two-judge majority found.
‘The search of McColley’s home did not uncover any money, weapons, drugs, drug-related paraphernalia, or any evidence of criminality of any kind,’ Judge Rosemary Pooler wrote for the court. ‘The ERT took only a National Grid electric and gas bill and a registration bill for Hudson Valley Community College as fruits of the search.’
Accused of violating McColley’s Fourth Amendment rights, Rensaleer and Riley claimed qualified immunity, but U.S. District Judge Lawrence Kahn denied them summary judgment.
19 Sunday Jan 2014
Posted in First Amendment
≈ Comments Off on North Carolina’s “Woman’s Right to Know Act” Unconstitutional Under First Amendment.
Tags
Abortion, City University of New York, Constitutional Law Prof Blog, First Amendment, North Carolina Supreme Court, Ruthann Robson, Stuart v. Loomis, The Woman's Right to Know Act, U.S. District Judge Catherine Eagles, Ultrasound
Federal District Judge Invalidates North Carolina Abortion Provision on First Amendment Grounds, by Ruthann Robson, City University of New York, Constitutional Law Prof Blog
In her opinion in Stuart v. Loomis, United States District Judge Catherine Eagles held the ‘speech and display’ provisions of North Carolina’s ‘The Woman’s Right to Know Act’ unconstitutional under the First Amendment. . . .
14 Tuesday Jan 2014
Posted in Constitution, Fourteenth Amendment Equal Protection
≈ Comments Off on Federal Court Rules Oklahoma Same Sex Marriage is Constitutional.
Tags
Carl Tobias, Defense of Marriage Act, Mary Fallin, Oklahoma, Same Sex Marriage, U.S. District Court Judge Terence Kern, U.S. District Judge Robert Shelby, U.S. Supreme Court, United States v. Windsor, Utah
Federal Judge: Oklahoma Ban On Same-Sex Marriage Unconstitutional, by Greg Botelho, CNN
http://www.cnn.com/2014/01/14/justice/oklahoma-gay-marriage/
Oklahoma’s Governor, Mary Fallin, expressed her disappointment with the federal court’s ruling even though the Court’s decision was not a complete victory for same sex couples. -CCE
A federal judge ruled Tuesday that an Oklahoma law limiting marriage to heterosexual couples violates the U.S. Constitution, giving yet another victory to same-sex marriage supporters.
U.S. District Court Judge Terence Kern said the court would not immediately enforce this ruling — therefore not opening the doors right away to marriages of gay and lesbian couples in Oklahoma — pending appeals. Still, he delivered a clear opinion on how the voter-approved Oklahoma state constitutional amendment relates to the U.S. Constitution.
‘The Court holds that Oklahoma’s constitutional amendment limiting marriage to opposite-sex couples violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution,’ the judge wrote, saying that protection ‘is at the very heart of our legal system.’
11 Saturday Jan 2014
Posted in Closing Argument, Cross-Examination, Direct Examination, First Amendment, Jury Instructions, Legal Writing, Making Objections, Opening Argument, Trial Tips and Techniques, Voir Dire
≈ Comments Off on Framing Your Legal Arguments To Persuade.
Tags
A&E, Chris Kluwe, Dr. Ken Broda-Bahm, Duck Dynasty, Free Speech, Minnesota Vikings, Persuasive Litigator, Phil Robertson, Trial Tips and Techniques
Frame It As “Freedom with Consequences,” by Dr. Ken Broda-Bahm, Persuasive Litigator
Ducks and Vikings have been prominent recently on the free expression front of the culture wars. The ‘Duck’ would be Duck Dynasty’s reality star Phil Robertson, who’s recent comments on homosexuality and race caused his network, A & E, to briefly suspend him from the show. The ‘Viking’ would be former Minnesota Vikings punter Chris Kluwe, who was released by the team after controversy following an editorial he wrote in favor of marriage equality. While Kluwe lost his job and Robertson kept his, the similarity in the cases is that both were framed in the public sphere as a question of free expression. But it is less the question of whether Robertson and Kluwe have free speech, but whether they have freedom from the employment consequences of that speech.
09 Saturday Nov 2013
Posted in First Amendment, Legal Writing, Motions in Limine, Trial Tips and Techniques
≈ Comments Off on A Rose by Any Other Name . . . .
Tags
Hercurles and the Umpire, Hon. George Richard Kopf, Motion in Limine, Name Designations, Tennessee Supreme Court
Counsel on both sides petition the Court to be called “specific” names. The jury, as juries sometimes do, may be able to think of some on its own. CCE
A response to a motion in limine that I wish I had received, by Hon. George Richard Kofp, Hercules and the umpire Blog
01 Friday Nov 2013
Posted in First Amendment, Jury Instructions, Law Firm Web Sites, Law Office Management, Legal Ethics, Marketing, Trial Tips and Techniques
≈ Comments Off on During Trial, Court Should Have Admonished Jury Not to Google Plaintiff’s Lawyer Rather than Ordering Removal of Verdict Successes from Attorney’s Website
Jurors Might Google Law Firm’s Website, but Judge Can’t Censor It During Trial, by Scott Graham, The Recorder (with hat tip to Allen Mihecoby, CLAS, RP® on LinkedIn)
[T]the decision sets new boundaries in an area of increasing concern for trial attorneys and judges: the balance between attorney free speech rights and potential jury contamination in a networked world.
21 Monday Oct 2013
Posted in Excessive Force, Governmental Tort Claim Act, Municipal Law
≈ Comments Off on Cleveland Police Chief suspends 63 of 104 officers involved high-speed car chase and fatal shooting of driver and passenger.
Cleveland police to suspend 63 officers after fatal car chase, by Kim Palmer, Reuters
http://reut.rs/1fALXdr
The Researching Paralegal 
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