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Category: Criminal Law Matters
Constitutional/Criminal/Labor: Was the D.C. Circuit’s Reinstatement of Charges Against Blackwater Contractors Legally Correct?
April 24, 2011 / by joe chater / in Constitutional Law Matters, Criminal Law Matters, Employment Law, Halifax Law Articles
Without necessarily attempting to overstate my personal relief over the reinstatement of the charges by the D.C. Circuit, I am turned on to the opinion more for its interpretation upon the precedent in Kastigar v. U.S. As I have used Kastigar and its principles to assist in the defense of police and firefighters who have been compelled to provide s
Read moreOpen Forum: Sexting Issues Discussion
April 8, 2011 / by joe chater / in Constitutional Law Matters, Criminal Law Matters, Halifax Law Articles
Last evening, some of the students in my Constitutional Law II course at UCF asked several, challenging questions regarding the constitutional prohibition on child porn, and the enforcement mechanisms used by the States on sexting offenses. For those unaware, “sexting” is the process of text messaging to another various sexually expli
Read moreConstitutional/Civil Rights: Justice Thomas and the Meanness (and Irrationality) of His Connick Opinion
April 6, 2011 / by joe chater / in Constitutional Law Matters, Criminal Law Matters, Halifax Law Articles
This Court term is getting progressively worse. I am incredulous; a warping of the facts, a defense of prosecutorial misconduct, and a complete vacuum of sympathy or empathy to the individual almost put to death. http://www.slate.com/id/2290036/pagenum/all/ Special acknowledgment to Slate.com and its reporter, Dahlia Lithwick: In 1985, John Thomp
Read moreCriminal Law: Florida City’s Law Enforcement Relying Upon Skype and Email to Obtain Warrants
I am still uncertain of what to make of this. Apparently, police in Palm Bay, a medium-sized town located in Brevard County, Florida (Brevard County also being the location of Cape Canaveral/Cape Kennedy), are using email and Skype to obtain warrants — while still on the scene. There are obvious advantages for law enforcement attempting t
Read moreFederal Criminal Defense: Evidence of Post-Sentence Rehabilitation Admissible for Consideration on Re-Sentencing
Good decision, as the ability of a convicted federal offender to rehabilitate him/herself is likely a concern on the minds of several federal judges. Positive evidence of such rehabilitative efforts should be considered in an effort by the offender to mitigate the punishment that is to be (re)meted out. Again, credit to JURIST: http://jurist.or
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