From here: Eugene Volokh, a professor at UCLA School of Law, told Vocativ in an email that he is “not a fan of most privacy-based speech restrictions,” but said “this law seems quite narrow, and pretty clearly defined.” Seems. There is no “seem” to it. The law says what it says. There is nothing more to it than this. Either you have read it and thought about it and redteamed it to figure out how narrow it is, or you make a handwavy statement to the press about how it “seems.” For those not familiar with the ways of lawyers, this is not an opinion on the constitutionality of the Internet Privacy Protection Act. It’s not at all hard to imagine a “but” following it. Like: …but it is not as clearly defined as it seems. or …but it is not narrow enough to pass First Amendment muster. From the same piece: Similarly, Neil Richards, a First Amendment scholar and law professor at…
2016.023: Law Profs Love Media Attention
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Is It Illegal to Share Your Netflix Password?
Earlier this month, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals issued a decision in U.S. v. Nosal. The decision included an interpretation of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA), 18 U.S.C. § 1030. It’s a lengthy opinion and covers a lot of ground under the CFAA. The defendant in the case, David Nosal, had been […] The post Is It Illegal to Share Your Netflix Password? appeared first on Law Office of David P. Shapiro.
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Hillary Fans the Foremost BLM Hoax
The Black Lives Matter movement took root principally in the shooting death of a an 18 year-old African American, Michael Brown, by Ferguson, MO, Officer Darren Wilson. Wilson was tried in the press and convicted of racist murder: The narrative was, "Hands Up, Don't Shoot": Wilson gunned him down in cold blood while Brown had his hands up in surrender.It was a pack of lies. Brown, who had just committed a small-time robbery of a convenience store and shoved the clerk (half his size) on the way out, did not have his hands up and was not trying to surrender. (The tape of the robbery is here; the shoving episode is at 0:27 to 0:33). To the contrary, moments before the shooting, Brown had tried to wrestle Wilson's gun away, and was on his way back to the patrol car. This is not the finding of Fox News; it's the finding of a grand jury convened by Barack Obama's Justice Department.Brown was 6'4" and weighed 292 pounds.…
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Handgun Purchases Made Easier by New Ohio Law
At Luftman, Heck & Associates, we’re familiar with Ohio’s concealed handgun licensing laws, and we have years of experience helping countless individuals who are facing handgun-related charges. If you’ve been charged with a weapons crime and are seeking representation, consider contacting one of our experienced Ohio weapons crimes attorneys today at . Handgun purchases in [...]The post Handgun Purchases Made Easier by New Ohio Law appeared first on Columbus Criminal Attorney.
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ILLINOIS STALKING AND CYBERSTALKING LAWS DECLARED UNCONSTITUTIONAL
A recent Illinois appellate court has declared both Illinois’s stalking and cyberstalking laws unconstitutional because they lack the element of intent. The Illinois stalking statute made it a crime to knowingly engage in conduct that would cause a reasonable person to fear for their or another’s safety or cause them emotional distress. The cyberstalking statute stated you could be charged if you knowingly and without lawful justification transmited a threat of immediate or future bodily harm, confinement or sexual assault against at person or their family or have caused them to reasonably fear immediate or future harm. In People v Relerford, the appellate court objected to the “reasonable person” language used in the statutes. While that standard is sufficient to prove negligence in a civil case, it does not meet the higher burden of proof required by due process in a criminal case. Instead of merely knowing or what a reasonable person might feel, you…
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Detailing the steady growth in registered sex offenders in Texas
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MARIJUANA CAN STILL GET YOU IN TROUBLE
There is no doubt that laws regarding marijuana are liberalizing. On August 2, 2013, Illinois Governor Patrick Quinn signed the Compassionate Use of Medical Cannabis Act enabling patients with certain debilitating medical conditions to obtain marijuana from licensed dispensaries. In April, 2015, Cook County Prosecutor Anita Alvarez announced that her office would no longer prosecute misdemeanor marijuana offenses. But illegal possession of marijuana can still get you in trouble in several ways. For one thing, Cook County’s decision to ease up on marijuana did not mean an end to all marijuana-related arrests. While the State’s Attorney’s office may now offer treatment instead of jail, this new tolerance does not apply to offenders with a violent history or who are suspected of dealing. Furthermore, the trace law is still on the books. That means if you are in an accident and there is any trace of marijuana in your system, the state does not have to prove…
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News Scan
CA Gang Member on PRCS Arrested for Triple Homicide: A documented gang member freed under California's AB 109 law was arrested last week for fatally shooting three people, including a nine-year-old, on July 8. Doug Saunders of the San Bernardino County Sun reports that Trayvon Eshawn Brown, 26, was arrested last Thursday at the office of his probation officer for gunning down a nine-year-old boy, his father and another man outside a liquor store, allegedly motivated by an ongoing violent history between brown and one of the men. Brown was on Post Release Community Supervision at the time of the shooting, stemming from a June 2013 conviction for an attempt to evade a peace officer with reckless driving. Police Chief Jarrod Burguan said, "We're finding it's a reoccurring thing that we're making contact with these people who are freed on probation." Brown was booked on suspicion of murder.Judge Rails on Prop. 47 During…
