Criminal Law Blog
Report on Forfeiture Abuse by State and Federal Law Enforcement Added to Michael Lowe Digital Library Today
Today, a report detailing the abuses of civil forfeiture laws by law enforcement officials in Texas and around the country, including federal agencies, was added to Michael Lowe’s collection in his Digital Library: Policing for Profit, The Abuse of Civil Asset Forfeiture by Institute for Justice 2010
Police Brutality in Texas? Robert Tolan Wins as 1983 Excessive Force Case Returned to Trial by US Supreme Court
Robert Tolan fights for justice. How many other Texans have 1983 excessive force cases against police officers that they are afraid to file? Earlier this month, the United States Supreme Court reversed the decision of our own Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals (the federal appellate court that grades the papers of federal criminal trial courts…
Navarette v. California: Supreme Court Okays Anonymous Tip for Traffic Stop — We’ve All Lost Something Today
Back in January, we warned about what happened today: the United States Supreme Court has okayed police pulling people over to search their vehicles based upon an anonymous tip in the case of Navarette v. California. In February, we were still reeling from the SCOTUS decision in Fernandez, where they found it legally permissible and…
What is the Texas Driver’s Responsibility Surcharge for DWI Cases and Why (Hopefully) Its Days may be Numbered
This week down in Austin, some Texas legislators gave us all hope that something may be done sometime in this decade about the Texas Driver’s Responsiblity Surcharge Program. Fingers crossed. We’ve been discussing the unfairness of the Texas Driver Responsibility Surcharges for years now; check out our prior posts for a history of this state…
Protecting Privacy of Criminal Lawyer and Client Communications: Article by Michael Lowe added to Online Digital Library
Click on the image to visit the Michael Lowe Digital Library to read or download this InDepth Article as well as other documents collected by Michael Lowe online.
FREE EXPUNGEMENT OR SEAL OF TEXAS CRIMINAL RECORDS (FORMS AND MORE) BECAUSE EVERYONE DESERVES A SECOND CHANCE
Criminal records can follow you the rest of your life, and while many will assert that’s how it should be, there are many instances where wiping someone’s slate clean is the fair thing to do — it’s not sneaky or wrong. In fact, expungement of criminal records has been approved and provided for by the…
PROTECTING THE PRIVACY OF CRIMINAL DEFENSE LAWYER – CLIENT COMMUNICATIONS
How Can Criminal Lawyers and Their Clients Protect Their Attorney-Client Communications From Snooping And Hacking? Lawyers, especially criminal defense attorneys, are very careful to protect their communications with clients and potential clients; however, in the past few years technological advancements have made it particularly difficult for both lawyers and clients to insure that their privileged…
Justice Department Comments (34 Pages) to the Proposed Amendments to Federal Sentencing Guidelines Added to Michael Lowe Digital Library
Comments to Proposed Amendments to Federal Sentencing Guidelines by the Justice Department in March 2014
Will The Justice Department Go After Marijuana Grow Operations Using Environmental Laws?
Proposed Increase to Sentencing Guidelines for Marijuana Grow Operations’ Environmental Crimes Supported by DOJ Last week, we discussed the recent statement made by Attorney General Eric Holder regarding the proposed changes to the Federal Sentencing Guidelines proposed by the United States Sentencing Commission. In his appearance before the Commission, the head of the Justice Department…
Major Changes to Federal Drug Crime Sentencing Guidelines Underway: DOJ’s Holder Helps Federal Criminal Defense Lawyers Get Lower Sentences for Drug Defendants
In 1986, Congress passed the Anti-Drug Abuse Act (”ADAA”) which formed a two level (aka two-tiered) formula for use in federal sentencing of certain kinds of drug traffickers. This was the first federal legislation passed as part of the “War on Drugs” (there were others, e.g., the Fair Sentencing Act of 2010). In the ADAA,…
