Maybe the sums paid for police misconduct awards should be paid out of that law enforcement agency’s budget? If you ran a business which regularly had to pay out significant sums to settle lawsuits over alleged misconduct by your employees, what might you want to do to address that? Wouldn’t you want to know which […]
The Criminal & College Discipline Blog
An attorneys blog about criminal law and procedure, college discipline, Title IX and cases of Interest
Article: Options for Dealing with a Criminal Record: Expungement and Sealing in New York
Having an arrest or criminal conviction record can hurt your future in many ways: blocking your ability to find employment, or hold certain professional licenses, to mention just a few. New York law provides a few ways to wipe out criminal records or shield them from public view. About 40 states have procedures for expunging […]
Article: Justice Department Restricts Program Giving Police Incentives for Warrantless Seizures
On January 15, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced it was cutting back on a long-running and increasingly criticized federal program encouraging state and local police without warrants to seize cash and property from persons suspected of criminal activity. Many states have civil asset forfeiture laws, which the DOJ action does not affect. But the […]
Article: Report: Tougher Drug Sentences Produce Crowded Federal Prisons
Since 1980, the population of U.S. federal prisons has climbed nearly eightfold. A recent report by the Congressionally-created Task Force on Federal Corrections attributes most of the growth in federal prison populations to two factors, both related to drug-crime sentencing. First, drug offenders make up the lion’s share of those in federal prisons. At the […]
Article: You Want Fries with That Distracted Driving Charge?
Think of distracted driving, and you’ll probably get a mental image of someone talking on a cellphone behind the wheel, or a driver texting a message or fiddling with some electronic gadget. Chances are, you won’t think of a motorist chewing on a juicy burger – but that’s exactly what recently earned one driver a […]
Article: New York Senator Sponsors Federal Marijuana Law Reform
Three Senators Offer Chamber’s First Broad Marijuana Reform Bill An unusual group of three Senators — lead sponsor Cory Booker (D-NJ), Kristen Gillibrand (D-NY) and potential presidential hopeful Rand Paul (R-KY) — with a March 10 joint press conference announced introduction of a far-reaching marijuana law reform bill, the first of its kind offered in […]
Article: Law Enforcement Agencies Make Wide Use of Social Media
With nearly everyone in the known universe using social media, it should be no surprise law enforcement agencies are too. You may still be able to find flyspecked most-wanted notices tacked onto a wall in a post office or federal building, but many police agencies have updated for the digital age. Besides hunting for a […]
Article: Cannabis Chaos in Washington D.C. ???
It’s clear District of Columbia voters last November overwhelmingly approved a ballot measure (Initiative 71) to let residents age 21 and up legally possess as much as two ounces of marijuana for personal use, cultivate up to three mature plants, and give up to an ounce to other adults without compensation (selling would remain illegal). […]
Article: What You Should Know about Your Miranda Rights
You’ve seen it scores of times, in crime stories on TV and in movies. After collaring a suspect, the detective reels off a now familiar warning, telling the arrestee of his right to remain silent, reminding him anything he says can be used against him in court, mentioning the rights to have a lawyer present […]
Article: “Leandra’s Law” Sets Harsh Penalties for Impaired Drivers with Young Passengers
Since the 2009 enactment of Child Passenger Protection Act, more commonly known as “Leandra’s Law,” New York has made it an automatic felony to be impaired by alcohol or drugs while driving a child below the age of 16. Hailed by proponents as the nation’s toughest penalty for impaired drivers with child passengers, Leandra’s Law […]