Would-be law would have banned all pipes in one state

  • On June 27, 2013
When compared with many other states, it is no secret — in fact, it is easily perceived and readily noted by even a quick scan of relevant law — that Georgia authorities have an entirely uncompromising attitude toward marijuana-related matters. It takes only a minute or so to uncover stories demonstrating the harsh outcomes for […]
Read More

Drug-testing laboratories under scrutiny following major errors

  • On June 24, 2013
This blog has commented in select prior posts about the critically important role that trust must play in our criminal justice system in Georgia and nationally. In its absence, notions of fundamental fairness for persons suspected of crimes and facing the immeasurable powers of the police, investigators and prosecutors are out the window. “The most […]
Read More

Court finds police tactics unlawful, suppresses confession

  • On June 21, 2013
The following story from New York State is related for readers of our blog in Georgia and other states, given the instant and universal applicability it lends to a very important feature of the criminal justice system whenever a person is accused of a serious crime. Namely, that is the procedural fairness that is accorded […]
Read More

Supreme Court sentencing ruling puts jury back in driver’s seat

  • On June 18, 2013
Cases decided by the U.S. Supreme Court typically cut a wide swath of relevance and applicability, and a 5-4 Court ruling issued this Monday that addressed mandatory minimum sentencing is certainly no different. In summary, the Court engaged in a major sentencing reform by overruling a decade-old case it had authored in 2002 and recommitted […]
Read More

Federal appeals court vacates drug defendant’s sentence, remands

  • On June 12, 2013
A drug case involving cocaine possession and distribution is revealing for the manner in which it discusses the reasoning employed by an appellate court in a federal criminal appeals case. We summarize for readers the material facts of the case, the issue on appeal and the court’s reasoning that underlies its ruling in the paragraphs […]
Read More

Supreme Court narrowly approves DNA collection of arrested persons

  • On June 7, 2013
Given that U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito has described a case ruled on by the Court earlier this week as “the most important criminal procedure case that this court has heard in decades,” the matter obviously merits a bit of discussion. Following is a summary of the seminal federal appeals case and its outcome. […]
Read More

Fourth Amendment focal point of upcoming Supreme Court search case

  • On June 4, 2013
A criminal defense attorney is looking forward to promoting his client’s legal rights and defending the Constitution this autumn in a federal appeals case that will be heard by the United States Supreme Court. The case has universal applicability, from California (where it occurred) to Georgia, given that it centers on the parameters of police […]
Read More