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Ex-LA Sheriff's Plea Deal Rejected As Too Lenient
Amanda Lee Myers reports for AP:Minutes after former Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca acknowledged failing the public by lying to federal authorities investigating jail beatings, a judge overseeing his corruption case shocked a packed courtroom Monday by rejecting the ex-lawman's plea agreement as too lenient. Judge Percy Anderson's surprise rejection came at the end of what was supposed to be Baca's sentencing. Under the agreement reached earlier this year with prosecutors, Baca faced a maximum of six months in prison and was eligible for probation.Such a light sentence would "trivialize" the rule of law and would fail to address Baca's "gross abuse of the public's trust," Anderson said."It's one thing to lie," Anderson said. "It's another thing entirely ... when the chief law enforcement officer of the county of Los Angeles is involved in a wide-ranging conspiracy to cover up abuse and…
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How Eyewitnesses Identifications Can Be Manipulated
In a recent blog post, we asked one of the most important questions in criminal law today: How reliable are eyewitnesses? Unfortunately, the answer is “not very.” However, the lack of reliability in an eyewitness only begins to tell the story. This is because, in addition to being inherently unable to perfectly recall what happened during a crime, eyewitnesses are often easily manipulated by police questioning. Here are some examples of how eyewitnesses are manipulated into making damning statements about someone who is suspected of a crime. Photo Arrays A photo array is a binder or computer database full of mugshots and pictures of suspects. Somewhere in the array, supposedly, is the picture of the person suspected of committing the crime. An eyewitness to the crime can sit down and browse through the pictures until they see the person they remember seeing. Unfortunately, there are hundreds of ways of triggering a false positive identification from an eyewitness…
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Public Safety and Political Choices
As Bill noted earlier today, the theme of the opening day of the Republican National Convention is Make America Safe Again. Is America unsafe? Is a change of direction needed? Consider two graphs (click on them for larger views):Biased fact-checkers have assailed Donald Trump's emphasis on law and order, quoting experts citing the data in the first graph, as noted in this post. Yes, crime has fallen since 1993. It is half what it was at the peak, although still far above the golden years of the Ozzie and Harriet era. You don't see an uptick at the end of the graph, do you? But look at the scale. The official numbers are notoriously slow in coming out. The scale ends at 2014. What about the last year and a half?The graph on the right represents crime in the first quarters of 2015 and 2016. It shows violent crime up in every category and a nearly seven percent jump in a single year. These numbers…
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HAPPY DAYS
The first Republican president of the United States, Abraham Lincoln, is remembered for the Emancipation Proclamation, his second "A house divided" inaugural address, and perhaps the greatest speech in recorded history: The Gettysburg Address.Teddy Roosevelt, the 26th president of the United States, started construction of the Panama Canal, wrote and delivered the "Man in the Arena" speech much quoted on this humble blog, and won the Nobel Peace prize for helping end the Russian-Japanese War.At the current Republican convention, someone who works with something called "Duck Dynasty" gave a prime time speech on the first night.President Dwight David Eisenhower, wrote two speeches the night of June 1, 1944, one announcing the successful invasion of Europe, another announcing the failure of the invasion. Two nights later he made perhaps the most momentous decision of the twentieth century, giving the go-ahead for the Allied invasion of France,…
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New Port Richey Couple Accused of Running Investment Scam
A New Port Richey couple has been arrested on charges of organized fraud, grand theft and mortgage fraud tied to the sale of investment offerings in Clearwater. The Florida Office of Financial Regulation announced on Friday the couple is accused of defrauding at least 13 Floridians out of about $500,000. According to the OFR, potential investors were allegedly recruited through “free” real estate investment seminars held at various hotels throughout the Tampa Bay area. At the seminars, attendees were offered investments in an assisted living facility. The facility never came into operation, authorities claim, and instead the pair allegedly used investor funds for personal expenses, including the purchase of a home in New Port Richey. When arrested separately on June 24 and July 13 the man and wife were believed to be recruiting investors for a new venture involving multi-level marketing and real estate projects. The crime of fraud is defined as deceiving another…
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"Another Baltimore Police Officer Acquitted in Freddie Gray Case"
From The New York Times: It was the third straight acquittal, by the same judge, on the same set of facts: On Monday, Lt. Brian Rice, the highest-ranking Baltimore police officer charged in the death of Freddie Gray, was found...
