Archive for the ‘Legal Issues’ Category

Miranda: The Definition of Irony

Saturday, June 8th, 2013

After several decades, Ernesto Miranda, the namesake of the "Miranda Warnings", is still probably one of the better known modern criminals. His case, which was combined with several other similar cases being brought before the U.S. Supreme Court, resulted in the necessity to inform suspects that they have a right ...

Whitaker v. Commonwealth of Virginia

Tuesday, July 19th, 2011

Dr. Jack Call of Radford University, located in Radford, VA, has been kind enough to allow me to re-publish an article he wrote concerning legal issues pertaining to fleeing subjects in high crime areas. As usual, Dr. Call's article is very insightful and practical for the cop on the ...

Can You Complain About Boss On Facebook?

Wednesday, November 10th, 2010

The National Labor Relations Board filed a complaint against American Medical Response after the company fired an employee who criticized her supervisor on Facebook. This is the first time the Labor Board has taken the side of an employee by contending comments made on a social networking site are ...

US Appeals Court Says No To GPS Tracking Without Warrant

Tuesday, August 10th, 2010

A US appeals court ruled Friday that police cannot track a suspect using GPS technology without a warrant, tossing out the conviction of a man arrested for drug dealing. The US Court of Appeals in Washington overturned the 2008 conviction of Antoine Jones, saying police violated his constitutional rights by tracking ...

Travis Stacey Whitehead v. Virginia

Monday, November 9th, 2009

In this case, the Virginia Supreme Court ruled that a positive alert on a vehicle by a trained narcotics detection dog, combined with the subsequent fruitless searches of the vehicle, the driver, and two other passengers, does not provide sufficient particularized probable cause to allow a search of the only ...

Bye, Bye Belton

Saturday, October 31st, 2009

Years ago, while working an off-duty job in an apartment complex, I discovered a subject sitting in a vehicle on the property. The vehicle did not have a decal identifying it as a vehicle that belonged to a resident so I approached the vehicle and asked the occupant for ...

U. S. Supreme Court Ruling: Montejo v. Louisiana

Thursday, June 18th, 2009

I have been remiss in posting this recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling. I think, as mentioned by the Charlottesville, VA Commonwealth Attorney, the operational policies of most jurisdictions will not be impacted by this ruling. However, agencies who do not adhere to a policy of not interviewing defendants ...

Arizona v. Gant – Additional Commentary From VACP

Saturday, April 25th, 2009

The Virgina Association of Chiefs of Police has issued the following additional commentary concerning Arizona v. Gant. In Arizona v. Gant decided by the United States Supreme Court this week, there is a sentence in the majority opinion which is creating a misconception by the media as well as numerous law ...

New Law Authorizes Credit Freeze

Tuesday, May 6th, 2008

The 2008 Virginia General Assembly passed HB1311 that authorizes any consumer to freeze access to his credit report. If a consumer has placed a freeze on his credit report, a consumer reporting agency is prohibited from releasing the credit report, or any information in it, without the consumer's express authorization. ...

No Sex For Kids But Violence Is OK

Sunday, August 26th, 2007

Politicians or public servants? Are our elected officials working for themselves or working for the voters? The answers to these questions depend on the character and values of your representative. However, make no mistake - the degree of enthusiasm with which an elected official pursues an issue ...

As Simple As Black And White

Saturday, August 18th, 2007

The word miscegenation is derived from the Latin words miscere “to mix” and genus “kind”. Don't get excited - it isn't your "vocabulary word of the day", you won't have to use it three times in a sentence and there won't be a quiz. However, it is ...

VML Brief Cases – Summer 2007

Monday, August 6th, 2007

Rusty McGuire provides us with more analysis of recently decided court cases. Take a minute to review the Brief Cases file attached to this post. CLICK HERE: VML Brief Cases - Summer 2007

Police Can Ram To End High-Speed Chases

Monday, April 30th, 2007

The cops have been given permission to use their discretion concerning the use ramming tactics to end high-speed chases and they no longer need to fear being sued by the fleeing bad guy (or gal). The US Supreme Court made an important ruling defining Fourth Amendment protections against unreasonable searches and ...

California Cyberstalking Law May Be Model

Friday, April 27th, 2007

California legislators are considering a new law that would extend the state's antistalking laws to prevent individuals from using websites and social networking sites such as MySpace.com and Craigslist to deliberately incite harassment or abuse against an individual. (See AB 919) The prohibited harassment includes the posting of digital images ...