Criminal Law Blog & News
Check this page often for the latest in Florida criminal law info & crime history of the day!
Barbara Blount-Powell
How to Lose Your License Without Even Driving
There may be 50 ways to leave your lover, but driving away may not be one of them if you have violated a number of non-driving laws/regulations in the State of Florida. It is reasonable to guess that violating civil or criminal traffic laws or using a motor vehicle to commit a crime might be cause to suspend one’s license, but many other reasons may provoke a revocation of one’s driving privilege.
Support for Marijuana Legalization Growing in Popularity
Gallup reports that fully 50% of those polled support the decriminalization of marijuana. With arrests for cannabis increasing three fold since 1991, support for decriminalization has risen.
Vaporize not Mirandize
The fear of terrorism and the rise of new police powers in the wake of 9/11 has resulted in the increasing militarization of local law enforcement, and the application of terrorism powers in the domestic "War on Drugs". The New York magazine and the Huffington Post examine this trend in current articles, finding a disturbing change in our domestic police culture from protect and serve to officer safety.
To read the full Huffington Post article click here.
1st Amendment Ruling Upholds Right of Citizens to Record Police Behavior
The 1st Circuit Court of Appeal upheld the ruling of a Massachusetts district court that denied immunity from suit to police officers for arresting a man who video recorded their arrest of a person on the Boston Common. Given the public nature of their job and the public setting of the arrest that was being filmed, the federal appellate court spurned their claim that they should be immune from suit for arresting and jailing the videographer for a felony.