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"Five arrested in connection with Nice attack"
From Jurist: JURIST - Five arrested in connection with Nice attack According to a judicial source, four men believed to be linked to Mohamed Lahouaiej-Bouhlel, a 31-year-old Tunisian who killed 84 people as he drove a truck into a Bastille...
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California’s DUI Education Programs
When a person is convicted of a California DUI, they face a number of penalties one of which is to attend a court-approved DUI program. The most common of inquiries regarding the programs have to do with their duration. The length of the required program depends on the individual facts and circumstances of the case. I would be remiss if I first did not explain that the names of each program relate to the legislative bill that created the program. When a person under the age of 18 is convicted of a California DUI, they may be required to attend AB-803. AB-803 is a 12-hour program that is attended over the course of six weeks. A “wet reckless” conviction is a reduction from an original DUI charge. As such, it may allow for only a 12-hour program called SB-1176 which taken over six weeks. It should be noted that a reduction to a wet reckless will not automatically call for the SB-1176 program. It may be that a longer program will be required by the court. Furthermore,…
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Road Rage: Is Your Life Really Worth It?
I’ve lived in Massachusetts my whole life. I’ve been driving since I was able to get my learner’s permit at age 16 (no, I won’t tell you what year that was…) The point being, I know what it’s like to drive in Massachusetts – and for anyone reading this from the Bay State, you know: It isn’t pretty. Why this is so has been the subject of both serious speculation and jokes (including the well-earned moniker of “Massholes” to describe most Massachusetts drivers.) It used to be true that other parts of the country (with the possible exception of drivers in New York City,) were much tamer and more civil. But this problem is no longer two things: 1) It’s no longer funny – it can be downright life-threatening; and 2) It’s no longer confined to Massachusetts. Like a metastasizing cancer, road rage has rapidly spread to other parts of the country – places where…
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"Heather Mac Donald (Manhattan Institute) guest-blogging about ‘The War on Cops’"
The notice, at The Volokh Conspiracy, previews posts about about her new book, “The War on Cops: How the New Attack on Law and Order Makes Everyone Less Safe.”
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The Alternate Universe Launches in Prime Time
The Republican convention is here. It's like watching an alternate universe. Who are these people and where did they come from? Who do they think they represent? Certainly not Americans or American values. Melania Trump makes her debut... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
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Father Took Son to Thailand, Now Faces Kidnapping Charge in Illinois
A 6-year-old boy from East Moline who was kidnapped in Illinois and taken to Thailand was recently returned home safe and sound. Interestingly, the man who kidnapped the boy is actually his own father. According to WTHITV 10, the boy was not returned to his mother on June 19th after a court arranged visitation with his estranged father. The next day, the East Moline Police Department issued a warrant for the father’s arrest and, after working with several federal agencies, was able to track the father to Bangkok where he had been detained by local authorities for an immigration violation. The kidnapped child was turned over to the U.S. Embassy in Bangkok and was returned to his mother on July 12th. According to the authorities, the father has been charged with kidnapping. Is it Possible to Kidnap Your Own Child? In Illinois, a person can be convicted of kidnapping (720 ILCS 5/10-1) if they knowingly and secretly confine another against his or her will: Continue reading
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