Recently, the U.S. Sentencing Commission voted to adopt changes in the guidelines that judges use in sentencing white collar crimes – to be effective this coming November. The decision came in part as a reaction to the overpopulation crisis in the prison population, and increasing costs of incarceration. The current…
As Baltimore becomes the latest casualty of events transpiring from police brutality, another Justice Department investigation is underway for the multitude of constitutional rights Freddie Gray may have suffered at the hands of police. Most people don’t think of criminal law as being fundamentally intertwined with our basic constitutional rights,…
In California, like every state, it is illegal to possess, distribute, and transport illegal substances that are listed on the Controlled Substances Schedule. These substances include heroin, marijuana, peyote, hash, cocaine, methamphetamine, “magic mushrooms,” and prescription drugs such as Oxycontin (aka “oxy”), Vicodin (Hydrocodone), and stimulants. All drug possession crimes…
As I have blogged before on the status of California’s DUI laws, last week saw a perfect illustration of what happens when one is caught drinking and driving. A 25-year-old San Diego State student by the name of Amber Dlaine McKinney Morgan was rescued by California Highway Patrol (CHP) officers…
In a recent post, we discussed the current events surrounding local rapper “TinyDoo” (real name Brandon Duncan) and his charges of gang conspiracy. Specifically, Mr. Duncan, along with 15 other co-defendants, was charged in connection with gang criminal conspiracy connected with nine shootings that took place in San Diego between…
As reviewed in the previous blog, Miranda rights protects one from compelled self-incrimination, but this right is not absolute. There are certain exceptions to the Miranda rule where police do not have to read you your rights. This means in any of these situations, police will use what you say…
Recently, two civil rights groups (the San Francisco branch of the Council on American-Islamic Relations and the Asian Law Caucus) filed a federal lawsuit against the San Francisco Police Department alleging that a police inspector not only violated department rules and city law whilst working with the FBI’s Joint Terrorism…
Earlier this Week, the California Supreme Court decided unanimously that blanket, statewide bans on where sex offenders may not live (“Jessica’s Law”) violate the constitutional rights of parolees in San Diego County. Jessica’s Law (aka Proposition 83), named after a 9-year-old girl who fell victim to a sex offender who…